It’s always something
“At any given point in time, there is one major investment risk that becomes the focus of everyone’s attention. Sometimes this will be a new and significant event (such as the war in Iran); other times it will be a risk that has lain dormant but suddenly becomes the thing to care about (like the recent AI/software company flare-up).
“The problem is not just that we almost always end up misjudging the impact of these risks, but that there is an incessant stream of them. Many investors seem to manage their portfolios from one risk to another, month by month, quarter by quarter. Suffice to say, this is probably not a strategy that can be successful over the long run.”
– Joe Wiggins, author of the Behavioral Investment blog, in a 3/24/26 post. Read more at bit.ly/4rLHs6p.
No guarantees
“Things could always blow over or get much worse from here. This is one of the many reasons the stock market offers you a risk premium as an investor over the long run — the short run is unpredictable. Successful long-term investing in the stock market requires accepting the inherent uncertainty in how big the losses will be in the short-term. The chart never moves up and to the right in a straight line.”
– A Wealth of Common Sense blogger Ben Carlson, in a 3/24/26 post. Read more at bit.ly/47kYrp1.
The lesson of history
“The best defense against making a mistake with your investments is education. This means understanding that long-term investing comes with frequent single-digit pullbacks, many 10%+ corrections, and occasional 20%+ bear markets.”
– TKer blogger Sam Ro, in a 3/15/26 post about the need for investors to avoid doing anything rash in the midst of war-induced market volatility. Read more at bit.ly/3PIEfat.
