Last year (2025), our Stock Market suffered a dramatic pullback in April, then reversed quickly, and climbed up until year-end as if all had been forgotten. We appear to be somewhat ahead of that schedule in 2026, as world events have caused investors to go on a selling spree in March.

Israel and the United States decided that Iran had reached the end of its leash. Years of lying, deception, secrets, and threats pushed our powers that be over the edge. We are currently living through the process of punishing Iranian bad behavior by destroying their capabilities. We now know that Iran had tools of destruction beyond what they had heretofore acknowledged.

Two kinds of people (and their money) are in the stock market at any given time; investors and speculators. Speculators are frequent traders, attempting to “beat the market” with their insight and risk tolerance. True investors are people with their resources in the market for a minimum of 5 years. These people must live through volatility caused by the other group. Nothing we can do or say will change that relationship.

Long-term investors experience anxiety in tumultuous times. Imagine what speculators are going through as world events fly at them with little or no notice given. To me, the volatility often seems like a heart attack on a plate.

As financial advisors, our hardest days come when volatility jumps like a scared rabbit. Yet we know from training and experience that attempting to outsmart the market is a waste of time and money. And, most likely, it will take years off your life.

One old piece of market wisdom states that investors will feel the pain of a loss twice as much as they will feel the pleasure of a gain. Failing to contain those emotions is a costly mistake, a lesson learned primarily through experience. Good investor behavior is enhanced in many cases by following advice from a qualified and experienced financial advisor.

Words are well and good, but illustrations can be useful as well. In the past 12 months, the point range for the Dow-Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) ranged from 36,612 to 50,513, a spread of about 38%. How can any investor be expected to manage that variability through frequent trading?

Despite the range of ups and downs, calendar year 2025 produced a return on the DJIA of about 13%, and the S&P500 returned over 20%. These gains were earned by avoiding panic selling during down days and weeks.

Our markets have undergone frequent and harsh bad times for decades, so consider this. On Ronald Reagan’s inauguration date (January 20, 1981), the DJIA closed at 950, and recently the same index closed over 50,000. Despite many major setbacks, time in the market is still your best friend.