| Unless you own the best stocks, a bear market | | | | tracks the S&P 500 stock index with 2X |
| can be a bad stock market for you and cost you | | | | leverage. If that major stock index falls 1% in a |
| dearly. Here are three of the best stocks I know | | | | day, SDS should go up 2%. |
| of that are designed to go up as the stock | | | | You buy and sell these ETFs like you would any |
| market falls. | | | | other stock. That's where the similarity ends. |
| You can offset or manage losses in a bear stock | | | | Remember, these are actually index funds |
| market by maintaining a balanced portfolio of | | | | designed to inversely track an index with financial |
| stocks, bonds, money market securities and | | | | leverage of 2 to 1. This is their objective, and |
| alternative investments. That's the overall best | | | | results are not guaranteed. In other words, if you |
| long-term investment strategy for most people. | | | | invest here, do not consider your investment a |
| But how can you act quickly to hedge against | | | | long-term hold that you can ignore. |
| heavy losses when the stock market takes an | | | | Before you invest, go to your broker's web site |
| ugly turn to the downside? | | | | and do some research on each of the three |
| Most investors don't understand stock options, | | | | stock symbols above; and read your broker's |
| futures or short selling. Often in the past | | | | warning about the risks associated with inverse |
| defensive issues or gold miners were | | | | and leveraged ETFs. That said, I still call these the |
| recommended as the best stocks to hold in a | | | | best stocks for a bear market if the investor |
| bear market. Today it's easier than ever to take | | | | takes an active role and monitors his or her |
| a defensive or "short" position in the stock | | | | investment and the markets. They are heavily |
| market. You can profit as the market falls by | | | | traded and widely held compared to their |
| simply buying stocks called "inverse" ETFs, or | | | | counterparts, and can be bought and/or sold |
| exchange traded funds. | | | | quickly and easily any business day. |
| For the investor willing to get a bit | | | | In the past I played PUT stock options to bet |
| adventuresome by betting that the stock market | | | | that the stock market would fall, or to hedge |
| will fall, here are three of the best stocks to buy | | | | against losses in my stock portfolio. Now I do it |
| (stock symbols): SDS, DXD, and QID. Each is an | | | | the easy way with SDS, DXD, and QID; keeping |
| inverse ETF designed to give 2X leverage on a | | | | in mind that I have no intention of holding them as |
| major stock index. For example, SDS inversely | | | | a long-term position. |