Fremont financial planners react to stock trading suspensions – Fremont Tribune

“It’s been a long time since we’ve had this kind of massive volatility,” said Justin Jelkin, a financial adviser with Edward Jones in Fremont. “We’ve had periods in the last few years where we’ve had 15% corrections, but typically they haven’t happened so fast, which is something that is awfully jarring and does cause a feeling of, ‘What do I do?’”

Trading was suspended for 15 minutes under trading rules by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The recent circuit breakers, the first since 1997, have come as a result of the coronavirus pandemic that came to the country last month.

The changes came after the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped nearly 3,000 points on Monday, the largest fall since Black Monday in 1987. The New York Stock Exchange also announced it would move to fully electronic trading starting on Monday.

Jelkin, who has been in financial planning since 2011, said he’s received many calls from people who are concerned about their investments. In talking with them, he said he tries to focus on their long-term goals.

“We’re not worried about what’s going on in the next five or 10 days, we’re worried about what’s going on in the next five or 10 years, or even 30 years in some situations,” Jelkin said. “So keeping their long-term goals in mind really helps to bring people back to reality and keep them from panicking too much about what’s going on day-to-day and keep their eyes on that horizon to their ultimate goals.”

Mark Guilliatt, an investment adviser representative at Guilliatt and Associates Financial Services, said people underestimated the severity of how the coronavirus would impact the stock market.

“A lot of people that are getting laid off are people that maybe don’t have the incomes to support that to the same degree, so that’s a little tough for a lot of restaurant people, for example,” he said. “So we’ve got to figure out how we can try to help as many people as we can through this.”

Guilliatt, who has been in financial planning since 1992, said he’s seen similar situations with the 2008 financial crisis, the dot-com bubble of the early 2000s and Black Monday.

“If you look at a chart of the stock market, looking at ‘87 with all these years of perspective now, it looks like a minor thing,” he said. “And that’s why you look at those charts, to say, ‘Hey, things are going to work out.’ But when you’re in that moment, it’s hard to remember that.”

Right now, Guilliatt said he’s focusing on safety and reminding people that they can put their money in places that aren’t tied to the stock market.

“With people that are more in stocks or mutual funds, we just remind them that this isn’t money we’re going to pull all out right now,” he said. “We don’t want to sell when everything is down, that’s the opposite of what we’re supposed to do. ‘Buy low, sell high’ is kind of an old adage, but it’s hard to do sometimes.”

With the current situation, both Guilliatt and Jelkin stressed the importance of keeping a properly diversified portfolio.

“As hard as it is, try not to pay too much attention to your statements for the next month or two,” he said. “Keep your eyes on the long term, on your retirement, on your goals.”

Guilliatt said he believes since people are still buying items, the economy will start to roll again after the situation has ended.

“There’s still money running through the system, but we might be on pause for another 30 days, and that affects a lot of companies and a lot of people,” he said. “But I think once we get through that, I think there’s some light at the end of the tunnel.”

Jelkin said people should also reach out to their financial advisers and discuss their options with them.

“It’s our job to help remind people that we are in this for the long term; we’re not trading day-to-day,” he said. “Don’t just sit at home and panic and stew.”

Guilliatt said as countries like China start to see an end to the coronavirus, he said he remains positive about the situation and its impact on the stock market.

“I’m an optimist, so I believe that people are going to keep wanting to do things and go out and about,” he said. “People are social, and so once we get through with this, I think things will go back to normal pretty quickly.”