Bumpy road long overdue, financial adviser says of rocky day on Wall Street

Adviser urges investors to not overreact

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Dow, which has been setting records for all-time-highs recently, had the largest single-day point loss ever Monday, and many people are now worried about their investments.

The opening bell for Wall Street on Monday had the usual enthusiasm, even though last week the Dow dropped more than 1,000 points in two days.

By the end of trading Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had been clobbered, falling by 1,600 points, briefly, before ending the day down 1,175 points. That’s a 4.5 percent loss -- the largest since August 2011.

The Dow is a 30-stock index, and by finishing below 25,000, it wiped out the burly gains of the new year.

"This is a regular discussion, which is, the market does not go up in neat little lines," financial adviser Michael Macke said. "We love it when it goes up because we see our account balance growing, but we know that that doesn't always happen, and the down times are going to come. Hopefully you have prepared for that. It's like keeping the umbrella in the back of your car. You know sooner or later it's going to rain."

Macke, who is the vice president and a principal adviser at Petros Estate and Retirement Planning in Jacksonville, agreed it’s a big drop, but the certified financial planner urged people not to overreact.

"Patience is the real reward to the long-term investor, so if we can have a longer-term focus -- it's easy when you're 40 or 50 years old and you're looking to retirement 20 or 30 years down the road, but when you're in retirement, you need to have the right plan," Macke said.

President Donald Trump said he is focused on market successes.

"Your paychecks are going way up. Your taxes are going way down. And right now, for the first time in a long time, you've seen it: Factories are coming back. Everything is coming back," Trump said. "They all want to be where the action is. America is, once again, open for business."

The tech-heavy Nasdaq also sank almost 4 percent.

The S&P 500 is a much broader gauge of the market than the Dow, but it too was down more than 4 percent.

Several other financial professionals, including Shay Woodward at Performance Wealth, said this is normal and that we are way overdue for some bumps in the road.

He also pointed out that perspective is important. If you’re watching the market numbers on a daily basis, you need to look at the longer track record. Go out at least six months or a year to consider how you’re doing.


About the Author:

Kent Justice co-anchors News4Jax's 5 p.m., 10 and 11 p.m. newscasts weeknights and reports on government and politics. He also hosts "This Week in Jacksonville," Channel 4's hot topics and politics public affairs show each Sunday morning at 9 a.m.