Pros Panic, Retail Investors Stay Cool on Emerging Markets

Maybe American retail investors aren't as clueless as some in the financial industry think.

All last month, Wall Street investment houses warned of calamity in emerging markets. By Feb. 5, the MSCI Emerging Market stock index was down almost 9 percent for the year. Conventional wisdom holds that, in times like this, retail investors panic, locking in losses rather than taking Warren Buffett's classic advice to buy “when others are fearful.”