One view is from the bottom, looking at individual stocks.

But he noted that "some investors are looking very hard at specific stocks and saying they may have risen too far, too fast."

As a result, his firm is barely nibbling at stocks.

But for investors looking at Mexican stocks now, that's just what they must do.

"Now that we know what the worst case is, we can start looking at stocks again."

So they have looked at stocks that have had great earnings momentum.

And for a somewhat different reason, foreigners are also beginning to nibble at American stocks.

Would it stop at traded stocks, when millions of small businesses need capital?

Mr. Brown spends his time looking at individual stocks - not the overall market.

"Sometimes I look at individual stocks," he said.