Earlier today, Financial Advisor caught up with Nick Murray, the noted author and commentator, who has been working in the financial services business since 1967. Since Murray has seen many corrections over the years, we decided to ask him about this one.

FA: Six years into a powerful bull market, some equity indexes are approaching bear market territory. Given the duration of this bull market, is this correction healthy? Overdue?

Murray: I'm not aware of any important indexes approaching bear market territory (-20%). At its panic low this morning around 1,865, the S&P was down 12.5% from its closing peak. At least so far, this is quite a bit less than the average intra-year decline of the S&P since 1980, which is north of 14%. Much more to the point: Until this morning, we had gone 1,420 calendar days without a correction (normally an annual event). That's the third-longest run in 50 years. We were just terribly, terribly overdue.
 
FA: This bull market came off of very depressed levels in March 2009. Most observers felt valuations were high but not near bubble territory. What is your view?

Murray: At 16 or so times forward 12-month earnings, valuations were just a tad above their 25-year average. I never bought the overvaluation argument.
 
FA: Many advisors say the best advice is to do nothing. Others think it could be a good time to rebalance and/or bargain-hunt. What’s your take?

Murray: If one has cash to be deployed for long-term goals, it should be invested before nightfall. Before noon, if possible.
 
FA: China appears to be the epicenter of all the woes in the global economy and markets. China bears have long predicted that their government-led investment boom would end badly. Many Asian nations and other big countries like Brazil have far more GDP at risk than the U.S. Does this make the U.S. a safe haven?

Murray: The U.S. was always a safe haven, and China (as least as far as the government-created growth statistics were concerned) was always a sham. Moreover, its stock market was a casino.
 
FA: If the U.S. economy is one of the world’s strongest (save for some outliers like the Phillipines), isn’t that a sad commentary on the rest of the global economy and a reason for concern?

Murray: No and no. It's a glorious commentary on the U.S. -- the freest, most innovative, most entrepreneurial, most transparent economy/market on earth.