Should You Be Greedy When Others are Fearful? ETFs in Focus

There is a famous saying by legendary investor Warren Buffett – “Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.”

Now that most investors have gone into panic mode due to the soaring oil prices amid the Iran war, should you be greedy?

Note that following the 2008 global financial crisis, global stock markets recorded a huge long-term rebound after bottoming out in March 2009. The market bottomed out on March 6, 2009, with the S&P 500 hitting a low of 666, as quoted on CNBC. But the index delivered a 10-year annualized total return of 17.8% after that crash.

What Does History Suggest: A Strong Rebound Every Time?

The above rebound closely mirrors the annual returns (including dividends) delivered by the S&P 500 a decade after several major market turning points. Ten years after Black Monday in October 1987, the index posted annual gains of 17.2%, as quoted on the above-said CNBC article.

Returns reached 17.6% in the decade following the market bottom of August 1982, which marked the start of one of the greatest modern bull markets, the same CNBC article highlighted.

Even after the severe bear-market low of September 1974, the pattern was similar: the S&P 500 generated annualized returns of 15.6% through September 1984, as quoted on CNBC.

What Does the S&P 500 Say This Time?

State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY has lost 0.6% over the past week and declined 3% over the past month (as of March 13, 2026). While the crisis this time is much smaller in scale so far, one can use a buy-the-dip strategy. S&P 500-based ETFs are good bets in this regard.

ETF Picks

Against the above-mentioned backdrop, below we highlight a few exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that have been under pressure over the past month (as of March 13, 2026) but may turn around over the medium term.

Invesco QQQ QQQ

The tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 index and the related ETF QQQ can be tapped now. The fund is down about 3% this year. But the fund is home to several leading tech and AI stocks. And we all know that AI is set to rule the days to come.

One-week loss: 0.1%

One-month loss: 1.3%

Yield: 0.47%

Invesco S&P 500 High Dividend Growers ETF DIVG

ETFs that offer higher current income should be in vogue.The underlying S&P 500 High Dividend Growth Index of the fund selects the 100 constituents with the highest forecasted dividend yield growth from the eligible stocks in the index universe subject to a 20% buffer to reduce turnover.

One-week loss: 2.1%

One-month loss: 3.7%

Yield: 3.04%

JPMorgan BetaBuilders Emerging Markets Equity ETF BBEM

Emerging markets are commodity rich and are better positionedamid the ongoing turmoil. Most emerging markets ETFs are high-yielding.

One-week loss: 0.62%

One-month loss: 6.46%

Yield: 5.61%

Invesco WilderHill Clean Energy ETF PBW

With oil prices soaring higher, demand for clean energy should gain. Moreover, U.S. clean power installations reached a record 50.3 GW in 2025, led by solid battery storage additions (read: Green ETFs to Watch as US Clean Power Adds Record 50GW in 2025).

One-week gain: 6.3%

One-month loss: 3.7%

Yield: 0.75%%

iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM

Although the U.S. economic growth has slowed lately, the economy is still in decent shape. Small-cap stocks are mainly domestically focused and are less exposed to geopolitics. However, inflationary pressure is a concern.

One-week loss: 0.4%

One-month loss: 6.3%

Yield: 1.04%

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Invesco QQQ (QQQ): ETF Research Reports

State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY): ETF Research Reports

iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM): ETF Research Reports

Invesco WilderHill Clean Energy ETF (PBW): ETF Research Reports

JPMorgan BetaBuilders Emerging Markets Equity ETF (BBEM): ETF Research Reports

Invesco S&P 500 High Dividend Growers ETF (DIVG): ETF Research Reports

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research