Canadians are worried about their stocks after the American stock market continues to plunge following global tariffs issued by U.S. President Donald Trump.
As of Apr. 7, the most popular American retirement investment index S&P 500 was the lowest it’s been since the COVID-19 pandemic hit over five years ago.
Despite reaching a record-high two months ago, the index has lost nearly 20 per cent, according to reports from BNN Bloomberg, and is now 18.4 per cent below the all-time high it set on Feb. 19.
Even Trump’s own stake in his social media company that runs Truth Social has fallen to $2.4 billion, a 40 per cent drop from when the market began falling back in February, BNN Bloomberg says.
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One he wasn’t that concerned about holders selling their shares despite the drops.
“Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” he said on Sunday.
These low stock values reflect Trump’s tariff protocol announced on Apr. 2, which has also equally affected the Canadian economy.
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“The stock market typically recovers four to six months before a recession ends…. They have fallen to levels that you would typically see markets fall during recessions much quicker and I believe it’s because of algorithmic trading,” former Wall Street analyst and finance TikToker Derrick Fung said in a TikTok video on Monday, while addressing some concerns from Canadians who feel they could be affected by the U.S. stock crashes.
Fung also pointed to China as an example of a country which was proactively negotiating with the U.S. after the impact of Trump’s imposed tariffs.
“I do hope this market turmoil incentivizes countries to figure things out sooner and potentially reverse some of these tariffs. If that does happen given the decreased impacts on inflation, the [federal government] could be more incentivized to drop rates sooner in May,” Fung said.
Meanwhile, some Torontonians are devastated and concerned about their investments in the Canadian and American stock markets.
“Just trying to get away from it now. I’m kinda depressed,” Mark told Now Toronto.
“Obviously, it’s not a great situation right now, but I think we just need to hang tight. The rest of the world will recover, whatever the U.S. does,” Niluca K. told Now Toronto.
“I’m not the most educated about this, but of course it trickles down. We will feel it financially with our cost of living,” Shakiba Y. added.
Meanwhile, others are hesitant to enter the stock market or just don’t have much hope overall.
“I am concerned in the sense that I already don’t know much about the stock market. To see it go down as soon as I’ve entered, I don’t see a lot of positives at the moment, especially given all of the backlash and concerns around from people who actually know about this,” Yash M. told Now Toronto.
“I’m not really in the big stock market right now, but what can we say, finance is finance,” T.A.M. said.
“I have not touched a single stock in my life. I know I should probably do it. I’m happy I didn’t do it. I’m sure at some point I will,” Daniel added,
Online, Canadians all over the country are reacting to the effects of the American stock market crash.
“Why is the stock going down such a horrible thing, when people like me can take this chance to buy stocks that may be undervalued. It may go down even more, but it may be up in a few weeks as well,” one Reddit user said.
“For those with a long investment horizon and spare cash, this next little while is an incredible opportunity. The markets are going on sale and it’s a great buy opportunity,” another person said.
“As expected, Trump has put the stock market in Canada and around the world in a tailspin,” a Reddit user commented.
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