Needless to say, President Donald Trump‘s first 100 days in office have rattled the stock market. The broader benchmark S&P 500 index fell about 8% during Trump’s first 100 days, marking the index’s worst performance in this time period since the first 100 days of former President Gerald Ford’s presidency in 1974. And truthfully, things could have been worse with the index falling close to 20% from highs made in the second half of February. Trump’s sweeping tariffs caught the market off guard, and things only recovered after Trump announced a 90-day pause. The odds of a recession have increased, and Trump’s tariff saga seems far from over. But if you’re worried about your IRA savings, read this first.
Keeping your poise is paramount
It’s easy to be an investor when the market is rising like it has over the last couple of years. It’s the times of turbulence that will test investors. As Trump tries to transform global trade and bring back higher-paying jobs in sectors like manufacturing to America, while negotiating better trade agreements with other countries, investors are largely operating in the dark. Tariffs have never been this high, and Trump is trying to change decades of trade policy seemingly overnight.
It’s easy to understand why investors may be panicking, but the reality is that we have been here before. No, I am not talking about tariffs or Trump’s other policies. Rather, I am speaking about times of remarkable uncertainty when it seems like things may never be the same again. Other difficult periods like this include the Great Recession in 2008 when it looked like major banks might fail (in fact, a few did), or the COVID-19 pandemic when it looked like the economy could be shut down for months at a time. In both of those circumstances, many people thought the market wouldn’t recover. They may have been right to think that things would never be the same, but the market has always found its footing.
^SPX data by YCharts
Historical data has shown that long-term investors who stay invested don’t lose money. According to data from BlackRock, the U.S. stock market has never generated negative returns on a rolling 20-year basis between 1936 and 2024. Since 1972, that number hasn’t been longer than 12 years. In fact, volatility has become the norm in the 21st century. BlackRock found that over the past 20 years up until 2024, the market had an average intra-year drop of almost 15% yet generated positive returns in 75% of those years.
Remember, if you haven’t sold any of your positions in your retirement folder, you haven’t lost anything yet. Data is also very clear that short-term trading is a bad strategy. Using 100 years of data, the British multinational asset manager Schroders found that if you invested for a month, investors would have lost money 40% of the time on an inflation-adjusted basis.
Furthermore, the data shows that the longer you hold investments, the smaller the chance you have of losing money. On a five-year horizon, the chance of losing money is nearly cut in half, while on a 10-year horizon the chances of losing money are 13%.
Think about where you are in your investing journey
Every investor is at a different place in their lives. Some are young and can be more aggressive or wait things out, while others need money sooner. If you can’t wait it out and want to protect the current value of your portfolio, then I’d recommend diversifying into safer assets whether its gold, shorter-term Treasury bonds, or certificates of deposit. Of course, you may want to speak to a financial advisor to discuss your specific situation, but there are alternatives.
However, the data clearly shows that if you can wait for multiple years, your money is likely to be safe and even potentially appreciate.
Bram Berkowitz has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The Motley Fool is a USA TODAY content partner offering financial news, analysis and commentary designed to help people take control of their financial lives. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.
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This is, by far, the worst thing Donald Trump did in April | Opinion
Only President Donald Trump could get away with pardoning Michele Fiore, who paid for plastic surgery with funds donated to honor a murdered Las Vegas police officer.
It’s nearly impossible to determine the worst thing Donald Trump does on any given day, let alone a week, or a month.
The atrocities pile up so fast.
But the worst thing Trump did in April is indisputable. Beyond doubt.
On April 23, Trump pardoned a Nevada Republican politician and MAGA sycophant name Michele Fiore, who was convicted of using money collected for a statue honoring a murdered police officer for cosmetic surgery, rent and her daughter’s wedding.
Again, with emphasis, this woman used money meant for a statue honoring a murdered police officer for cosmetic surgery, rent and her daughter’s wedding.
2 officers were murdered while having lunch
Fiore was found guilty in October and could have — should have — wound up in prison. Her request for a retrial had been turned down. She was about to be sentenced.
Now, she’s free and clear, thanks to Trump.
A jury determined that Fiore raised more than $70,000 for the statue of one of two Las Vegas police officers fatally shot in 2014.
The killings made national news.
Las Vegas officers Alyn Beck, 41, and Igor Soldo, 31, were having lunch at a pizza buffet when a lunatic anti-government husband and wife walked in and shot them, leaving a note saying, “This is the beginning of a revolution.”
Imagine if anyone but Trump had pardoned Fiore
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One of the people ripped off by Fiore’s statue scheme is Nevada’s current governor, Joe Lombardo, who at the time was Clark County sheriff.
The question now is whether state prosecutors will take the case.
Benjamin Edwards, a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ William S. Boyd School of Law, said, “A presidential pardon has the effect of removing any criminal liability for the pardoned actions under federal law, but the same underlying acts can form the basis for a state law prosecution.”
Fiore’s lawyer believes she may be off the hook by way of the statute of limitations. We’ll see.
If Obama or Biden — or any other president — had pardoned someone like Fiore, who did what she did, they would never be let off the hook. Never.
And loudly condemning such a pardon would have been Trump, and all of his MAGA sycophants, more than a few of whom proudly fly “thin blue line” American flags.
And yet their guy, their Dear Leader, granted a full pardon to a woman who used money meant for a statue honoring a murdered police officer for cosmetic surgery, rent and her daughter’s wedding.
Trump announces ‘full and comprehensive’ trade deal with UK
President Donald Trump said the U.S. has reached a trade deal with the United Kingdom, the first trade pact since he paused reciprocal tariffs and began negotiating with countries to lower trade barriers.
“The agreement with the United Kingdom is a full and comprehensive one that will cement the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom for many years to come,” Trump posted on social media May 8 after teasing the announcement the night before without details. “Because of our long time history and allegiance together, it is a great honor to have the United Kingdom as our FIRST announcement.”
Trump has a press conference scheduled at the White House at 10 am EDT on May 8 to discuss the deal.
The president imposed reciprocal tariffs on a slew of countries April 2 but later paused most of them for 90 days, saying those nations’ leaders were eager to negotiate trade deals. Since then administration officials repeatedly have said they are close to making deals.
Trump commented about the intense interest in the trade deals during a May 6 meeting with the prime minister of Canada.
“Everyone says: ‘When, when, when are you going to sign deals?” Trump said. “We don’t have to sign deals. We could sign 25 deals right now . . . if we wanted. We don’t have to sign deals. They have to sign deals with us. They want a piece of our market.”
The president also expressed frustration with the constant questions. “I wish they’d stop asking how many deals are you signing this week,” he said.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told lawmakers during a May 6 committee hearing that deals could be signed soon.
“I would think that perhaps as early as this week we will be announcing trade deals with some of our largest trading partners,” Bessent said.
There are 18 countries that Bessent described as “major trading partners.” He said negotiations have begun with all of them except China, but talks between U.S. and Chinese officials are now scheduled.
Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are traveling to Switzerland on May 8, where they will meet with China’s “lead representative on economic matters.”
Michelle Obama says ‘everyone would know’ if she divorced Barack Obama: ‘I’m not a martyr’
In Michelle Obama’s opinion, “everyone would know” if she was divorcing her husband.
The former first lady said it wouldn’t be a secret if she was splitting from former President Barack Obama, during a May 1 episode of “The Diary of a CEO” podcast with host Steven Bartlett.
“If I were having problems with my husband, everybody would know about it,” she said, telling Bartlett that her brother and “IMO” podcast co-host Craig Robinson “would know it,” too. The “Becoming” author also said that “I would be problem solving in public,” adding, “I’m not a martyr.”
The former collegiate head basketball coach Robinson said if the pair were having marriage problems, “I’d be doing a podcast with (Barack Obama).”
This is not the first time the “Becoming” on Netflix star has addressed viral rumors that her marriage with president No. 44 was ending, which first surfaced after she skipped President Donald Trump’s second inauguration.
Michelle Obama said differences with Barack Obama make them more compatible
On the April 23 episode of “IMO” featuring Robinson and Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson, Obama revealed why she decided to skip Trump’s second inaugural ceremony.
“My decision to skip the inauguration – or my decision to make choices at the beginning of this year that suited me – were met with such ridicule and criticism,” Obama explained during the episode. “People couldn’t believe that I was saying no for any other reason. They had to assume that my marriage was falling apart.
“I’m here really trying to own my life and intentionally practice making the choice that was right for me, and it took everything in my power to not do the thing that ‘was right,’ or was perceived as right, but do the things that was right for me,” she added on “IMO.”
This year, amid Trump’s second stint in office, the former first lady has emerged as outspoken as ever – about her own marriage and own opinions – since leaving the White House in 2017. The Obamas married in Chicago in October 1992 and share two adult daughters, filmmaker Malia, 26, and 23-year-old University of Southern California alum Sasha.
Obama echoed her earlier comments about why she skipped the event to Bartlett in the “Diary of a CEO” episode.
“You know, as a box-checking person who has been checking her whole life, doing the right thing, trying to always be an example, always going high … I think I just told myself, ‘I think I’ve done enough of that,’ and if I haven’t, then I never will. It’ll never be enough. So let me start now,” Obama said.
But the Higher Ground co-founder said the differences in her and the former president’s respective personalities actually make them more compatible.
When “I met Barack Obama, he showed up in my life as the opposite of a box checker, but somebody that I describe in my book as an ‘ultimate swerver.’ He did nothing by the book,” she said. “He was brilliant and interesting.”
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