There are three common types of investors in the stock market: bulls, bears, and business owners.

Bullish investors seek out companies and sectors with high growth potential and strong profits. Conversely, bearish investors hunt for overvalued companies and sectors that are vulnerable to sell-offs. The bulls and bears - despite their rivaling philosophies - are one and the same. They operate with a short-term outlook, and are typically judged on a quarterly basis. The bulls and bears often have tremendous buying power, and follow market movements on an hourly basis. Sophisticated trading strategies coupled with a comprehensive set of trading capabilities are commonplace in such an environment. Investors in these circumstances tend to develop a very low tolerance for financial losses. So highly volatile and uncertain markets often sideline most financial management institutions. But therein lies opportunity for another type of investor: the business owner.

The business owner is more commonly known as a value investor. A business owner buys a stake in a company with a long-term outlook. With this mentality, the stock market is merely a mechanism for transacting. As such, the short-term movements of the market itself are rarely considered. These business owners are the disciples of Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett, and Charlie Munger. A business owner finds opportunity in undervalued companies, and develops a high tolerance for short-term financial losses.

The volatility and panic triggered by COVID-19 presents a rare opportunity for the average retail trader. Anyone with cash reserves and long-term outlooks can take on the acute risks that most others will not. Today’s unprecedented market liquidity has caused unprecedented volatility, but the business fundamentals of most companies have not changed. The health of the financial system itself is not under question, so value-investors should feel confident that businesses will eventually trend back towards their intrinsic values. As they always have.