How rough was this summer for investors? The answer isn’t nearly as bad as the market mood, at least not for those who focus on quality companies that continue to post strong earnings.

To hear some people tell it, national elections are always some version of good versus evil. One party is the great hope of the nation, while the other is leading us down the road to ruin. One party is full of upstanding “reasonable” people, and the other a bunch of lying philanderers.

At the height of the US housing boom, my colleague Yiannis Mostrous made one of the more prescient investment calls I’ve seen. Writing in the advisory he co-wrote at the time, Wall Street Winners, he recommended a short sale of giant, government-backed mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

The circumstances are always different, but the emotions are the same in bear markets: Despondency, despair and fear that the worst is yet to come. The good news is it’s never as bad you think. But navigating your way through bear markets is as much a part of successful investing as making the most of bull markets.

One of my favorite investors to discuss markets with, my father, turns 85 years old today. His approach has always differed somewhat from my own: While I’m usually conservative to a fault, he often sets his eyes on big gains and has done quite well at it over the years.

Last week, I accompanied a handful of adult leaders and three-dozen boys of varying ages to scout camp in the Virginia mountains. The first day’s weather was unexpectedly cool and rainy. As the week progressed, however, the days were increasingly hot and dusty. Not surprising, tempers rose accordingly, calming only with the oncoming chill of night and the eternal fascination of a raging campfire.

“This is a mental recession,” not a real one, asserts former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm. The current advisor and co-chairman of Republican candidate John McCain’s presidential campaign went on to state: “We have sort of become a nation of whiners…complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline.”

In a bull market, success is measured by how fast and reliably your wealth builds. Bear markets have a somewhat different benchmark for performance: holding on to what you have. And that’s become increasingly difficult this summer.

Dominion Resources is the latest utility to announce a major plan for negawatt investment. Negawatts are basically saved megawatts; that’s investment made to enhance conservation and save power companies from having to build new megawatt capacity. One negawatt equals one saved megawatt.

Investing in dividend-paying stocks is, at its core, a long-term enterprise. For one thing, you’ve got to stick around long enough to collect your distributions.