r/ETFs • u/Sapiens_Cool • 2d ago
Resist the Urge to Panic Sell
The absolute worst thing to do during a market downturn is often to sell out of fear.
Selling after a significant drop locks in your losses and means you won’t benefit from any potential market recovery.
Have a Long-Term Perspective. Historically, markets have always recovered from downturns.
Do Not Panic Sell. Stop Checking Portfolio Constantly. Maintain Perspective. Continue investing regularly (DCA) if possible
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u/yodamastertampa 2d ago
The worst thing to do is use Reddit advice.
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u/You_2023 2d ago
well at least here is reddit correct - a friend of mine with financial background and a long term investor advices just the same - no panic sells and keep dca monthly as always
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u/YieldChaser8888 2d ago
The people who panic sell make things worse. Imagine - all people would sell stocks and then make a bank run. The whole system would collapse.
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u/BigToober69 2d ago
Luckily, a lot of people are true believers and never sell, so the rest of us could sell before liberation day and buy back later.
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u/YieldChaser8888 2d ago edited 2d ago
I sold World ETF and SP500.I bought income products, unfortunately too high.
There are people who hold due to taxes. When have to tax your gains with 30%, it is not worth it.
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u/BigToober69 2d ago
Yeah it depends how long you have been in. Robinhood let's you do tax lots though so you could sell at least a portion before all this bs if you had wanted. Not sure if other platforms have tax lots.
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u/Vanhouzer 2d ago
Yep, most people here are idiots and fail to realize there are different investments strategies and depending on yours, SELLING might be the best option instead of riding the market down.
Also this is not your typical down market, this is not a common situation either. Things have gone so much down that you could sell, wait till everything falls enough, then buy back and ride the wave back up and recover your loses.
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u/UnaRansom 2d ago
Indeed.
Imagine you had a time machine to last week. Why not sell all your ETFs so you have more to buy with later?
“Never sell” is dogma. Helpful dogma, but still dogma.
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u/yodamastertampa 2d ago
Yep. I'm a never sell real estate investor due to high transaction costs. Offloading a 300k property hits you with 50k in losses. But offloading 300k stock is basically free these days.
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u/DOA-USMC-0331 2d ago
You don't loose money till you sell. I don't think we're even close to the bottom. I'm waiting till around April 17 or so to start buying back in. This is one of the few "opportunities of a lifetime" that is why you keep some cash on the sidelines.
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u/Briefcased 2d ago
If you’re right, wouldn’t you be better off selling now and then buying back in later on when the market is lower?
Like, if you sell today, the market goes down 5% on Monday and you buy back in - you’ve essentially made 5%
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u/Frosti11icus 2d ago
Ya that would be considered trying to time the market which is kind of counter to the point if ETFs HOWEVER if you feel pretty strongly that the market is going to drop like say from 80 years of free trade unraveling in an afternoon…yes you can do that.
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u/DOA-USMC-0331 2d ago
Yes and no depends on how your portfolio is setup. I stay mainly in monthly paying dividend stocks. My non dividend stocks that I had a profit in I sold. And am keeping cash till later this month when the dust settles. So I still will be pocketing money. Like I said you don't really loose anything until you sell. And this is a global issue all markets are being hit hard. If it was just the US market I would be worried. This is all just my $.02 worth.
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u/MiskatonicAcademia 2d ago
Depends if you're using Roth (no taxes) or individual brokerage (taxes on capital gains).
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u/Relative_Drop3216 2d ago
Its too late to panic sell. The time to cut losses was last week before the binary event. No one bothered to sell. Now they thinking of selling because its gotten really bad… they literally had the opportunity to sell. It is what it is
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u/Vanhouzer 2d ago
Agree, but China and other countries will start their tariffs next week so there is a chance things might get lower still.
This is a good moment to see which of your investments are getting hammer by this situation and which have been resilient over it.
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u/fanfanye 1d ago edited 1d ago
even the day after binary event wasnt too late
i managed to offload mine at 505 , in after market , just after the announcement
Im convinced everyone saying "just DCA" are just hoping everyone is jumping off the bridge together
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u/Krip0000 2d ago
Every time I panic sold I regretted it later down the line. Now I’m past the emotional side of things. Just holding
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u/Relative_Drop3216 2d ago
What if its different this time?
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u/Vanhouzer 2d ago
Its is, this is not a normal situation. We have the stupidest President ever existed.
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u/Relative_Drop3216 2d ago
This is why im buying. Because its not chaotic event, its a controlled event. We will recover from this thats why im buying hand over fist.
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u/Embarrassed_Crow_720 2d ago
Its not just about selling. Many people will sell at the tight time, no one will buy back at the right time
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u/Brilliant-While-761 2d ago
I’m trying to resist the urge not to panic buy. I’m dca all the way down
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u/Lost_Jellyfish_3574 2d ago
I have a question, most my etfs are still in profit, obviously nothing like a month ago. Should I sell and take the profit and buy back in if they continue to dip, or just hold and wait for them to eventually recover ?
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u/aerettberg 2d ago
No one knows the future, so it’s a gamble either way. But the simple answer is: if you believe the market will continue to go down, you should sell. If you think that it will go up, then hold.
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u/Vanhouzer 2d ago
Yes, if the ETF is getting hammered by tariff then is good to sell it and buy it once its cheaper to mitigate riding it all the way down.
It also depends how low has it gone and if it’s lowered than your average cost. I sold mine $3 above my average cost and will buy back later once this whole situation settles.
If the ETF was performing just fine before Trump fkd everything up then Yes, you should definitely buy it back. Trump is making everyone and everything look bad, even good investments. This is not a normal situation for anyone.
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u/You_2023 2d ago
when exactly are you planning to buy back? do you have a plan? what if you buy and then it continues to drop and drop? will you sell again?
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u/Lost_Jellyfish_3574 2d ago
Basically take profits while I have them and monitor the situation, I mean I can see the market continuing to go down. I’d prefer to cash out now for profit than watch them go in the red and wait for a comeback. I wanted to sell last week while I was still up a lot but changed my mind after reading all the comments on Reddit about not to panic sell and hold.
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u/Vanhouzer 2d ago
If its a regular stock that doesn’t pay anything to you then hold. If its an ETF that pays dividends to you and is getting lowered than expected then sell and buy it back at a lower cost later. I mean, if you truly think it can get lowered then yes, sell.
I sold some after I heard the China tariff and things did went further down.
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u/milksteak122 2d ago
I’m 34. I sold all stocks in my IRAs a week ago when the sp was at 5600. That’s about half my retirement money, so I’m still holding and DCAing my 401k. I’m going to just put my Roth IRA contributions into bonds or leave in the settlement fund for now. I feel like the worse is yet to come. First time in my life I have ever done something like this to time the market.
But I think at this point things have already dropped so much it’s probably not best to try to cut your losses at this point.
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u/Local_Chart_8546 2d ago
I feel bad for those that are trying to currently live off there 401K or retirement
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u/obxtalldude 2d ago
Cheerleading posts make me want to sell more than anything.
Reminds me of the message boards before the 2000 crash.
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u/AICatgirls 2d ago
I learned what a put contract is today. I'm just thinking of all the jobs we're going to lose when we can't export stuff anymore. GDP is going to contract, and we aren't even officially in a recession yet. Hedge your risk until you're comfortable!
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2d ago
If you can sell 1000 shares at $27.50, knowing full well that the price will drop 30% and can buy it back in a couple months for $19.50, why wouldn’t you? Asking because I’m a newbie and I really don’t know
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u/RaccoonWannabe 2d ago
Not that I really knew but my answer is this: Because you have taxes and order transaction costs. As an example: If you sold for 3000 dollar what cost you 2000 to acquire then you gain 1000 pre tax and fees. With a quarter in tax and some 30$ to the broker for the transaction your net gain is 720$. That means you started out with 2000$ and now have 2720$.
But you also gave away 280$ to others. If the prices rally again you will now have to buy again which means you pay some 30$ to the broker all over again. Plus you will likely miss the initial price hike. That means you pay around 10% of your initial investment value.
The calculation essentially becomes: Will the prices continue to drop by more than those 300$? If yes, sell now, buy back after the drop. You just discounted your losses because you only lost the 300$. If no, don't sell because it will be more expensive to sell than to hold.
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u/Krip0000 2d ago
You sell and it’ll go back up shortly. Unless you need the funds like ASAP, I says hold and chill…
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u/Empty_Afternoon_8746 1d ago
Don’t panic sell just sell because you don’t want to lose all your money, but it’s a little late for that now lol
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u/marcio-a23 1d ago
The only one decision is only buy the dip
Its manipulation.. theres no recession.
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u/Sea_Bed9929 1d ago
Sell then what ? Unless you have a better things to buy, may be. Otherwise, you need to be right twice (when to sell and when to buy again), which is not easy !!
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u/MinyMine 2d ago
Ehh just go with your own decision if u thought of selling for a while then sell if ur all the sudden thinking of selling now i think ur too late
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u/8uScorpio 2d ago
Your etf won’t recover for months
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u/The-Blue-Baron 2d ago
My guess would be years and possibly never fully.
America seems to be in the process of throwing away it's position as the leading economy
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u/Millertim1159 2d ago
It’s going way down, get out now.
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u/SuperFlyAlltheTime 2d ago
Good take, nothing suggests any of this is normal. Bad policy is going to have long term consequences.
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u/emmanuelibus 2d ago
I bought more. LOL.