Yahoo Finance

90 minutes into the trading day and the major averages are all moving lower. This comes after a week of major volatility from tariff policy and that slightly lower than expected jobs print. Also had weakness for tech stocks this week as well. So, how should investors be approaching all of that uncertainty? Well, it's time now for our weekly FA corner brought to you by Capital Group. And joining us for our first rendition, we got Catherine George Well Stream Advisors financial advisor. Catherine, great to speak with you here. Just want to get a sense of what you're hearing from clients about how they're digesting the volatility right now and what they're most concerned about.

Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of times we have to separate what's going on in the world and our financial situation in markets. Markets don't always act rationally, so it can be tough for people to take what's going on in the world and really apply it to their long-term plan. But really, I think the most important thing to make sure our clients feel comfortable is making sure they have enough cash on hand. Making sure you can weather any upcoming storm, and that you don't have to, you know, sell stocks at the worst possible time. Cash is really king, especially when you have clients that are nervous.

Are you seeing some opportunity, Catherine, to put some of that money to work? I know it's important obviously to remain some sort of your positioning within cash, but to the degree of the sell-off that we have seen, is that a bit of a buying opportunity?

I think it really depends on which markets you're looking at. When we look at the the companies that everyone is talking about in the news, and that's mostly tech companies, but really companies within the S&P 500, they have really outperformed their long-term averages in recent times. So, even with this recent sell-off, when you look at the price you're paying for, you know, the profits and the money that's coming in, is it on sale? I don't know. But when we look at other places of the market, whether that's value companies or smaller companies in the US, but even internationally, there are opportunities there. And that's really just because these larger US companies have done such have had such outsized returns and really over the last 10 years. And at some point that has to revert back to the mean. So when that will happen, of course, nobody knows, but I do think there are other places of the market with that haven't had those outsized returns, and that's a longer term trend that you could really make sure you're diversified and you're thinking about all places in the market.

Catherine, earlier we spoke with David Booth Dimensional Fund Advisors founder, and he was warning about the risks of pulling money out from the market. Let's take a listen.

Every time the market drops a lot, a certain number of our clients panic and go, you know, the sky is falling. I've got to get out of here. And that makes me sad because it's very difficult to get back in once you make that decision. You know, you get out, and you go, then the market takes off, and people go, well, the train's left the station. I can't get back in now. You know, I didn't I thought it was overpriced before, now it's even higher.

So in our final minute here, Catherine, you'd mentioned this. Where are the corners of the market where you think investors can find some of that safety without selling and risking losing out on all that compound interest?

Well, I think even if you know you're going to need the cash within the next two years, and for really nervous investors maybe even two years, you need that cash no matter what. So, regardless of what's happening in the market, I would take that cash out now and make sure that you can let the market do what it's going to do without your fears and concerns. With that being said, stocks have still had, you know, a decent run over the past couple of years, so it's not like we are taking at such a big hit and such a big loss. That being said, if the market continues to go down, there are still things investors can do, whether that's rebalancing. So, making sure you have an asset mix, a plan in place, and if if your stocks fall, there might be an opportunity to take some of your bonds and buy stocks at this low opportunity. And making sure that that long-term plan is in place. Another piece is tax loss harvesting. You know, if you're in a high tax bracket or in a city with high taxes, could be a good opportunity to do some tax loss harvesting and planning and save some money on taxes. And so there are things that you can do, but I would say prepping in advance and making sure you have the cash, you have a plan in place before, you know, continued potential market downturns is really important.

All right, Catherine, we got to leave it there. Thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

Thank you.