The stock market is down, but you don't need to be

The Indicator from Planet Money

NPR

Business

4.7 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 12 March 2025

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Government cuts. Tariff uncertainty. Sticky interest rates. These are not helping the tumbling stock market. There's a sinking feeling among some Americans that a crash is imminent.

But ... should we all be so worried? Today, we brush away the cobwebs of stock market fear and confusion, and bring some long-held facts to the surface.

Related episodes:
Why to look twice when your portfolio is doing well (Apple / Spotify)
The cautionary tale of a recovering day trading addict (Apple / Spotify)

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Transcript

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0:00.0	NPR.
0:12.0	Tariff uncertainty, government layoffs, and sticky interstrates are weighing on businesses.
0:18.8	Just yesterday on Truth Social, President Trump announced an extra 25% tariff on Canadian,
0:25.0	aluminum and steel.
0:26.1	There was a whole lot of back and forth.
0:29.2	Ontario Premier Doug Ford told CNN that this whole trade war is bad for both countries.
0:35.6	This is absolute chaos created by one person, and that's Donald Trump.
0:41.8	All of this turmoil has not been good for the stock market.
0:45.2	As of this recording, the S&P 500 index of stocks is down about 10% from its peak in February.
0:51.9	Many Americans are worried that the stock market fall could snowball into a market crash.
0:57.3	The stock market doesn't reflect the whole of the economy, and it doesn't always hit
1:01.5	everyone's savings, especially many lower-income Americans.
1:05.4	But spills in the stock market do splash a lot of people.
1:09.4	Three out of every five American families own shares, either
1:13.2	directly or indirectly through retirement plans. So what are some ways these families could
1:20.1	be navigating this moment? Dan Villalon is an investment researcher and advisor. Don't panic.
1:25.6	What would be sort of the first answer I would have. It's a crisis.
1:29.8	We can't afford to panic. This is like that line from Toy Story when Woody says, this is the
1:35.7	perfect time to panic. This is also the indicator from Planet Money. I'm Waylon Wong. And I'm
1:40.9	Darren Woods. Today on the show, how to think through a stock market slump?
1:46.8	We brush away the cobwebs of fear and confusion, and we bring some long-held facts to the
1:52.6	surface.
	...

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