Political tension and uncertainty surrounding tariffs have taken a toll on the stock market in recent weeks, as prices have crashed, rebounded, and then dipped yet again in a matter of days.
If you’re feeling a bit queasy with all of this volatility, you’re not alone. Consumer confidence continues to decline, with the Expectations Index — which measures consumers’ outlooks on factors like income and the labor market — falling to its lowest point in 12 years. With recession risks still high, consumer confidence could drop even further.
However, that doesn’t necessarily mean you should avoid investing right now. While the future may be uncertain, history can offer some comforting news.
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Bad news is an investor’s best friend
When we’re in the thick of market turbluence, it can be easy to forget that this isn’t the first time the market has faced tough times. Over the last few decades, stocks have faced devastating crashes, record-breaking bear markets, and severe recessions. So far, though, it’s managed to not only survive every single one of them, but thrive over time.
Since 2000, the market has experienced the dot-com bubble burst, resulting in one of the longest bear markets in history; the Great Recession, the most severe recession post-World War II; and the COVID-19 crash, one of the fastest market crashes in history; as well as the significant volatility throughout 2022 and 2025.
Despite all of these historic ups and downs, though, the S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.13%) is still up by more than 267%, as of this writing. If you’d invested $10,000 in January 2000 and simply left it alone without investing another dollar, you’d have close to $37,000 today.
Past performance doesn’t predict future returns, and in many ways, we’re in uncharted territory. It’s wise to be prepared for potentially significant volatility in the near future. However, the market’s long-term potential often far outweighs the risk of short-term turbulence.
In fact, staying in the market during periods of volatility is a strategy some of the greatest investors use to maximize wealth, because investing during downturns means buying at lower prices. Warren Buffett famously advocates for investors to “be greedy when others are fearful,” suggesting that times like these are prime buying opportunities.
“Again, in the early 1980s, the time to buy stocks was when inflation raged and the economy was in the tank,” he wrote in a 2008 article for The New York Times. “In short, bad news is an investor’s best friend. It lets you buy a slice of America’s future at a marked-down price.”
The key to taking advantage of volatility
Staying in the market despite volatility is the first step toward building long-term wealth. The key, though, is to double-check that you’re investing in the right places.
All stocks will be subject to ups and downs; that’s simply the price investors must pay to generate wealth in the market. But healthy companies are the most likely to recover eventually, and those are the stocks to load up on right now.
Strong businesses will have a robust foundation that’s built to survive tough times. That will include factors like healthy financials, a competitive advantage over its peers, and a knowledgeable leadership team that can be trusted to make smart decisions in the face of uncertainty.
The S&P 500 is currently down by more than 14% since mid-February, as of this writing, with some stocks seeing much larger dips. Rather than getting discouraged by that volatility, though, think of it as a chance to invest at a 14% discount while setting yourself up for greater gains once the market recovers.
Nobody knows what the coming weeks or months will look like for the stock market. Over the next decade or two, though, it’s likely we’ll see positive total returns. By viewing volatility as a normal part of the market’s cycle and then using it to your advantage, it will be a little easier to weather even the worst stock market storms.
