ANY INVESTOR MUST STICK WITH BASICS AND AVOID PANIC.

buybacks. This acceleration is due to computers that do most of the trading and all “think” alike: They buy at a certain price point, and sell at another. Aggravating all of this is that results are available in real time.

Volatility is not instability which is why, as stock market guru Jim Cramer of CNBC rightly said, any investor must stick with basics and avoid panic.

Besides that, the public must understand that stock markets should never be confused with economies or confused with a report grade on politicians.

Last week’s market mess will be the new normal for a while and the one guaranteed benefit from all of this is that President Trump will understand it’s not all about him.

Presidents affect markets in indirect ways. For instance, the Dow Jones Industrial increased during Reagan’s eight-year tenure by 147 per cent; during Bill Clinton’s by 225 per cent; and during Barack Obama’s by 148 per cent. But the market declined 18 per cent during the George W. Bush Presidency due to 9/11, war and deregulation.

There are external pressures on markets but this looks like investors counted up their rapid profits made in 2017 and decided to cash in and spend or invest the money elsewhere. Others followed suit and prices fell so rapidly that new buyers came in, unconcerned about inflation or a bubble, and pushed prices back to peak levels. Then down again.

The wild swings in the market reveal that the so called “Trump Rally” was never about President Trump, said Cramer. “It was just an asset class doing much better around the globe. And it’s readjusting around the globe.”