Local Financial Adviser Explains That Now Is Not The Time To Panic
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CORAL GABLES (CBSMiami) – The last half hour of trading on Thursday was brutal as a 450 point plunge added to a terrible day on Wall Street.
The Dow Jones dropped 1032 points.
Wealth manager, Steve Foldes with Evansky & Katz / Foldes Financial says the drop is unpleasant but modest considering there has been very little volatility in the market for the past 15 months.
That all changed on last Friday, when investors worried that news of higher wages would trigger inflation and prompt the federal reserve to increase short term interest rates faster than expected.
Higher rates could lead to slower economic growth and make it harder for companies to earn money.
Experts say declines are part of long term investing.
"Take a look at your asset allocation of your portfolio see how it's structured. You don't want to make adjustments now necessarily, it's like putting up shutters in the middle of a hurricane," says Foldes.
He adds it's not about timing the market -- it's about time in the market.
In fact, last year investors enjoyed a 20% increase and when there is a market correction, it's an opportunity.
"When we tell clients that we're going to be buying more, they look at us like we're from Mars," Foldes said. "But the truth of the matter is that over time you'll recover much more quickly if you're buying at a discounted rate."
This week, there's been a new concern. Big traders have been forced to unwind a bet that markets would remain calm until this recent selling started.
Many of the best performing stocks over the last year have struggled recently, including technology companies, banks and healthcare.
Experts suggest to stay the course and focus on the big picture.
"The holy grail of investing is that after every market decline, the stock market has recovered to hit a higher high then the previous high," Foldes said.