Welcome back to our Sunday edition, where we round up some of our top stories and take you inside our newsroom. Have you ever paid attention to the luxury watches “The White Lotus” characters wear? It turns out they might be able to provide some clues into tonight’s season finale.
On the agenda today:
But first: Stay calm.
If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. Download Business Insider’s app here.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
The headlines are scary.
Stocks are cratering. The trade war is intensifying. Odds of a recession are jumping. Opening your 401(k) is disorienting.
But here’s the thing: Most market pros say panicking is just about the worst thing you can do right now.
Think back to March 2020. The world was shutting down at the onset of the pandemic. Stocks plunged rapidly. Yet, as terrifying as that sell-off was, it proved to be short-lived. Five years later, the S&P 500 is sharply higher than it was back then (even including this year’s drop).
Vanguard sent a note to customers this week advising them to “resist the urge to deviate from your financial plan” amid rising uncertainty. It noted the market’s best- and worst-performing days tend to occur in close succession.
“Investors who have stayed the course during downturns have been able to take advantage of market recoveries and have typically come out ahead of those who moved to the sidelines,” the fund manager said.
Still, the impulse to take drastic measures is strong.
It’s human nature. My BI colleague Max Adams outlines three things investors can consider to weather the worst of the downturn: don’t overreact, consider defensive stocks, and don’t try to time the market.
If last week taught us anything, it’s that the market is not a place to park cash you might need soon. Having some investments in cash or cash equivalents, like a money market fund, is important.
Things could get worse before they get better. The S&P 500 is squarely in correction territory. The Nasdaq is already in a bear market.
Michael Antonelli, a market strategist for Baird Private Wealth Management, offered a viewpoint that stuck with me. He told clients not to let fear take over during these tumultuous times.
“When uncertainty reigns, your reaction to it determines your success or failure,” he wrote to clients. “Hunkering down and waiting for a storm to pass is sometimes the correct course of action.”
How are you navigating the markets? I’d love to hear from you, drop me a line at today@businessinsider.com.
Getty Images; Tyler Le/BI
Well, it’s not exactly private equity. MBAs and young professionals are setting their sights on search funds — which seek to buy and grow small businesses — amid white-collar job insecurity.
But the model isn’t always glamorous, and the memes are rampant.
As DOGE layoffs set in, Gen Z is entering a shaky postgrad landscape. Students who hoped to work in public service — or fields relying on federal funding and contracts — are starting to reconsider.
How about graduate school or even the private sector? Those aren’t so easy, either.
Retired boxing champ Floyd Mayweather Jr. has sought to refashion himself as a budding business mogul. In February, he talked a big game about a $400 million purchase of 62 Manhattan apartment buildings.
In the month since his announcement, however, there’s been no evidence that any of those buildings have changed hands. It’s not his only real-estate claim that doesn’t appear to match reality.
An ex-employee of Rippling, an HR software company, detailed his days of corporate espionage on behalf of rival Deel in an Ireland court filing. Some memorable moments: hiding in a bathroom, getting an offer to move to Dubai, and smashing a phone with an ax.
The accused also said Deel’s CEO was directly involved.
The BI Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Grace Lett, editor, in Chicago. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York. Elizabeth Casolo, fellow, in Chicago.
