So when I say that you should make a list of stocks to buy, I’m not saying you should jump into the market and buy them just because they’re down a few points. I’m saying you should name your price, have the capital ready, and jump on the opportunity IF it comes.

And if this correction is even half as big as I expect it to be, just about every boat will get sunk as the tide recedes.

Even big, blue chip stocks that every investor should own will get hammered.

Last year, Exxon-Mobil (NYSE: XOM) shares sold for less than $60 – even cheaper than they were during the depths of the 2008-2009 bear market – briefly selling for less than 10 times earnings.

That’s the kind of company that should be on your shopping list at that kind of price.

In order to take advantage of the global boom in mining, heavy equipment company Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) announced it would acquire mining equipment maker Bucyrus (Nasdaq:BUCY) for a 30% premium.

If you want to get rich from gold, the physical bars and coins won’t ever do that for you. Physical gold is great as a store of value. That’s all. The best we can realistically hope for is that it will stay one step ahead of inflation, and protect our principle. Physical gold has never, ever paid a dividend. There’s no compound interest. No cash-flow.

If you want to get rich, you have to stick your neck out a little and buy stock in small gold companies. It’s said that only one gold venture in a thousand will ever get any gold out of the ground – so it’s vitally important to buy the best of breed. A junior gold company that can actually mine gold and bring it to market can multiply gold’s gains many times over.

Unfortunately, most junior gold companies go belly up. And even worse: most of the geologists and marketers in the junior gold business are glorified con-artists. They might not have any gold at all, but they hope they can bump up the share price and sell their shares for a huge payday. Or they’ll hope to cherry pick some drilling results and sell their stake to a bigger mining outfit before anyone’s the wiser. Mark Twain famously said, “A gold mine is a hole in the ground with a liar standing next to it.”