If you've been an investor for any length of time, you are aware of how your emotions can affect your investment choices.
This works on the upside with fear of missing out and the downside with the fear of losing everything.
It is so easy to want to invest when markets are positive and not want to invest—or even possibly worse—sell when markets are negative.
Recently, Bespoke Investment Group provided the above chart that shows the problem of being driven solely by market direction. The comparison between owning stocks only after up days to only after down days is startling.
They write, "if you only owned the US stock market on the day after up days since SPY began trading in 1993, your cumulative gain would be just 44%. If you only owned the market on the day after down days, you'd be up 851%."¹
Don't be the kind of investor who only buys after the good days.
Emotions can lie to you not only in your day-to-day life but in your day-to-day investing!
Shutting off emotions is not easy.
That’s why you must be prepared for downside moves—always.
As the legendary Jack Bogle put it, "If you have trouble imagining a 20% loss in the stock market, you shouldn't be in stocks."²
If you are the kind of investor who only buys on good news, your portfolio may be significantly lower than the person that learns how to buy on the bad news.
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Sources:
1. “Drawdowns” email on November 13, 2025.
2. “The enduring wisdom of John C. Bogle in five quotes” (September 17, 2025). Accessed online: https://www.vanguard.com.au/personal/learn/smart-investing/understand-the-basics/enduring-wisdom-of-john-bogle-in-five-quotes