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Fighter Planes and Market Turmoil

Have you been reading the daily headlines—watching markets stall, recover, and dip once again? If so, you may be wondering whether there’s anything you can do to avoid the motion sickness. 

If you already have a well-structured, globally diversified portfolio tailored for your goals and risk tolerances, our answer remains the same as ever: Your best course is to stay the course. Remember, our investment advice is aimed at helping you successfully complete your long-term financial journey. As “The Psychology of Money” author Morgan Housel has observed:  

“Bubbles do their damage when long-term investors playing one game start taking their cues from those short-term traders playing another.”

The Case of the Missing Bullet Holes

Have we ever told you the tale of the World War II fighter jets and their “missing” bullet holes? Today’s bumpy market ride seems like a good time to revisit this interesting anecdote about survivorship bias. 

The story stems from studies conducted during World War II on how to best fortify U.S. bomber planes against enemy fire. Initially, analysts focused on where the returning bombers’ hulls had sustained the most damage, assuming these were the areas requiring extra protection. Fortunately, before the planes were overhauled accordingly, statistician Abraham Wald improved on the evidence. He suggested, because the meticulously examined planes were the survivors, the extra fortification should be applied where they had fewer, not more bullet holes. 

How so? Wald explained, the surviving planes’ bullet-free zones were not somehow impervious to attack. Rather, when those zones were getting hit, those planes weren’t making it back at all. Survivorship bias had blinded earlier analyses to the defenses that mattered the most. 

Surviving Market Turbulence

You can think about the markets in similar fashion. For example, consider these recent predictions from a well-known market forecaster (emphasis ours): 

“Jeremy Grantham, the famed investor who for decades has been calling market bubbles, said the historic collapse in stocks he predicted a year ago is underway and even intervention by the Federal Reserve can’t prevent an eventual plunge of almost 50%.” 

ThinkAdvisor, January 20, 2022

At a glance, that sounds pretty grim. But read between the lines for a hidden insight: He was also predicting the same collapse a year ago??? Yes, he was: 

“Renowned investor Jeremy Grantham, who correctly predicted the Japanese asset price bubble in 1989, the dot-com bubble in 2000 and the housing crisis in 2008, is ‘doubling down’ on his latest market bubble call.” 

ThinkAdvisor, January 5, 2021

What if you had heeded Grantham’s forecasts a year ago, and left the market in January 2021? Time has informed us, you would have missed out on some of the strongest annual returns the U.S. stock market has delivered in some time. 

Now What?

If market volatility continues or worsens, brace yourself. You’re going to be bombarded with similar predictions. Few will be bold enough to foretell the exact timing, but the implications will be: (1) it’s going to happen soon, and (2) you should try to get out before it’s too late. 

Some of these forecasts may even end up being correct. Bear markets happen, so anyone who regularly forecasts their imminent arrival will occasionally get it right. Like a stopped clock. Or those continually looping infomercials on how “now” is the best time to load up on silver or gold. (Incidentally, many of these same precious metal purveyors are among those routinely predicting the end is near for efficient markets.)  

Bouts of market volatility are like the bullet holes we can see. They’re not pretty or fun. But interim volatility isn’t usually your biggest threat … attempting to avoid it is. The preparations we’ve already made may be less obvious, but they’re there—including tilting a portion of your portfolio into riskier sources of expected return for long-term growth, fortifying these positions with stabilizing fixed income, and shoring up the entire structure with global diversification. 

This brings us to the real question: What should you do about today’s news? Unless your personal financial goals have changed, your best course is probably the one you’re already on. That said, we remain available, as always, to speak with you directly. Don’t hesitate to be in touch with any questions or comments you may have. 

Phillip Law, Portfolio Analyst

Wealth Advisor, Warren Street Wealth Advisors

Investment Advisor Representative, Warren Street Wealth Advisors, LLC., a Registered Investment Advisor

The information presented here represents opinions and is not meant as personal or actionable advice to any individual, corporation, or other entity. Any investments discussed carry unique risks and should be carefully considered and reviewed by you and your financial professional. Nothing in this document is a solicitation to buy or sell any securities, or an attempt to furnish personal investment advice. Warren Street Wealth Advisors may own securities referenced in this document. Due to the static nature of content, securities held may change over time and current trades may be contrary to outdated publications. Form ADV available upon request 714-876-6200.

Market Volatility – “A Few Minutes with Marcia”

Volatility measures the frequency and magnitude of price movements, both up and down, that a financial instrument experiences over a certain period of time. The more dramatic the price swings, the higher the level of volatility.

Learn the basics of market volatility with Marcia Clark, CFA, MBA.

Watch:

For those who prefer to read!

Welcome to A Few Minutes with Marcia. My name is Marcia Clark, Senior Research Analyst at Warren Street Wealth Advisors. Today we’re going to talk about the 4th quarter 2018 stock market dive and 1st quarter 2019 rebound in an attempt to understand more about market volatility.

Prior to 2018, the stock market had experienced 2 years of unusually low volatility, despite a few bumps along the way. After a mixed start to 2018, the Dow Jones Industrial Average looked like it was back to its winning ways, then came the 4th quarter tumble. Investors were caught by surprise by the huge swings in market prices – volatility – and started selling stocks like crazy. To better understand these market dynamics, let’s put the recent activity into context.

You may have heard of a common measure of market volatility called the ‘VIX’ – the Chicago Board Options Exchange volatility index. The VIX measures expected future volatility by evaluating the prices of put and call options traded on the exchange. If you’re looking at the slideshow, you can see how much calmer the VIX index was during the quiet years of the stock market, especially in 2017. As the market swooped up in late 2017, expected future volatility spiked shortly thereafter – remember that volatility can spike when prices go up as well as down.

When the market gave back some of its gains in early 2018, the volatility index fell back as well. Then came the market tumble in late 2018. The VIX index starts jumping around like a Richter scale during an earthquake. As we move into 2019, even with the recent pick up in volatility the graph shows that the VIX is at a pretty normal level compared to prior years. We’re just not used to ‘normal’ volatility anymore.

Where do we go from here? No one knows for sure, and if anyone says they can predict the future they’re kidding themselves and their clients. What we can say is that financial markets react to rumors and headlines, many of which don’t fundamentally change the financial landscape. This ‘knee jerk’ reaction causes market volatility, and this volatility is normal. In fact, active investment managers appreciate market volatility, because market dips based on headlines rather than fundamental changes in the economic landscape give investors with a strong stomach and an evidence-based outlook the ability to buy good assets at cheap prices. If all goes well, those assets will recover their value plus more over time, and patient investors will be rewarded.

 

Marcia Clark, CFA, MBA
Senior Research Analyst
Warren Street Wealth Advisors

Warren Street Wealth Advisors, a Registered Investment Advisor. The information contained herein does not involve the rendering of personalized investment advice but is limited to the dissemination of general information. A professional advisor should be consulted before implementing any of the strategies or options presented. Any investments discussed carry unique risks and should be carefully considered and reviewed by you and your financial professional. Past performance may not be indicative of future results. All investment strategies have the potential for profit or loss. 

 

 

DISCLOSURES

Investment Advisor Representative, Warren Street Wealth Advisors, LLC., a Registered Investment Advisor

The information presented here represents opinions and is not meant as personal or actionable advice to any individual, corporation, or other entity. Any investments discussed carry unique risks and should be carefully considered and reviewed by you and your financial professional. Nothing in this document is a solicitation to buy or sell any securities, or an attempt to furnish personal investment advice. Warren Street Wealth Advisors may own securities referenced in this document. Due to the static nature of content, securities held may change over time and current trades may be contrary to outdated publications.

Form ADV available upon request 714-876-6200