Stock Market Turmoil: 3 Crucial Things to Do Now to Protect Your Portfolio
The important thing is to focus on quality. This means looking for companies that have a strong track record of growth, are profitable or have a clear path to profitability, and have solid long-term prospects. These players may be down today, but they're not out. Will today's troubles seriously damage a particular company's long-term growth story? If the answer is "no," then it may be a stock to consider.
Of course, once you buy stocks during turbulent times, the turmoil may continue -- and the stock may slip further. Try not to focus on day-to-day performance; instead, consider the stock's long-term potential. When you invest for a number of years, these rough periods won't impact overall performance by very much -- or at all.
3. Don't panic sell
Always remember: You haven't lost if you haven't sold. So, during times like these, don't sell at a loss unless you've really lost faith in the particular player and don't expect it to recover -- and prefer to sell and use the cash to invest in more promising stocks.
Otherwise, if you see that some of your quality stocks are falling or look sluggish, don't sell them. You're likely to regret such a move once the tumultuous times pass, as these players recover and potentially go on to gain.
As mentioned above, when the market is down or in turmoil, it's not the time to run away, but instead to buy -- and it's likely you'll cheer about this decision over the long run.
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Adria Cimino 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.
Stock Market Turmoil: 3 Crucial Things to Do Now to Protect Your Portfolio was originally published by The Motley Fool
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