Another day, another roller coaster for markets. Stocks opened sharply lower today and have spent the morning clawing their way back towards even. Is it Ebola? Questionable earnings? Global unrest? According to Ric Edelman It could simply be time for stocks to head lower.
“We’ve gone 700 days, the fourth largest stretch in stock market history, where we’ve not had a 10% correction,” he says, “so some people think the market is going to go down just because it hasn’t gone down in a really long time.”
Related: Nightmare on Wall Street: Will the market bloodbath continue?
One of the many potential catalysts is the oil trade. Crude has cratered and stocks soon followed. “Our need for oil is reducing,” Edelman points out. “Not significantly but enough for people to pay attention. On the one hand people hate high gasoline prices so when gas prices come down because the price of oil comes down people get upset and nervous about it. We can’t have it both ways.”
Edelman says there is one tried and true method for investors to make it through rough waters such as these. “Instead of bouncing back and forth between the daily headlines and the momentary profit performance data out of the S&P 500, just instead stay focused on your long-term goals.”
Sounds simple enough. Sure, that doesn’t work for traders but if you’re investing for retirement or your kid's college fund years or even decades out Edelman says get into the market today.
“We know historically that the stock market generally rises in price,” he says. “That means if you wait you’ll probably be waiting to future higher prices. If you’re going to wait you’re not investing, you’re speculating, you’re gambling and nobody knows if that’s going to prove true.”
Related: Is that all there is? Musings on a cranky old bull
He admits this strategy may mean you’ll miss some lower lows but think about when you’ll need the cash. If your kid is eight years old now, will the market be higher in ten years when Yale comes calling? Edelman and many others say yes. If you agree then don’t worry about the price of your investment tomorrow or next week, just get off the sidelines.
More from Yahoo Finance:
New case of Ebola in U.S.: Is it the latest market headwind?
Two global energy giants likely to outperform index funds
Curse of the new Fed chief? Spooked markets test Yellen