Author: David Goodboy, StreetAuthority

This is a time-tested way to consistently earn outsized profits from the stock market.

Now is the time to seriously consider taking steps to protect your gains from the possibility of further downside.

I identified these stocks using a simple, yet highly effective stock picking strategy. In fact, the strategy is used by proprietary traders and other professional stock investors worldwide to identify stocks with strong odds of moving higher.

This article lists seven factors (in order of importance) that caused the market chaos. I firmly believe each of these bearish forces contributed to the market plunge. Some are traditional fundamental reasons, while others are related to today’s market structure. Together, there can be only one result: a market sell-off.

Today is the perfect time to review your portfolio to make certain it is protected against the downside.