Why You Shouldn't Worry About the Stock Market--Yet

In the past three hours the Dow Jones has dipped another several hundred points to a drop of more than 400 points today. But Paul J. Lim, the chief financial correspondent for U.S. News, weighs in to say that it isn't time to panic just yet.

"No doubt, today's market sell-off is jarring to investors, especially since market volatility has been rather mild in recent years," Lim writes on USNews.com. "But to a certain extent, this type of sell-off is welcome news on Wall Street. Bull market rallies are usually peppered with minor sell-offs and corrections that give investors time to rest and reenter the market at attractive prices."

The question, Lim says, is whether the market is dropping too rapidly. "Is this a tiny tremor that alleviates market pressure, or could this be the start of the big one? Right now, many believe it's still just a tremor. Of course, all eyes will be on the stock market over the next few days."

Read to Lim's analysis for a full report Lim with details about the three events that contributed to today's dip.

Etc.: Is the Emerging Markets Craze Over? on USNews.com