The latest rounds of tariffs and other policies enacted by President Donald Trump have caused some uncertainty and fear for the stock market. Alex Langan, the chief investment officer at Langan Financial Group, said it’s been tough to watch.”People are really, really nervous and apprehensive. I would say most people stick to your game plan. If you’re looking for retirement, maybe have a little bit of money on the sidelines,” he said.He said consumers are slowing down their spending and businesses don’t know what to do with the tariffs.”So, money is not flowing through the economy as much as people would like, and that is signaling slowing in overall economic output,” he said.Langan said the market needs certainty.”We need a game plan for what the tariffs are going to be, how long they’re going to be in place and how we can navigate around it. Businesses cannot plan right now. That’s what’s really frustrating the economy,” he said.He talked about where things stand with some of the biggest American companies, including Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft and Tesla. “They have absolutely gotten beat up. Today they’re coming back a little bit. But their valuations when you look at them were so elevated they were over one standard deviation above what would be considered appropriate. So, this is actually better to take a deep breath and regroup from where we were at. The losses should help overall moving forward,” he said.He also explained what approach he recommends for investors.”If you’re younger, now’s a good time to maybe stay aggressive or continue with your game plan. If you’re a little bit older looking to start the income distribution, you may want to look for some dividends or some bonds that are still relatively attractive to take advantage of those,” he said.The S&P index fund forms the backbone of many 401(k) retirement plans. Langan talked about what people can do to protect their money.”You can always switch to active managers. You’re going to pay more for it, so be careful with what active managers you’re going to use. But the S&P 500 has definitely been overvalued. The Magnificent Seven, as they once were called at least several months ago, they have gotten beat up. There was too much market cap in those certain stocks. So, you’re still going to be in the same bag with the index funds. I’d recommend either diversifying overseas or looking for some active managers,” he said.He also addressed the potential impacts of tariffs.”The reality is the U.S. purchases a lot more things from other countries, so it’s going to hurt other countries more. Short-term, it will hurt us with the shocks to supply and businesses, as I mentioned, not being able to plan. But it’s going to hurt everyone economically. Hopefully we can figure things out, get a good game plan together, come together as a world and be able to move forward,” he said.
The latest rounds of tariffs and other policies enacted by President Donald Trump have caused some uncertainty and fear for the stock market.
Alex Langan, the chief investment officer at Langan Financial Group, said it’s been tough to watch.
“People are really, really nervous and apprehensive. I would say most people stick to your game plan. If you’re looking for retirement, maybe have a little bit of money on the sidelines,” he said.
He said consumers are slowing down their spending and businesses don’t know what to do with the tariffs.
“So, money is not flowing through the economy as much as people would like, and that is signaling slowing in overall economic output,” he said.
Langan said the market needs certainty.
“We need a game plan for what the tariffs are going to be, how long they’re going to be in place and how we can navigate around it. Businesses cannot plan right now. That’s what’s really frustrating the economy,” he said.
He talked about where things stand with some of the biggest American companies, including Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft and Tesla.
“They have absolutely gotten beat up. Today they’re coming back a little bit. But their valuations when you look at them were so elevated they were over one standard deviation above what would be considered appropriate. So, this is actually better to take a deep breath and regroup from where we were at. The losses should help overall moving forward,” he said.
He also explained what approach he recommends for investors.
“If you’re younger, now’s a good time to maybe stay aggressive or continue with your game plan. If you’re a little bit older looking to start the income distribution, you may want to look for some dividends or some bonds that are still relatively attractive to take advantage of those,” he said.
The S&P index fund forms the backbone of many 401(k) retirement plans. Langan talked about what people can do to protect their money.
“You can always switch to active managers. You’re going to pay more for it, so be careful with what active managers you’re going to use. But the S&P 500 has definitely been overvalued. The Magnificent Seven, as they once were called at least several months ago, they have gotten beat up. There was too much market cap in those certain stocks. So, you’re still going to be in the same bag with the index funds. I’d recommend either diversifying overseas or looking for some active managers,” he said.
He also addressed the potential impacts of tariffs.
“The reality is the U.S. purchases a lot more things from other countries, so it’s going to hurt other countries more. Short-term, it will hurt us with the shocks to supply and businesses, as I mentioned, not being able to plan. But it’s going to hurt everyone economically. Hopefully we can figure things out, get a good game plan together, come together as a world and be able to move forward,” he said.
