Stay Calm and Invest On
This is a copy of an email that we sent to our clients about the current investing landscape that we hope you also find helpful.
In the past several days, especially the past 24 hours, you've likely heard news reports about falling stock markets. We wanted to provide our thoughts and one critical and time-tested recommendation as these events play out.
As you already know, markets go through cycles of expansion, contraction, and recovery. It's normal for them to move up and down and sometimes, they do so quite drastically. When the stock market moves downward, it's an unnerving feeling because it happens unexpectedly, and these movements are often severe but ultimately short in duration. Over the course of recorded history, those who have invested for the long-term and stuck to their investing discipline through the noise have been rewarded with an overall positive trajectory and the ability to ride through these times.
The current narrative is that global markets are reacting to the fear of a potential recession coming in the US economy and the Federal Reserve potentially not acting fast enough to stop it. While fear can be powerful, it's no guarantee of a prediction actually coming true. The data that we have show a US economy that is still quite strong, with certain areas of growth softening, but not near an economic recession at this time. It is most certainly not a prefect economy, but also not one that we feel is looking to stumble and fall over completely. Either way, we can’t control the US economy or the Federal Reserve. Nevertheless, one of our key investing principles to improve the odds of success is to focus on what we can control, and one of those is staying disciplined through market dips and swings.
As of now, we see this current downward movement as no different from those in the past and likely what we would consider a "normal" correction, which is common even during periods of strong positive performance in stocks, like we've been experiencing over the last year. We're committed to keeping our discipline in managing your investments and are monitoring the situation to make any changes that may be prudent. Ultimately, we believe that like all previous downward movements in the stock market, this too shall pass and we will continue on a long-term, upward trajectory.
Overall, it's impossible to predict how long this will last or how far it will go, but right now it's looking like this is more an overreaction in the stock market than something substantially concerning. We will continue to monitor this situation and provide you with any additional updates that may be needed.
We hope this has been helpful and helped to relieve some anxiety as the news cycle amplifies what's happening. Just remember, Stay Calm and Invest On.
If you have any questions, please contact us for more information.
**Graphics courtesy of First Trust Portfolios L.P. and JPMorgan Asset Management. Full PDF pages, including disclosures that contain important data and assumptions that were used to produce these images are available upon request.**
An Exceptional Life Financial, LLC is an Investment Adviser registered with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), headquartered in Indianapolis, IN. AEL Wealth Management and Teach Plan Retire are registered "Doing Business As" (DBA) names of the firm. All views, expressions, and opinions included in this communication are subject to change. This communication is not intended as an offer or solicitation to buy, hold or sell any financial instrument or investment advisory services. Any information provided has been obtained from sources considered reliable, but we do not guarantee the accuracy or the completeness of any description of securities, markets, or developments mentioned. Please contact us at 317-941-6492 if there is any change in your financial situation, needs, goals or objectives. Our current disclosures are available for your review upon request, and on our websites, www.teachplanretire.com & www.aelwm.com.