WASHINGTON 鈥� U.S. stocks plunged when trading opened on Monday, dropping more than 1,000 points following a similarly huge drop in Chinese stocks. But by 11:15 a.m., they鈥檇 rebounded somewhat, down only about 400 points.
So is the worst over? Michael Santoli, a senior columnist for Yahoo! Finance, tells 草莓传媒 it鈥檚 too early to be sure.
鈥淚 do think that was just a very violent shakeout at the open.鈥�
The sell-off came in response to the fears inspired by the Chinese plunge, Santoli says, and the skittishness seems to be over.
鈥淲e鈥檒l see if the floor was set in the morning.鈥�
Santoli adds that the market, which hadn鈥檛 had a drop of more than 10 percent in more than four years, was overdue for a correction. He adds that many financial analysts had spent the past year remarking about 鈥渉ow boring and unresponsive the U.S. stock market was to a lot of what was going on in the world,鈥� including negative global growth and the instability of Chinese markets.
He says he was surprised that the correction came 鈥渁ll at once.鈥�
Still, it鈥檚 important to keep your perspective: This downturn has 鈥済iven up about a year鈥檚 worth of gains.鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 not good, but it鈥檚 also not so bad,鈥� particularly compared to the low points of 2009 and 2011.
He adds that it鈥檚 a good opportunity to invest if you don鈥檛 have enough stocks in your portfolio, and you need to have that kind of ice water in your veins.
鈥淚f you鈥檝e been genuinely unnerved about what鈥檚 happened in the markets in the last three days, if you really feel like you can鈥檛 sustain this kind of a ride, then maybe you鈥檙e overexposed to stocks relative to your risk tolerance, and it鈥檚 time to evaluate whether you belong there.鈥�
It鈥檚 about the long haul, Santoli says.
鈥淚f you need the money tomorrow, you should never really have it in stocks.鈥�
