Issue #62: The Stock Market is becoming a Rollercoaster 🎢

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Ok so I didn’t think it could get any more wild 😭📉📈🎢

But it did.

So let’s talk about it.

The stock market has been doing some pretty mental stuff

The S&P 500 dropped over 10% in 3 days… that’s not a dip, it’s a full blown crash.

Next thing you know, it has it’s 8th best day in history with a 9.52% growth in a SINGLE DAY

I’m sure you’ve been panicking, crying, celebrating, freaking out and feeling every other emotion under the sun over your investments right now. My portfolio itslef has been down multiple four figures this week alone. 😭

NOT FUN!

But here’s the weird part:
I’m not panicking.
I’m not rage-selling.
I’m not doing… anything.

Why?

Because I made a decision five years ago that I still stand by today.

I’ll tell you about that a bit later on.

So WHY is the market doing this? 📉

Let’s break it down in plain English.

Donald Trump has announced some major trade tariffs - basically, extra taxes on goods coming into the U.S. from EVERY COUNTRY!

The goal?

To make American-made stuff more competitive. Fantastic 👍

For businesses though this means higher costs. If it's more expensive to import materials or products, companies either have to raise prices (which makes customers unhappy) or take a hit to their profits (which makes investors unhappy).

And when investors are unhappy they start selling… a lot. That pushes stock prices down very quickly. 😬

Next thing you know he’s putting a pause on tariffs!

Investors are happy - markets go up

Overall, markets hate uncertainty. They want stable, predictable conditions, and tariffs introduce the opposite of that.

So right now, businesses are worried, investors are nervous, and the stock market is reacting exactly how you'd expect: by going mental.

Ok so now we’ve understood the why, let’s talk about how we should be reacting.

Here are 4 things to consider:

1. Remember why you started 🤔

Oh, so that decision I made. Yeah I said to myself:

TEN YEARS MINIMUM.

Well it’s only been 5 years so far. I’m not even halfway!

If I believed in my plan when times were good, I have to trust it when times get tough… and you should too.

investing is a long term thing, stick to it and honour the plan you set yourself originally.

2. It’s a sale, not a fire 🔥

If you owned a house worth £500,000 and someone came up to you offering £250,000,
would you sell it?

Exactly.

But for some reason, when the stock market goes on sale, people sprint for the exit.

In Warren Buffett’s famous words:
“Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.”

This? This is the fearful bit.

3. When in doubt, zoom out ⚡️

The 2008 crash took 3 years to recover.

The COVID crash recovered in just 3 months.

The WORST EVER S&P 500 return over any 30 year period has been +7.8% per year - PER FRICKING YEAR!!!

In fact, in the entire history of the stock market, there has been an 100% recovery rate. Why would this time be different?

Market crashes aren’t the exception - they’re part of the journey.

4. Time in the market > timing the market 📈

Fun fact: if you missed the 10 best market days over the last two decades,
your total returns would’ve been slashed by more than half.

And 7 of those BEST days happened during bear markets (when the market is going down).

So yeah - even the “bad times” hold some of the best opportunities, and none of us can predict them!!

So what am I doing?

I’m sticking to the plan.
Still investing every month.
Still ignoring the noise.
Still focusing on the long game.

In summary: Keep cool and carry on.

If anything, this is a buying opportunity - not a panic signal.

I REALLLYYY hope I’ve made you feel better about it all.

And if I haven’t, my only advice left is to stop checking your portfolio, and stop reading the news 😅ignore, ignore, ignore my friend.

If you’re not investing yet and this all feels like too much, that’s fair. But don’t let short-term fear kill a long-term opportunity.

You can start small. You can start steady.

So if you want a free fractional share worth up to £100 to get going, sign up to Trading212 with this link or use code ‘GN’ when you join.

And that’s it for today friends. See you next week 😁

Got a question you’d like answered in next week’s newsletter? Just hit reply! Let me know your question and whether you’d like to stay anonymous.  

^{DISCLAIMER: None of the above is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly education and should not be taken as investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and always do your own research.}