CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Tuesday was one of the worst days in the history of the stock market, as the Dow Jones dropped more than 2,000 points.
The drop is fueled by concerns about coronavirus. Even for some experienced investors, the last week or so has been stomach churning. But what if you are a novice? How concerned should you be about your portfolio?
Travis Cruger with Cruger Financial Services watched as the world financial markets took another nose dive on Monday. Despite the Dow dropping more than 2-thousand points and the S & P 500 dropping 226 points, he says, now is not the time to panic.
"Buy low and sell high," said Cruger. "A lot of investors get emotional and see news headlines and CNBC and talking heads and they think they need to sell everything and it typically is the wrong time to do so."
Many investors are worried about the worldwide spread of the coronavirus as well as a growing oil war between Saudi Arabia and Russia. The uncertainty had many dumping stocks and with a drastic opening sell off, trading at the New York Stock Exchange was stopped for 15 minutes to prevent a crash. Does this mean a recession is possible?
According to Cruger, "Keep in mind people didn't lose money until they sold. The market has already recovered from 08 and it has recovered from every correction since then. So stay the course."
There is some good news for those who contribute to a 401-K. Every contribution you're making now will be at better prices than you were paying at the beginning of February. One market you may want to sink money into it the housing market.
Cruger says, "If buying a house is the right thing for you at this time it is definitely a perfect time to buy a home with interest rates so low."
Currently 30 year fixed home interest rates are in the mid 3's to upper 2's, so now is a good time buy. As far as the recent nosedive in the stock market many analysts say, to stay the course because the market historically has always bounced back.
