Dow 30000: Are Individual Investors Ready for What Comes Next?
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What does the Dow closing above 30,000 mean for investors?
Here's your money briefing for Wednesday, November 25th. I'm J.R. Whalen for The Wall Street Journal. When the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 30,000 for the first time yesterday, it marked a 62% gain from its low point at the start of the pandemic in March. But it wasn't just Wall Street's big investment houses that pushed the market to its record highs.
March really presented a unique opportunity for a lot of investors where they saw a 30% decline as an incredible buying opportunity where they can now finally get into this market, enjoy some of the gain. Couple that with the fact that in some cases, people lost their income, their jobs were shut down, they were furloughed, they were maybe laid off. Several investors talked about investing as filling a void for them, whether it was financial or just time.
Our markets reporter Michael Worsthorn will explain the role that investor psychology is playing in the market rally and why the next several months are going to pose a challenge to day traders and individual investors who are tempted to keep their money in stocks. That's after the break.
How has the pandemic-driven disconnect between stocks and the economy arisen?
Yesterday's record day on Wall Street comes as the economy is still searching for solid ground, and new rounds of pandemic-driven restrictions are going into place around the country. So how long will the market run, and how risky is it for individual investors who have their livelihood and their 401k tied up in stocks? For some answers, let's bring in our markets reporter, Michael Wursthorn. Michael, thanks for being here.
Thank you.
So to what extent has the run-up in the market in the past eight months, you know, defied conventional wisdom about smart investing in the market?
I think there's two things that investors are both happy to see but also struggling to grasp. One of them is really just the fact that stocks have really disconnected from the economy. I mean, the economy by no means is at its pre-pandemic highs, yet the stock market, here we are in uncharted territory with the stock market making fresh highs and the Dow Jones Industrial Average reaching this very significant milestone, 30,000. On the other hand, too, though, is the fact that stocks are really the only game in town. So investors understand why there's just so much interest in buying stocks.
Why are stocks considered 'the only game in town' right now?
I mean, you look at everything since the Fed made its commitment that it's not going to let the economy falter during the pandemic has sort of reset the board in terms of expectations of assets. You can't really expect a lot out of Treasury bonds right now. And equities overseas aren't looking that great. So stocks are really the thing that's caught most investors' eyes.
Okay, so stocks are the only game in town. But how much of a risk is this market for investors who are watching college education money or retirement funds?
Prior to the pandemic, people talked a lot about the stock market in the sense that it was one of the most hated bull rallies ever. And really what a lot of people meant by that is that they missed out putting their money in when stocks were really getting going back in 2010, mid-2009, when we were getting out of that bear market. and that they just never felt confident to put their money in again at another point, thinking that the market was going to fall apart. March really presented a unique opportunity for a lot of investors, where they saw a 30% decline as an incredible buying opportunity, where they can now finally get into this market and enjoy some of the gain. Couple that with the fact that in some cases people
lost their income. Their jobs were shut down. They were furloughed.
How did March's market crash create a unique buying opportunity for individual investors?
They were maybe laid off. Several investors talked about investing as filling a void for them, whether it was financial or just time, too, in that sense. You couple all that with sort of this idea that stocks aren't all that risky which is certainly the idea some investors believe whether it's whether it's right or not people are willing to take bigger gambits um you know the fact that you can do it all from your phone like robin hood it certainly played a huge part in fueling this trading along with the fact that trading is free across the board it cuts out an expense that you know for the the less money you have the the bigger part that it's eating into your overall income if you're paying those trading costs
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What does the Dow closing above 30,000 mean for investors?
0:05–1:12
2
How has the pandemic-driven disconnect between stocks and the economy arisen?
1:12–2:18
3
Why are stocks considered 'the only game in town' right now?
2:18–3:31
4
How did March's market crash create a unique buying opportunity for individual investors?
3:31–6:55
5
How have commission-free trading and Robinhood-style day traders fueled the rally?
6:55–10:39
Speakers
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