Don’t panic: Experts weigh in on market volatility
Posted August 24, 2015 4:51 pm.
Last Updated August 24, 2015 4:53 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – As world financial markets experienced big drops today, some experts say social media is playing a big role in leading people to overreact to that volatility.
Investment Strategist Craig Fehr with Edward Jones says it’s important not to get caught up in the headlines.
“Sometimes it’s really easy to look at the headlines, look at today’s information, gather information from media or social media and try to make wholesale changes to your approach based on short-term headlines,” explains Fehr.
“Not to be ignored, but I think it really does raise the importance of discipline. It raises the importance of diversification and certainly the importance of the right perspective in terms of connecting your decisions to what you’re ultimately investing for to begin with.”
Markets everywhere began reacting to China’s economy with the TSX dropping more than 700 points in early trading and lowering more than 400 at close.
Fehr says times like this are often more psychological because people see sharp market reactions and think its indicative of something worse to come.
Bob Thompson with Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management echoes Fehr’s concerns. “It creates a lot of fear right now but remember that people buy when others are fearful or be greedy when others are fearful.”
He says the volatility doesn’t mean anything for those who don’t need their money for quite a while — for example, retirement.
