3 Unstoppable Stocks to Buy if There’s a Stock Market Crash

For 18 months, Wall Street and investors have enjoyed a historic bounce-back rally in the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX:^GSPC). After shedding a third of its value in under five weeks, the widely followed index doubled from its bear-market bottom in less than 17 months.

Unfortunately, all rallies eventually come to an end on Wall Street.

Even though we can’t precisely predict when a stock market crash will happen, how long it’ll last, how steep the decline will be, or even what’ll trigger it ahead of time, we do know that crashes and corrections are normal occurrences — and one could be brewing.

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A stock market crash could be coming

History offers one clue as to why the current record-breaking rally could end. Following each of the previous eight bear-market bottoms, dating back to 1960, the benchmark S&P 500 has had either one or two double-digit percentage declines within three years. We’re halfway to that point and haven’t yet seen a notable correction.

Another chief concern is valuation. The S&P 500 ended Sept. 27 with a Shiller price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 38.4. The Shiller P/E examines inflation-adjusted earnings over the past 10 years. A reading of 38.4 for the S&P 500 is nearly a two-decade high and well more than double the 151-year average reading for the index. More importantly, the previous four times the Shiller P/E ratio surpassed 30, the index subsequently lost at least 20%.

Rising margin debt is also worrisome. Margin debt describes the amount of money being borrowed with interest to buy or short-sell securities. While it’s not uncommon to see margin debt increase over time, it is uncharacteristic to see margin debt rise rapidly over a short time frame.

There have been three instances over the past quarter of a century where margin debt rose by 60% or more in a single year. One of those instances occurred this year. The previous two directly preceded the popping of the dot-com bubble and the Great Recession.

And, as noted, crashes and corrections are par for the course when investing in the greatest long-term wealth creator on the planet. There have been 38 double-digit percentage crashes or corrections in the S&P 500 since the beginning of 1950. This works out to a correction every 1.87 years. Although Wall Street doesn’t strictly adhere to averages, it does put into perspective how common it is for equities to swoon from time to time.

A crash would be the perfect time to buy these unstoppable stocks

While stock market crashes and steep corrections have a tendency to put investors on edge, they’re actually the perfect opportunity to go shopping. All notable moves lower in the stock market have eventually been erased by a bull market rally. Buying great companies and being patient is usually a wealth-building recipe.

If the market were to crash or undergo a steep correction, buying this trio of unstoppable stocks would be a wise move.

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