Volatile stock prices can create incredible stock buying opportunities. Investors remember times like this for decades.

Investors should never take unnecessary risks in the stock market. But with the current state of affairs, they really don’t have to.

What will happen next?

At the moment, it is extremely arduous to predict how share prices will develop even in a few days. Much depends on the conflict in Iran.

Before anyone can record and edit a podcast about what’s going on, things change. This also applies to those of us who write about stocks.

Trying to guess what will happen next is probably a waste of time. However, investors can prepare for different outcomes.

According to Warren Buffett, opportunities come from other people doing stupid things (his words). And this often happens in moments like this.

The stock market tends to overreact to the latest news, which can create challenges. But this is a very good thing for those who want to buy shares.

What to look for

In some cases, it may be arduous to predict what the long-term effects of a situation will be. Anti-obesity drugs (GLP-1) are a good example.

Their exploit is growing rapidly. They pose an obvious threat to many food companies.

However, an precise assessment of this threat is arduous. The obvious problem hampering the potential of GLP-1 drugs is that they are costly, which limits their availability.

This may change over time, but is not guaranteed. Therefore, it is arduous for investors to assess their long-term impact.

However, the conflict in Iran looks much clearer. The United States has stated that it is not interested in a long war, but the market seems to ignore this.

Possibilities

The list of companies that have fallen in the last month is long. But one stands out Anglo-American (LSE:AAL), down 19%.

The company recently sold its platinum, coal and diamond assets to focus on what it sees as long-term opportunities. This also applies to copper.

Until recently, everything looked fine. However, the conflict in Iran has resulted in rising energy costs, fears of recession and sulfuric acid shortages.

On the other hand, from a long-term perspective, the situation looks much better. Demand is powerful from data centers, electrification and other major trends.

Plus, it takes years to open a novel copper mine. So unless the war lasts much longer than expected, supply should be constrained for some time.

Long-term investing

I find Anglo American shares really captivating at the moment. If the conflict in Iran is short-lived, it looks like copper prices should rise.

In this situation, copper miners should be able to cope. And the most attractive companies are those that have the lowest production costs.

Anglo-American fits this description. Its assets in Peru are relatively inexpensive to operate, and it acquired the mine in Chile at even lower costs.

The share price is about the same as it was five years ago. However, I think this may be the best time to consider a purchase in a very long time.