Markets on Fire Sale

Greetings from PenguWIN

A fire sale is a sale of assets at heavily discounted prices. Here, I am referring to the sale of stocks in the market as though all businesses are closing down. Initial reports from the World Health Organization said that the death rate is between 3 to 4%, the rate being higher for 60+. Older people and those with respiratory problems, heart disease or diabetes are at greater risk. There are other sources from websites to news channels quoting death rates as low as 1%. Immunity among healthy young people seems to be high.

The impact of this Corona Virus pandemic seems to be accentuated by today’s social media like never before, with people overreacting by buying too much retail household stuff, thereby creating shortage and panic.

I am sure many of you who have invested in equity funds would be going through anxiety. However, this is a black swan event that no one can predict. We have had such events in the past including the Dotcom bubble, Ketan Parekh scam, 2008 financial crisis and every time the market has bounced back sharply and reached greater heights. These events have occurred in the past and will continue to occur in the future too. It’s just that we will not be able to predict when and the magnitude of it.

My request to you is that you stay away from monitoring the portfolio during tough times like these. The dip in your portfolios is ephemeral and will not affect your long-term goals unless you have invested money required in the near term in Equity Funds. Another blunder that people commit is to panic and sell their funds. If you have the conviction, this is the best time to be greedy and invest more (rather than sell and incur a loss). Personally, I have done this in the past and doing it now too. This does not work for all investors, especially people who have never faced a crash like this.

If you have any specific questions on your portfolio, please write to me or call me and I will be glad to assist. Both humanity and markets have withstood a lot of calamities and have seen that problems are temporary and progress is permanent

<Blog # PenguWIN 1074 – Markets on Fire Sale>