We should always be prepared for a bear market, but there is no reason to be alarmed. You can't only survive from the bear market, you can even prosper from it. It can absolutely provide great opportunities, but we have to know what we are looking for.  If you feel that a bear market is developing and have substantial long positions in the market, it's best to buy inexpensive short and long-term puts on the major indices. A proper asset allocation strategy will allow us to avoid negative effects resulting from failing to diversify assets.