Editors Note: This article was republished with permission from Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance
Investors across the globe are trying to make sense of the recent stock market crash. While talking with my aunt on the phone, even my uncle was busy checking his investments.
If you went online to check your portfolio balance on Monday, February 5th you might have experienced delays getting to your investment account. Vanguard, the enormous investment company, locked investors out of their accounts due to the sites volume. The trading programs were so busy, retail investors had little chance of buying, selling or in some cases even viewing their investments.
Investors were stressed, scared and in a panic last Monday as the DOW fell 5.61% and the S&P 500 declined 4.10%.
I crafted advice for robo-advisor investors on Monday entitled, “Why Did the Stock Market Crash and What Should Robo-Advisor Investors Do?”
In fact, during the subsequent days, my advice was proven sound. In short – “Don’t panic!” The stock market has regained much of the ground it lost since Monday. Just take a look at the 5 day chart of the S&P 500 index.
Yet, professionals far smarter than I took to the internet to chime in about the largest DOW stock point drop. But before you read what the media pros are saying about the stock market volatility there are a few things to consider: