... and go on to new highs?
The 1929 drop was not fully recovered until the 1950s and if you account for inflation (tiny then) it was not until some time after 1960 that it recovered.
Staying invested while waiting out a big bear market can be a poor strategy. Timing the market is more productive, but very difficult. However, if one's hopes are adjusted to being satisfied with 60-70% of a rise of a stock, leaving 40 to 30 % on the table because timing is difficult, then it can be productive. Likewise, if one can avoid 60-70% of a bear market, that's great. Together it's more than enough to beat buy and hold.
Back in ancient times when I used to trade stocks before stopping for decades, I had a small holding of a few stocks. I put stops under them and went away on vacation for a couple of weeks. When I came back, most of them had gotten stopped out. I was fine with that. Then a few weeks later the market suffered a big bear drop but I was mostly out. My stops had protected me from a big loss. My study confirms that stops are a good idea, and that timing the market, partly through use of stops is great.
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