Warren Buffett has often said: "Bad news is the friend of the long-term investor."
 
Bad news leads to lower stock prices. Without low stock prices, it's basically impossible to use the stock market to make a fortune.
 
You must buy low and sell high. But the only way you can buy low is to buy stocks when they're cheap enough. That usually requires some bad news to come out about the company you're looking at or the industry it's in.
 
When the rest of the world is selling stocks in a panic, great investors are calmly scooping up bargains amid the chaos.