Bear Market Has Arrived

Posted On May 22, 2022 By Admin In Portfolio Management /

Stocks continued their slide for an eighth week. Friday’s drop now brings the S&P 500 Index down 20% from its recent peak. We are officially in a Bear Market. Tech stocks, in the Nasdaq Index, are down over 30% and have already been in a Bear Market.

Investors have questions and want to know what to do next. I’m going to share five thoughts.

One. Predictions are a waste of time. I’ve spent too much time this past week, reading, listening, and watching “experts” suggest what will happen next. No one knows. Some say the bottom is in, others call for another 20% drop. Some say inflation is here to stay, some say we are already in a recession, other say stagflation. The challenge is Confirmation Bias. Are we really evaluating evidence with an open mind? Or are we only looking for evidence which confirms our point of view? Unfortunately, certainty is one thing which we do not get to have as investors. Luckily, we don’t need a crystal ball to be successful. We know what has worked over time: diversification, index strategies, and focusing on keeping costs and taxes low.

Two. Our Investment Themes for 2022 have been helpful. Year to Date: Value stocks are doing better than growth stocks. International stocks are doing better than US Stocks. Short-Term bonds and Floating Rate bonds have held up better than the Aggregate Bond Index. We are still down an uncomfortable amount, and that is to be expected. However, we are down less than our benchmarks across all our portfolio models. I am not ever happy about Bear Markets, but our asset allocation has been a positive factor.

Three. We are at a 52-week low in many stocks and indices. Look back over the last 10, 20, or 30 years of stock market history and find those 52-week low points. Going forward, were you better off selling those lows or buying those lows? Obviously, you would have done very well by buying historic 52-week lows and selling would have been a mistake eventually. Could the market go lower from here? Of course. We don’t know what will happen next, but market timing via selling 52-week lows has been a poor strategy historically.

Read more: Are We Headed For a Bear Market? (2015)

Four. We have made a few moves in our portfolio that I wanted to share. We sold some of our convertible bonds and replaced them with a Vanguard Commodities fund. This should help us reduce equity-like exposure and add an inflation hedge. We sold one emerging markets bond fund and replaced it with a newer fund (also from Vanguard) with a much lower expense ratio. We sold bond funds and replaced them with individual bonds, laddered from 1-5 years. Although interest rates may rise, we can hold bonds to maturity and receive back our par value. Overall, these trades do not drastically change our asset allocation. But we are always looking for ways to improve our holdings, even in modest, incremental ways. We are not ignoring the market, portfolios, or clients at this time.

Five. Patience. If you are a ways off from retirement, this is a great time to dollar cost average and be buying shares in your IRA, 401(k), or brokerage account. You make money in Bear Markets, you just don’t realize it until later. For those who are close to retirement, or in retirement, we are already diversified and have a withdrawal strategy that anticipates market volatility such as this. We are planning for the next 20-30 years. There will be multiple Bear Markets over your retirement. Although each Bear Market feels like a surprise, they are bound to happen. And like in 2020, we are using the current drop as an opportunity to rebalance portfolios and do tax loss harvesting.

Read more: Stock Crash Pattern (March 2020)

We’ve seen this before. We’ve been here before. Bear Markets are an unfortunate reality of being an investor. They stink and we would all prefer if markets only went up. When times are good, we need to invest with the knowledge that Bear Markets are inevitable. And then when Bear Markets do arrive, like Winter, we need to wait out the storms knowing that Spring will eventually return.

Ignore predictions. Our investment themes are on the right track. Don’t sell a 52-week low. Look for opportunities to make small improvements. Be patient and persevere. That is how we are responding to the Bear.

2020 Stock Market Crash

Posted On March 8, 2020 By Scott Stratton, CFP(R), CFA In Behavioral Finance /

This month will likely be called the 2020 Stock Market Crash in the years ahead. Investopedia defines a crash as a double digit drop over a few days as the result of a crisis or catastrophic event. A crash typically occurs after a period of speculation which drives stock prices to above average valuations. Panic is a hallmark of a crash, versus a Bear Market. Certainly, we have met the definition of a crash.

Risk is perceived as danger when it occurs, but only in hindsight do we see another definition of risk: opportunity. If you look at the purchases you made in your 401(k) back in 2008 and 2009, you may be astonished by the gains you made at those low prices!

Your emotional response to a crash may be to ask if you should sell. But then you might miss out on today’s opportunities. Even if you are fully invested today, consider these five actions instead of selling.

Five Opportunities

Keep buying. Dollar cost average in your 401(k), IRA or other accounts. The shares you buy at a low price could be your largest future gains. If you have not made your IRA contribution for 2019 or 2020, this might be a good time.
Roth Conversion. Thinking about converting part of your IRA to a Roth? If so, you would now pay 11% less in taxes versus last month. After that, your gains will be tax-free in the Roth.
Rebalance. Hopefully you started with a defined allocation, like 60/40 or 70/30. If that has subsequently gotten off-target, now may be an opportune moment to make rebalancing trades.
Replace low yielding bonds. Look at the SEC Yield of your bond funds. The SEC Yield measures the yield to maturity of a fund’s bonds and subtracts the expense ratio. It is the best measure of expected returns for a bond fund. Bonds can work as portfolio ballast: a way to offset the risk of stocks. If that is your objective, stay safe. Unfortunately, the actual contribution of bonds to your portfolio return is terrible, maybe 2%, or even less than 1% if you own short-term treasuries. Instead, what I find attractive after this crash is Preferred Stocks, non-callable CDs (versus Treasuries of the same duration), and Fixed Annuities. If your SEC Yields are unacceptable consider changes, but proceed with great caution. Above all, avoid trading down from a safe bond to a risky bond just for a higher yield.
Do nothing. Markets go up and down. You have the choice of just ignoring it. Selling on today’s panic is the worst type of market timing, giving into fear. So, take a deep breath and realize that after the crash it is often best to hold.

Work on Your Financial Plan

There’s more to your financial success than just whether the stock market is up or down. Ask yourself the following questions:

Am I on track for retirement?
Do I have an Estate Plan?
Am I prepared for my children’s college education expenses?
Have I protected my family with a term life insurance policy? Additionally, are there risks to my career, business, health, or family which I need to address?
Do I have a disability and long-term care plan?
How am I addressing my charitable goals?
Are there additional ways to save on taxes?
Should I refinance my mortgage?
Am I eligible for a Health Savings Account or Flexible Spending Account?
Have I calculated the optimal age to begin Social Security for myself and my spouse?

Don’t let investing in the stock market consume all your attention, because it is only one piece of your financial plan!

Think Long Term

Risk is danger and risk is opportunity. Instead of worrying about this month, imagine that it is 2021 or 2022 and the market has recovered. What would you have wished you had done in the 2020 Stock Market Crash?

Ignoring the panic of the day isn’t easy. Thankfully, a good investor doesn’t have to make predictions about the market going up or down. We can’t control that. The key is managing how you respond when the market is at its worst. Finally, if you know you need work on your financial plan or would benefit from professional advice on managing your portfolio, I am here to help.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Stock market investing involves risk of loss of principal. Dollar cost averaging does not guarantee a gain.

Are We Heading For A Bear Market?

Posted On May 18, 2015 By Admin In Behavioral Finance /

Yes, we are headed for a bear market. But, that’s no cause for alarm, because there is always going to be another bear market. That’s how markets work – we have periods of economic expansion, followed by periods of contraction. I should add that I have no idea when the next bear market will occur, but if you’re wondering if a bear market will occur, then yes, it is 100% inevitable. You’ll be happier and a better investor if you accept this fact, too.

Today’s bull market will eventually run out of steam and we will have a bear market. And that will be followed by another bull market, and so on. The key thing to remember is that the overall long-term trend is up, and that bear markets are simply a brief interruption of a permanently growing global engine.

Since World War II, we’ve had roughly 13 bear markets (a drop of 20% or more), which works out to an average of once every five years. Each one of those bear markets felt like the sky was falling and that markets would never recover, but what has actually occurred is that the S&P 500 Index has expanded 100-fold from 19 in 1946 to 2100 today.

If you are just getting started investing, you might see perhaps 8 bear markets as you accumulate assets for 40 years. And if you are now retiring, you may experience 6 or so bear markets over a 30-year retirement.

It’s easy to agree that you won’t try to time the market when the market is doing great, like it is today. But even the steadiest investor is likely to have their resolve tested if the market goes down 20%. It’s human nature to want to stop the pain of losses and just get out of the market. Unfortunately, the moment of maximum pain will be at the bottom – exactly the worst time to sell your stocks.

With so much fear in the market today, some investors are wondering if we should sell and sit in cash until there is a decline. I can’t advocate this type of strategy. Even if you are successful in getting out of the market, you have to correctly get back into the market. I’ve yet to see any fund or firm be able to do this consistently over several economic cycles. And every study I have seen on individual investors has found that a market timing approach is likely to have worse returns than sticking with a buy and hold strategy.

Some so-called experts have been predicting a bear market for several years, and if you had sold your stocks based on their advice, you would have missed out on significant gains. Even after six years of positive returns, it’s possible that the bull market will continue to march upwards. No one has a crystal ball to predict how the market will perform in the short term. Market timing doesn’t work because it requires knowledge which doesn’t exist.

What we do know is that bear markets are inevitable and what really matters is how you respond to them. That’s why it’s vitally important to have a plan in place for that future storm while the sun is shining today. Here’s our plan and what you need to know about bear markets:

1) Bear markets are a brief interruption of a larger uptrend. If you’re a long-term investor, don’t worry about bear markets.

2) Don’t make a temporary decline into a permanent loss of capital by selling. Know that we plan to stay the course. We will not attempt to time the market. We choose an all-weather allocation which we will maintain in both bull and bear markets based on your needs, goals, and risk tolerance.

3) We rebalance portfolios annually. When the market is up, that means we trim stocks and add to bonds. If the market goes down, we will buy stocks when they are on sale. Remember that we are always highly diversified and avoid both sector funds and single country funds.

4) When you hear “Bear Market”, I want you to think of two words. First, inevitable, and second opportunity. When a TV is marked down by 20 or 30% off last year’s price, you don’t think its a disaster, it’s a chance to buy something you want at a lower price. Take advantage when the market puts stocks on sale.

Have faith in the future. Not a blind naivete, but an understanding of history and an appreciation for the opportunity which bear markets bring to us. The key question is not whether or not we will have a bear market, but if you are prepared and know what to do when we eventually do have one.