GREENSBORO, NC — Fears of the coronavirus and crashing oil prices hammered Wall Street on Monday.
The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 all slid more than seven percent; at one point, sharp drops triggered an automatic trading freeze. This left many people on the New York Stock Exchange anxious, but as for financial advisors here in Greensboro, they aren't too worried.
Tommy Faggart is a financial advisor with Edward Jones, he's been doing it for 20 years. He has seen the stock market plummet twice; in the years 2000 to 2003 and 2008 to 2009.
"I wouldn't call it routine, but it's not something we have not seen before," Faggart said.
Financial experts told us that fears of the coronavirus and the drastic drop in oil prices are to blame. Faggart said, it looks bad but he has been preparing his clients for weeks on what was to come.
"Most of my clients are depending, and we've gotten them to depend on our ability to guide them correctly. The objectives we've set, most of them are staying put, I mean there's no big change right now," Faggart explained.
Other experts like WSSU economics professor Dr. Zagros Madjd-Sadjadi says there is still a chance for big change. He explained the stock market could continue to go down, but there is no need for nationwide panic.
"In the grand scheme of things, it will eventually come back and it will go higher than it is once we stop panicking, once we stop acting like the world is going to end," Madjd-Sadjadi said.
He urges investors to hang-tight and to think in the long-term perspective.
"You've basically lost your opportunity if you had wanted to move out, you have to basically see the signs before the problem starts," Madjd-Sadjadi said. He also adds, "Even perfect storms eventually pass, this too shall pass, and that's what we have to concentrate on and look forward to the future."
The Dow finished the day down about 2,014 points, by far the largest signle day point drop in history. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both slumped about 7 percent, the worst day in those markets since 2008.