Just compare the way Wall Street treated the recent travails of Knight Capital Group Inc. and its well-respected CEO Thomas Joyce to the way it watched, abetted and even enjoyed the slow, brutal demise of Bear Stearns and its CEO, Jimmy Cayne, and Lehman Brothers and its CEO, Dick Fuld.

FORBES: Why Knight Capital Was Saved And Lehman Brothers Failed

The 1977-1980 bear market was a slow-motion slide into stagflation, double-digit interest rates and malaise.

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For instance, you may not have chosen to act, but the 2007-2009 equity bear market was a slow-moving train wreck where you had ample time to make adjustments, even if you had already seen a meaningful decline in your equity portfolio.

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