If the Market Stumbles, These Are the Financial Stocks Worth Buying

There will be a bear market. Nobody knows exactly when, but the dominoes are lining up. Ongoing geopolitical conflicts, high inflation, and consumers who are already tightening their budgets all suggest risk is high right now. The dramatic price swings in popular technology stocks are another sign of risk, as it exposes just how mercurial investors can be.

If you are worried about a bear market, you need to prepare now. But don't just run to the sidelines, make a wishlist of stocks that you'd like to own, but only if their stocks were cheaper. A bear market could be the buying opportunity you have been waiting for in stocks like Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRKB)(NYSE: BRKB), Visa (NYSE: V), and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM). Here's a quick look at each one.

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Berkshire Hathaway is protected and ready to buy

Berkshire Hathaway appointed a new CEO at the start of 2026, a material change for the company. However, Greg Abel is expected to run the business very similarly to his predecessor, and iconic investor, Warren Buffett. Buffett actually handed the reins off to Abel with a very important safety valve: cash, and a lot of it. At the end of the first quarter, the company's balance sheet showed nearly $400 billion in cash.

To be fair, that cash is a drag on near-term performance, since it could probably generate higher returns if it were invested. However, cash is a cushion in a bear market. And it provides Abel with the wherewithal to invest while fear is driving others on Wall Street to sell. That was how Buffett did things, and there's no reason to believe Abel will change the approach. When the market recovers, as it has after every bear market in history, Berkshire Hathaway could be an even more attractive company than it was when the downturn started.

Visa doesn't issue Visa cards

Visa is another interesting story. The stock might actually be reasonably priced right now, with its price-to-earnings ratio of roughly 29x below its five-year average of 32x. That said, the baby often goes out with the bathwater during a bear market. Notably, while Visa is a financial company, it doesn't actually bear the financial risk of transactions made with Visa-branded cards. That risk is borne by the banks that issue the cards. Visa just collects fees for processing the payments.

It only earns a tiny percentage of every transaction, and transaction volume could slow in a bear market, particularly if there's a recession at the same time. However, in the fiscal second quarter of 2026, Visa processed 66.1 billion transactions, a 9% year-over-year increase. With cards increasingly replacing cash, Visa is likely to be more resilient than many investors expect. And this trend isn't going away, so long-term transaction growth is highly likely. If a 29x P/E is too high for you, Visa should be on your wishlist. A bear market could present you with the buying opportunity you've been waiting for, even though it probably won't have much of an impact on the company's business.

JPMorgan Chase is rock solid

JPMorgan Chase is a company that issues Visa cards. It is one of the world's largest financial institutions and one of the most diversified. It is also one of the strongest, financially speaking. In fact, the company just announced it is increasing its dividend by 10% after it easily passed the Federal Reserve's bank stress tests. It also announced a $50 billion stock repurchase plan. Notably, the Tier 1 capital ratio requirement, a measure of how well the bank is prepared for adversity, is 11.5%, but JPMorgan Chase's actual ratio was 14.1%.

Simply put, JPMorgan Chase is ready to deal with a bear market and a recession. Both will have a negative impact on the bank's business, but neither is likely to permanently derail the company. And that would turn a downturn into a buying opportunity for long-term investors. It will likely be hard to buy a bank while Wall Street is in turmoil. But if you put it on your wish list, you increase the chance that you'll have the fortitude to go against the grain.

Big contrarian opportunities show up during bear markets

If you buy while others are selling, you are normally known as a contrarian on Wall Street. It is hard to be a contrarian because humans are far more inclined to follow the crowd. Don't be a lemming in a bear market; set yourself up ahead of time to make the difficult buy decisions that let you invest in financially strong companies and great businesses like Berkshire Hathaway, Visa, and JPMorgan Chase. A wish list is the tool you need to turn a market stumble into an investment opportunity.

JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Reuben Gregg Brewer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Berkshire Hathaway, JPMorgan Chase, and Visa. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.