So, the Dow is down 635 Monday, then up 430 Tuesday, then down 520 again Wednesday? What’s a member of the investor class to do? Should I go bargain hunting and drop my kids’ college funds into Sears stock? Is it time to buy gold? Or should I get out of the market all together and just park my cash in a bank somewhere? (Are banks really charging to hold money now?)
Burton Malkiel, author of the extraordinarily influential A Random Walk Down Wall Street, advises you to take a deep breath and let it ride. Here he is in the Wall Street Journal:
My advice for investors is to stay the course. No one has ever become rich by being a long-term bear on the fortunes of the United States, and I doubt that anyone will do so in the future. This is still the most flexible and innovative economy in the world. Indeed, it is in times like this that investors should consider rebalancing their portfolios. If increases in bond prices and declines in equities have produced an asset allocation that is heavier in fixed income than is appropriate, given your time horizon and tolerance for risk, then sell some bonds and buy stocks. Years from now you will be glad you did.
This is hardly a surprising message coming from Malkiel, who tirelessly points out that index funds routinely outperform professionally managed portfolios. Indeed, I would say that the median economist believes this to be true. If you haven’t read him yet, you should think about picking up a copy of his book and getting to know it a little bit.
For more on the epic market volatility, check out the always-awesome Political Calculations blog.