Human nature is the same, in Tokyo or New York. Whatever the event is that will drive risk up and stocks down will not carefully avoid your favorite stocks. It will be a macro event. A big picture change that effects all stocks. During a financial crisis, risk aversion rises dramatically, and deliberate trading strategies are replaced by rising fear-induced disengagement.
People head for the hills during a crisis.
All the strategy in the world doesn't help. As I have indicated on previous occasions, history tells us that sharp reversals in confidence occur abruptly, most often with little advance notice. Markets turn on a dime, bull to bear without much warning. These reversals can be self-reinforcing processes that can compress sizable adjustments into a very short period. Panic reactions in the market are characterized by dramatic shifts in behavior that are intended to minimize short-term losses.