“Over the last seven sessions, the Dow has lost 2,271 points, or 20.1%. Since hitting an all-time high of 14,164.53 one year ago today, the Dow has lost 39.4%.”
“‘We are in a free fall right now and fundamentals have been thrown out the window,’ said Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors.”
“Stocks have tumbled despite a series of efforts on the part of the government to unfreeze the credit markets and get money flowing through the system again.”
Are these headlines from this morning? No. These are from CNN dated October 9, 2008.
One of the best things about growing older is that it gives you perspective. Those who panicked and sold out of the last downturn, or “Great Recession,” missed something spectacular as the market experienced a rebound, up to 29,551 in February 2020.
Yes, businesses closed and people lost their jobs and houses and went bankrupt … I was there for all of it and will wear the scars just as our parents and donors did. However, I’m going to ask that, while we take all precautions seriously and not downplay this crisis, we take a hopeful attitude. Though diligence and wisdom are necessary during the uncharted waters we are wading, this too shall pass. The important thing is we realize panic and fear can often lead to poor decisions, not good ones.
So, how do we move forward from here? We aren’t financial advisors and we can’t change the direction of the markets. We can, however, use this time to check in on our donors and see how they are doing. We can use the time we aren’t traveling to call and offer a word of encouragement and thank donors for standing with us and our organization in good times and bad. We can let them know they matter to us and our organizations, and though things are difficult today, we will get through this … together.
Sharpe Group will continue to post helpful information for you here on our blog and on our social media sites. If this blog was shared with you and you wish to sign up, you can do so at www.SHARPEnet.com/blog.
We can be found on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn @sharpegroup.
We welcome questions you’d like us to address. You can email us at info@SHARPEnet.com and we’ll share your question and our thoughts in this blog and on social media.
By Tom Grimm, Sharpe Group Senior Consultant
