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A streak ended this week as stock market volatility is rising … Learn how successful investors manage risk, protect gains, and capitalize on market swings.
We’re in rare air.
According to Dow Jones Market Data, the S&P 500 entered Friday on a nine-week streak of weekly gains. That has happened only four times in the last 40 years (1989, 2004, 2023, and this year).
When I sat down to write Friday morning, the market looked poised to finish the week higher once again, which would have marked 10 consecutive weeks of gains – a streak not achieved in 40 years! But the market turned south, and as I write this on Friday, it looks like we won’t get there. By the time you read this, the market’s final verdict for the week will be in.
Either way, that statistic is striking. The last time the S&P 500 achieved a streak of 10 or more consecutive positive weeks was a 12-week run that ended in December 1985.
I was skeptical of this market stat at first. Surely this must have happened another time within the last 40 years…
During the dot-com boom? During the post-COVID bounce?
Nope.
Despite dozens of bull markets, corrections, and rallies, there have apparently been no 10-week streaks since 1985.
To put that in perspective, here’s what was happening the last time investors witnessed a streak like that:
The Number One song then was “Say You, Say Me” by Lionel Richie.
NFL quarterback legends Dan Marino (Miami Dolphins) and John Elway (Denver Broncos) faced each other for the first time, with Miami winning 30-26.
“Rocky IV,” starring Sylvester Stallone, was the top movie of the holiday season, but “Back to the Future” was the highest-grossing movie of the year.
Even the nine-week streak, given how rare it is, could lead some investors to declare it’s time to sell – that the market must be in store for a hard correction.
But the bigger story isn’t whether the market finishes this week up or down.
It’s how quickly things can change.
One day, investors are celebrating new highs. The next day, they’re worrying about President Donald Trump’s new tariffs, rising Treasury yields, geopolitics, or the latest economic report.
The market seems capable of shifting from optimism to pessimism – and back again – in just a few hours.
I’d like to call this environment unusual – after all, there’s always volatility. But according to DataTrek, the S&P has become noticeably more volatile in recent years. Historical baselines have nearly doubled due to unprecedented macroeconomic shocks, intense concentration in Big Tech in the indices, and the rapid rise of algorithmic trading.
There’s every reason to believe that the ride is only getting bumpier.
But volatility isn’t always bad.
When Volatility is Your Friend
For decades, investors have been taught the same basic lesson: Find great stocks and hold them for the long run.
There’s certainly wisdom in that approach. Louis Navellier’s near-5,000%-gain in Nvidia (NVDA) attests to the value of holding a top-tier position for a long time. Meanwhile, Amazon (AMZN), and Microsoft (MSFT) ultimately rewarded patient investors with life-changing gains.
But given today’s increasing volatility, market moves are coming faster than ever.
Information travels at the speed of a click. Algorithms dominate trading. Retail investors can respond to market news in seconds and make trades on their phones. Entire sectors can surge – or collapse – in just a few days. What once took months now happens in hours.
And in many of these cases, volatility works to our advantage.
A great example is Tower Semiconductor (TSEM), which Louis recommended in his Accelerated Profits not three months ago. Since his recommendation, the stock has almost doubled.
Doubling your money in less than three months, in a mid-cap stock valued at more than $26 billion, can make any investor feel dizzy.
Even with that acceleration, the stock is still below Louis’ buy below price. He believes it has the potential to run higher.
But finding great stocks is only half the battle.
The Challenge of Trade Management
The other half is knowing how to manage your positions when the other kind of volatility inevitably strikes – the kind that sends our portfolios into the red.
Most people will simply hold and hope for the best. Is that the best we can do?
While Louis remains highly optimistic about the long-term outlook for stocks, he also believes the months ahead could bring selloffs that catch many investors off guard.
And that’s what makes an upcoming event so interesting.
Louis already knows how to find winning stocks. His track record speaks for itself.
From Nvidia to countless other market leaders, Louis has spent decades refining a system designed to identify companies with the earnings growth, sales growth, and institutional demand necessary to generate outsized gains.
The harder question is often what comes next. If a stock drops on any particular day, how should you react?
And perhaps most importantly, how do you know whether to hold your position for the long haul versus step aside to protect your profits?
That’s where TradeSmith CEO Keith Kaplan comes in.
For years, Keith and his team have been developing tools designed to help investors make better decisions about timing, risk, and portfolio management.
Louis’ focus is on what to buy, and Keith’s focus is on helping investors determine when to act. Together, they believe they may have created a powerful combination for today’s market environment.
One side of the equation is designed to uncover potentially exceptional stocks.
The other is designed to help investors navigate the increasingly volatile path those stocks often travel.
At a special event next week, Louis and Keith will explain how their approaches complement one another, why they believe this partnership arrives at exactly the right moment for investors, and how they are using this combined framework to identify opportunities in today’s AI-driven market.
On June 10th at 10 a.m. Eastern, they’re releasing what they believe could be the most important – and lucrative – upgrade to the TradeSmith platform since its founding.
You can sign up for this event by clicking here.
The market’s weeks-long winning streak may have ended, but you can make sure you stay on the right side of the volatility.
Enjoy your weekend,
Luis Hernandez
Editor in Chief, InvestorPlace
