-20%. That's the number that technically defines when the markets have entered bear territory. Just a few weeks ago the S&P 500 was down -34% from it's high, which ironically was only a few weeks before that. We were well beyond bear territory. During that time, we put together the video below but the new website wasn't up yet and I didn't have a place to post it. Skip ahead to today, April 17, 2020, and we can see that the markets have quietly made a significant recovery. I say quietly because most people are understandably more concerned about getting a paycheck at the moment rather than following what the markets are doing. The S&P 500 is now hovering around just -15% from it's high. Because we are still experiencing significant volatility, that number has most likely changed by time you read this but the point is we've made almost a 20% recovery in just a few weeks. I'm not suggesting we are out of the woods yet...we're not and the volatility will continue but an almost 20% recovery so quickly is something to be positive about during this crazy moment of time. Even though the video below is new, it's already a little outdated. Just goes to show how fast things are moving in this market.
A side note to all of this...I think times like these show the importance of working with a good advisor. Many times after a plan is set up, the advisors job is simply to keep clients from letting emotions lead to bad financial decisions. Being in this business for some time now, I have been through 4 major market corrections, (.com, 2009, 9/11 and now Covid-19) and sadly during all of those occasions I have heard of people selling at the bottom and never recovering. An advisor should be your voice of reason during times like these and communicate, communicate and then communicate more via phone, video, email or social media to help you remain calm when everything else around you says you shouldn't be.
Stay safe, keep the social distancing going, support local businesses in anyway possible and hopefully we can soon return to some sense of normal.