Markets
7 Facts That Will Free You From the Fear of Stock Market Crashes
7 Facts That Will Free You From a Fear of Stock Market Crashes
The current bull market in stocks is closing in on an astounding 10 years in length, making it the longest bull market run in all of modern history.
Largest Bull Markets
Rank | Bull Market | Length |
---|---|---|
#1 | 09’-18’ (Current) | 115 months* |
#2 | ’90-‘00 | 114 months |
#3 | ’49-‘56 | 86 months |
#4 | ’74-‘80 | 74 months |
#5 | ’82-‘87 | 60 months |
*As of September 2018
Understandably, this makes many people very nervous.
Everyone remembers the mayhem of 2008 – and with stock prices at all-time highs, the fear of a market meltdown is a valid concern for many investors.
How to Become Unshakeable
Today’s infographic is from Tony Robbins, leveraging data and talking points from his #1 Best Selling book Unshakeable: Your Financial Freedom Playbook, which is now available on paperback.
It leans on insights from the world’s top investors – like Ray Dalio and John Bogle – to present seven indisputable facts about market crashes, using clear patterns established over decades of data.
By understanding these seven facts, you’ll be able to prepare for the recurring seasons of the financial market, including winter, and it will help give you an enormous edge over even many sophisticated and experienced investors.
Seven Indisputable Facts
Here are the seven facts that will free you from a fear of stock market crashes:
Fact #1: On average, corrections happen once per year
For more than a century, the market has seen close to one correction (a decline of 10% or more) per year. In other words, corrections are a regular part of financial seasons – and you can expect to see as many corrections as birthdays throughout your life.
The average correction looks something like this:
- 54 days long
- 13.5% market decline
- Occurs once per year
The uncertainty of a correction can prompt people to make big mistakes – but in reality, most corrections are over before you know it. If you hold on tight, it’s likely the storm will pass.
Fact #2: Fewer than 20% of all corrections turn into a bear market
When the stock market starts tumbling, it can be tempting to abandon ship by selling assets and moving into cash. However, doing so could be a big mistake.
You would likely be selling all of your assets at a low, right before the market rebounds!
Why? Fewer than 20% of corrections turn into bear markets. Put another way, 80% of corrections are just short breaks in otherwise intact bull markets – meaning that selling early would make you miss the rest of the upward trend.
Fact #3: Nobody can predict consistently whether the market will rise or fall
The media perpetuates a myth that, if you’re smart enough, you can predict the market’s moves and avoid its downdrafts.
But the reality is: no one can time the market.
During the current nine year bull market, there have been dozens of calls for stock market crashes from even very seasoned investors. None of these calls have come true, and if you’d have listened to these experts, you would have missed the upside.
The only value of stock forecasters is to make fortune-tellers look good.
– Warren Buffett
Fact #4: The market has always risen, despite short-term setbacks
Market drops are a very regular occurrence. For example, the S&P 500 – the main index that tracks the U.S. stock market – has fallen on average 14.2% at least one point each year between 1980-2015.
Like winter, these drops are a part of the market’s seasons. Over this same period of time, despite these temporary drops, the market ended up achieving a positive return 27 of 36 years. That’s 75% of the time!
Fact #5: Historically, bear markets have happened every three to five years
In the 115 year span between 1900-2015, there have been 34 bear markets.
But bear markets don’t last. Over that timeframe, they’ve varied in length from 45 days to 694 days, but on average they lasted about a year.
Fact #6: Bear markets become bull markets
Do you remember how fragile the world seemed in 2008 when banks were collapsing and the stock market was in free fall?
When you pictured the future, did it seem dark and dangerous? Or did it seem like the good times were just around the corner and the party was about to begin?
The fact is, once a bear market ends, the following 12 months can see crucial market gains.
The best opportunities come in times of maximum pessimism.
– John Templeton
Fact #7: The greatest danger is being out of the market
From 1996 through 2015, the S&P 500 returned an average of 8.2% a year.
But if you missed out on the top 10 trading days during that period, your returns dwindled to just 4.5% a year.
It gets worse! If you missed out on the top 20 trading days, your returns were just 2.1%.
And if you missed out on the top 30 trading days? Your returns vanished into thin air, falling all the way to zero!
You can’t win by sitting on the bench. You have to be in the game. To put it another way, fear isn’t rewarded. Courage is.
– Tony Robbins
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Markets
Interest Rate Hikes vs. Inflation Rate, by Country
Inflation rates are reaching multi-decade highs in some countries. How aggressive have central banks been with interest rate hikes?

Interest Rate Hikes vs. Inflation Rate, by Country
Imagine today’s high inflation like a car speeding down a hill. In order to slow it down, you need to hit the brakes. In this case, the “brakes” are interest rate hikes intended to slow spending. However, some central banks are hitting the brakes faster than others.
This graphic uses data from central banks and government websites to show how policy interest rates and inflation rates have changed since the start of the year. It was inspired by a chart created by Macrobond.
How Do Interest Rate Hikes Combat Inflation?
To understand how interest rates influence inflation, we need to understand how inflation works. Inflation is the result of too much money chasing too few goods. Over the last several months, this has occurred amid a surge in demand and supply chain disruptions worsened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In an effort to combat inflation, central banks will raise their policy rate. This is the rate they charge commercial banks for loans or pay commercial banks for deposits. Commercial banks pass on a portion of these higher rates to their customers, which reduces the purchasing power of businesses and consumers. For example, it becomes more expensive to borrow money for a house or car.
Ultimately, interest rate hikes act to slow spending and encourage saving. This motivates companies to increase prices at a slower rate, or lower prices, to stimulate demand.
Rising Interest Rates and Inflation
With inflation rates hitting multi-decade highs in some countries, many central banks have announced interest rate hikes. Below, we show how the inflation rate and policy interest rate have changed for select countries and regions since January 2022. The jurisdictions are ordered from highest to lowest current inflation rate.
Jurisdiction | Jan 2022 Inflation | May 2022 Inflation | Jan 2022 Policy Rate | Jun 2022 Policy Rate |
---|---|---|---|---|
UK | 5.50% | 9.10% | 0.25% | 1.25% |
U.S. | 7.50% | 8.60% | 0.00%-0.25% | 1.50%-1.75% |
Euro Area | 5.10% | 8.10% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
Canada | 5.10% | 7.70% | 0.25% | 1.50% |
Sweden | 3.90% | 7.20% | 0.00% | 0.25% |
New Zealand | 5.90% | 6.90% | 0.75% | 2.00% |
Norway | 3.20% | 5.70% | 0.50% | 1.25% |
Australia | 3.50% | 5.10% | 0.10% | 0.85% |
Switzerland | 1.60% | 2.90% | -0.75% | -0.25% |
Japan | 0.50% | 2.50% | -0.10% | -0.10% |
The Euro area has 3 policy rates; the data above represents the main refinancing operations rate. Inflation data is as of May 2022 except for New Zealand and Australia, where the latest quarterly data is as of March 2022.
The U.S. Federal Reserve has been the most aggressive with its interest rate hikes. It has raised its policy rate by 1.5% since January, with half of that increase occurring at the June 2022 meeting. Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, said the committee would like to “do a little more front-end loading” to bring policy rates to normal levels. The action comes as the U.S. faces its highest inflation rate in 40 years.
On the other hand, the European Union is experiencing inflation of 8.1% but has not yet raised its policy rate. The European Central Bank has, however, provided clear forward guidance. It intends to raise rates by 0.25% in July, by a possibly larger increment in September, and with gradual but sustained increases thereafter. Clear forward guidance is intended to help people make spending and investment decisions, and avoid surprises that could disrupt markets.
Pacing Interest Rate Hikes
Raising interest rates is a fine balancing act. If central banks raise rates too quickly, it’s like slamming the brakes on that car speeding downhill: the economy could come to a standstill. This occurred in the U.S. in the 1980’s when the Federal Reserve, led by Chair Paul Volcker, raised the policy rate to 20%. The economy went into a recession, though the aggressive monetary policy did eventually tame double digit inflation.
However, if rates are raised too slowly, inflation could gather enough momentum that it becomes difficult to stop. The longer high price increases linger, the more future inflation expectations build. This can result in people buying more in anticipation of prices rising further, perpetuating high demand.
“There’s always a risk of going too far or not going far enough, and it’s going to be a very difficult judgment to make.” — Jerome Powell, U.S. Federal Reserve Chair
It’s worth noting that while central banks can influence demand through policy rates, this is only one side of the equation. Inflation is also being caused by supply chain issues, a problem that is more or less outside of the control of central banks.
Markets
3 Insights From the FED’s Latest Economic Snapshot
Stay up to date on the U.S. economy with this infographic summarizing the most recent Federal Reserve data released.

3 Insights From the Latest U.S. Economic Data
Each month, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York publishes monthly economic snapshots.
To make this report accessible to a wider audience, we’ve identified the three most important takeaways from the report and compiled them into one infographic.
1. Growth figures in Q2 will make or break a recession
Generally speaking, a recession begins when an economy exhibits two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. Because U.S. GDP shrank by -1.5% in Q1 2022 (January to March), a lot rests on the Q2 figure (April to June) which should be released on July 28th.
Referencing strong business activity and continued growth in consumer spending, economists predict that U.S. GDP will grow by +2.1% in Q2. This would mark a decisive reversal from Q1, and put an end to recessionary fears for the time being.
Unfortunately, inflation is the top financial concern for Americans, and this is dampening consumer confidence. Shown below, the consumer confidence index reflects the public’s short-term outlook for income, business, and labor conditions.
Falling consumer confidence suggests that more people will delay big purchases such as cars, major appliances, and vacations.
2. The COVID-era housing boom could be over
Housing markets have been riding high since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, but this run is likely coming to an end. Here’s a summary of what’s happened since 2020:
- Lockdowns in early 2020 created lots of pent-up demand for homes
- Greater household savings and record-low mortgage rates pushed demand even further
- Supply chain disruptions greatly increased the cost of materials like lumber
- Construction of new homes couldn’t keep up, and housing supply fell to historic lows
Today, home prices are at record highs and the cost of borrowing is rapidly rising. For evidence, look no further than the 30-year fixed mortgage rate, which has doubled to more than 6% since the beginning of 2022.
Given these developments, the drop in the number of home sales could be a sign that many Americans are being priced out of the market.
3. Don’t expect groceries to become any cheaper
Inflation has been a hot topic this year, especially with gas prices reaching $5 a gallon. But there’s one category of goods that’s perhaps even more alarming: food.
The following table includes food inflation over the past three years, as the percent change over the past 12 months.
Date | CPI Food Component (%) |
---|---|
2018-02-01 | 1.4% |
2019-05-01 | 2.0% |
2019-06-01 | 1.9% |
2019-07-01 | 1.8% |
2019-08-01 | 1.7% |
2019-09-01 | 1.8% |
2019-10-01 | 2.1% |
2019-11-01 | 2.0% |
2019-12-01 | 1.8% |
2020-01-01 | 1.8% |
2020-02-01 | 1.8% |
2020-03-01 | 1.9% |
2020-04-01 | 3.5% |
2020-05-01 | 4.0% |
2020-06-01 | 4.5% |
2020-07-01 | 4.1% |
2020-08-01 | 4.1% |
2020-09-01 | 4.0% |
2020-10-01 | 3.9% |
2020-11-01 | 3.7% |
2020-12-01 | 3.9% |
2021-01-01 | 3.8% |
2021-02-01 | 3.6% |
2021-03-01 | 3.5% |
2021-04-01 | 2.4% |
2021-05-01 | 2.1% |
2021-06-01 | 2.4% |
2021-07-01 | 3.4% |
2021-08-01 | 3.7% |
2021-09-01 | 4.6% |
2021-10-01 | 5.3% |
2021-11-01 | 6.1% |
2021-12-01 | 6.3% |
2022-01-01 | 7.0% |
2022-02-01 | 7.9% |
2022-03-01 | 8.8% |
2022-04-01 | 9.4% |
2022-05-01 | 10.1% |
From this data, we can see that food inflation really picked up speed in April 2020, jumping to +3.5% from +1.9% in the previous month. This was due to supply chain disruptions and a sudden rebound in global demand.
Fast forward to today, and food inflation is running rampant at 10.1%. A contributing factor is the impending fertilizer shortage, which stems from the Ukraine war. As it turns out, Russia is not only a massive exporter of oil, but wheat and fertilizer as well.
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