What caught my eye this week.<\/em><\/p>\n D<\/span>onald Trump\u2019s antics finally tipped the US stock market into a correction<\/a> this week, defined here as a 10% fall from the highs in the S&P 500.<\/p>\n The median US stock did even worse, posting a 20% decline.<\/p>\n According to Bloomberg<\/em><\/a>, this 16-session losing streak was the seventh-fastest such plunge since 1929.<\/p>\n However the US market bounced on Friday. And personally, I\u2019m seeing few signs of real panic.<\/p>\n Indeed why should there be? Investors de-rating US shares by a modest 10% to reflect the wildly unpredictable Washington mob ripping up the rulebook seems reasonable to me.<\/p>\n Besides, anyone who\u2019s been invested in US equities for a while should still have some very fat gains to bolster their nerves.<\/p>\n On that note: have we forgotten<\/a> what a proper bear market feels like?<\/p>\n The Covid crash was a shock<\/a> but short-lived \u2013 and there was lots else going on to distract us.<\/p>\n The 2022 growth stock rout largely passed UK investors by. The weaker pound that year boosted global portfolios in Sterling terms and the biggest shares soon recovered.<\/p>\n Most of you probably don\u2019t even remember 2018\u2019s \u2018taper tantrum\u2019.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a while since investors really got the willies<\/a>.<\/p>\n I even read in the Monevator<\/em> comments this week a suggestion from a smart and well-regarded reader that one could avoid volatile and arguably expensive markets now, and then after a crash buy leveraged ETFs to doubly profit on the bounce.<\/p>\n Now each to their own and I\u2019m all for creative thinking, but this sounds to me like bull market fatigue speaking. <\/p>\n We\u2019ve had it too good for too long, maybe? Bridgewater says<\/a> the most recent 15-year stretch for US stocks was the best since 1970\u2026<\/p>\n \u2026so I\u2019m here to remind you that in a proper bear market<\/a>, people aren\u2019t thinking about piling into two- or three-times levered ETFs to earn outsized returns in some undated recovery.<\/p>\n They\u2019re wondering if they\u2019ll ever get their money back at all.<\/p>\n Or they\u2019re feeling guilty<\/a> about their gran who gave them \u00a31,000 when they went to university which she saved by going without for years, and which they just vapourised in five minutes playing Gordon Gecko in the midst of a global meltdown. (Been there, got that T-shirt<\/a>.)<\/p>\n They\u2019re saying never again<\/a>.<\/p>\n In a proper bear market it\u2019s hard enough just to not sell<\/a> and to get through<\/a> the terrible daily news.<\/p>\n And when the bottom<\/a> does come, few people will be listening, believe it, or even care.<\/p>\n Survival is the name of the game<\/a> in bear markets. If you must try to market time<\/a> your way through one, I\u2019d say keep it as simple as possible and keep gearing at bay with a barge pole.<\/p>\n Leveraged ETFs<\/a> are for bull runs and for risk-takers who really know what they\u2019re doing. Most of us should just keep on keeping on<\/a>.<\/p>\n Have a great weekend!<\/p>\n No Cat Food retirement portfolio Year 2: Withdrawals are go \u2013 Monevator<\/a> [Members<\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n Hetty Green and the timeless appeal of market timing \u2013 Monevator<\/a><\/p>\n From the archive-ator: Asset allocation rules of thumb \u2013 Monevator<\/a><\/p>\n Note: Some links are Google search results \u2013 in PC\/desktop view click through to read the article. Try privacy\/incognito mode to avoid cookies. Consider subscribing to sites you visit a lot.<\/em><\/p>\n UK economy shrank unexpectedly in January \u2013 BBC<\/a><\/p>\n Housing market losing momentum says RICS \u2013 Property Wire<\/a><\/p>\n What will be in the chancellor\u2019s Spring Statement? \u2013 BBC<\/a><\/p>\n No cash ISA shake-up apparently, but Reeves still pondering cuts \u2013 Guardian<\/a><\/p>\n Poorest Britons now poorer than the poorest in Slovenia and Malta \u2013 NIESR<\/a><\/p>\n Secret millionaire pensioner, 98, leaves \u00a31.4m to community \u2013 Yahoo News<\/a><\/p>\n Toy train maker Hornby to quit the London Stock Exchange \u2013 Morningstar<\/a><\/p>\n FCA abandons plans to \u2018name and shame\u2019 firms under investigation \u2013 This Is Money<\/a><\/p>\n Why the government is seeking to cut the benefits bill \u2013 Guardian<\/a><\/p>\n Fixed mortgage rates take their biggest fall in six months\u2026 \u2013 What Mortgage<\/a><\/p>\n \u2026and the lenders offering sub-4% fixed mortgage rates \u2013 Yahoo Finance<\/a><\/p>\n Get up to \u00a34,000 when you transfer your ISA to InvestEngine our link<\/a>. (Minimum deposit of \u00a3100, other T&Cs apply. Capital at risk) \u2013 InvestEngine<\/a><\/p>\n Natwest launches \u00a3150 cash bonus switch offer \u2013 Be Clever With Your Cash<\/a><\/p>\n Price gap between flats and houses hits 30-year high \u2013 Which<\/a><\/p>\n Luxury lounges: credit card perks \u201cwe are all paying for\u201d<\/em> \u2013 BBC<\/a><\/p>\n You can get up to \u00a33,000 cashback when you transfer your pension to Interactive Investor<\/a>. Terms and fees apply. \u2013 Interactive Investor<\/a><\/p>\n Have you got your Monevator<\/em> mug yet? \u2013 Monevator Shop<\/a><\/p>\n Care home costs rise to \u00a31,400 a week \u2013 Which<\/a><\/p>\n Homes for sale in urban villages, in pictures \u2013 Guardian<\/a><\/p>\n The importance of temporal diversification \u2013 Cullen Roche<\/a><\/p>\n How the pension freedom \u2018class of 2015\u2019 [maybe]<\/em>\u00a0doubled their money \u2013 T.I.M.<\/a><\/p>\n Never root for a recession \u2013 Of Dollars and Data<\/a><\/p>\n Are US tariffs on goods a prelude to tariffs on money? [Search result]<\/em> \u2013 FT<\/a><\/p>\n The dirt tells no lies \u2013 Fortunes & Frictions<\/a><\/p>\n The colossal tax raid that explains why high earners don\u2019t feel rich \u2013 This Is Money<\/a><\/p>\n Trump trades and European exceptionalism \u2013 Behavioural Investment<\/a><\/p>\n A two-tier housing market will result from half-baked leasehold reforms \u2013 Guardian<\/a><\/p>\n Should you \u2018reset\u2019 retirement withdrawals in a bad market? \u2013 Best Interest<\/a><\/p>\n How to use commodities in your portfolio [US but relevant]<\/em> \u2013 Morningstar<\/a><\/p>\n Is a Lifetime ISA or a SIPP best for retirement saving? \u2013 Which<\/a><\/p>\n How the gold bullion boom sent a US recession alarm blaring [Nerdy]<\/em> \u2013 FT<\/a><\/p>\n Better angels \u2013 Humble Dollar<\/a><\/p>\n The Squid Game stock market \u2013 Acadian<\/a><\/p>\n Charting: value or voodoo? \u2013 Larry\u2019s Substack<\/a><\/p>\n The risks to equities are tailwinds to infrastructure \u2013 Institutional Investor<\/a><\/p>\n In geopolitics, words speak louder than actions \u2013 Klement on Investing<\/a><\/p>\n Stock-picking in volatile environments \u2013 Albert Bridge Capital<\/a><\/p>\n Hedge funds paying up to \u00a31m for weather modellers \u2013 Bloomberg via Yahoo<\/a><\/p>\n Poor Charlie\u2019s Almanack<\/em>\u00a0by Charlie Munger \u2013\u00a0\u00a30.99 on Kindle<\/a><\/p>\n How to Run Britain<\/em>\u00a0by Robert Peston and Kishan Koria \u2013\u00a0\u00a30.99 on Kindle<\/a><\/p>\n Invisible Women\u00a0<\/i>by Caroline Criado Perez \u2013\u00a0\u00a30.99 on Kindle<\/a><\/p>\n Chip War<\/em>\u00a0by Chris Miller \u2013\u00a0\u00a31.99 on Kindle<\/a><\/p>\n The great British sewer dump \u2013 Reuters<\/a><\/p>\n Scientists learn how migrating baleen whales transport nutrients globally\u2026 \u2013 Nature<\/a><\/p>\n \u2026but why are more of them getting tangled up in ropes? \u2013 BBC<\/a><\/p>\n The Chinese project that led the way in water and soil conservation \u2013 Guardian<\/a><\/p>\n How plants are responding to a warming world \u2013 MIT Press Reader<\/a><\/p>\n Supertrawlers spent 7,380 hours fishing in UK protected waters \u2013 The Grocer<\/a><\/p>\n Read a story from OpenAI\u2019s new creative writing model \u2013 Guardian<\/a><\/p>\n Robotaxis are here \u2013 Unchartered Territories<\/a><\/p>\n AI means the end of the web as we know it \u2013 Spyglass<\/a><\/p>\n Who needs revenue when you\u2019re a multibillion dollar AI startup? [Search result]<\/em> \u2013 FT<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018Knowingness\u2019 and the politics of ignorance \u2013 The Garden of Forking Paths<\/a><\/p>\n The new global divide makes Brexit an anomaly \u2013 Chris Grey<\/a><\/p>\n EU defence fund to be spent on European weapons \u2013 Semafor<\/a><\/p>\n How much do I really need to know? \u2013 Kottke<\/a><\/p>\n Trump boom versus tariff doom \u2013 Faster, Please<\/a><\/p>\n The real problem with tariffs \u2013 The Edgy Optimist<\/a><\/p>\n Short-term pain for\u2026long-term malaise? \u2013 Drezner\u2019s World<\/a><\/p>\n Why America betrayed Europe \u2013 Noahpinion<\/a><\/p>\n Rembrandt to Picasso: Five ways to spot a fake masterpiece \u2013 BBC<\/a><\/p>\n Woman who lived to 117 had genes keeping her cells \u2018younger\u2019 \u2013 Guardian<\/a><\/p>\n How to learn a language like a baby \u2013 The Conversation<\/a><\/p>\n Top ten Scandi life lessons after a decade living in Denmark \u2013 Guardian<\/a><\/p>\n Pure independence [A couple of weeks old]<\/em> \u2013 Morgan Housel<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThere is a limit to how much you can cut but there is no limit to how much you can earn.\u201d Like these links? Subscribe<\/a> to get them every Saturday<\/span>. Note this article includes affiliate links, such as from Amazon<\/a> and Interactive Investor<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\nBear necessities<\/h3>\n
You\u2019ll be fearful when others are fearful<\/h4>\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\nFrom Monevator<\/h3>\n
News<\/h3>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nProducts and services<\/h3>\n
Comment and opinion<\/h3>\n
Naughty corner: Active antics<\/h3>\n
Kindle book bargains<\/h3>\n
Environmental factors<\/h3>\n
Robot overlord roundup<\/h3>\n
Not at the dinner table<\/h3>\n
Off our beat<\/h3>\n
And finally\u2026<\/h3>\n
\u2013 Ramit Sethi, I Will Teach You To Be Rich<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n