The U.S. stock market opened lower on Thursday after historic gains on Wednesday.
The markets have been volatile around Christmas. Monday’s short Christmas Eve session was the worst in U.S. history for that day. On Wednesday, the Dow experienced its biggest one-day point jump in history.
A few things are effecting the massive changes: rising interest rates, trade tensions with China and a slowing global economy to name a few.
Dan Casey, of Bridgeriver Advisors, said the market was due for a correction — noting that we’ve had two since 2009. That said, he also notes that the rapid rises and falls aren’t unusual as more and more companies have moved toward financial algorithms and computer trading. Casey said that it adds to the peaks and valleys, but that doesn’t mean he’s advising people to abandon the market.
“It’s an individual-based decision,” said Casey. “How close to retirement are you? If you’re young, heck, put more in it! If you’re at the cusp of retirement maybe you shouldn’t have that much in.”
Casey — an experts at preparing clients for retirement — said that investing is more about the long-term. He regularly sees investors who say they’re aggressive when the market is moving up, but they quickly turn to conservative investors when it’s going down. That’s why he stresses it’s a long game.
“Anyone can tell you the market is going to go up, what’s more difficult is predicting when.”
While he stresses investments are more individual, there’s a reality that plenty of people will be watching what’s happening on Wall Street with a hyper-focus in the coming days.
