If it feels like the stock market has gotten more volatile in recent years, that's not just your imagination... We can see this by looking at the biggest daily point swings in the S&P 500 Index. "Point swings" are the difference between each trading day's intraday high and intraday low. In other words, they measure how many points the S&P 500 moved in a single trading day (in either direction). And since 1967, the top 20 point swings have all happened in the past five years. Even more notable, seven of the top 10 were from this year. Take a look... To be clear, point swings are different than percentage swings. Black Monday in 1987 continues to hold the No. 1 spot for the largest one-day percentage change in the S&P 500, with a loss of 20%. Still, point swings can tell us a lot about what's going on with the stock market. And the fact that seven of the top 10 point swings happened in 2025 is a pretty concerning sign... While it doesn't mean a recession is imminent or that you should sell all your stocks immediately, it does mean that the volatility will likely continue from here. All it takes nowadays to send markets into a tizzy is an unpopular policy decision from the White House, uncertainties about what the Federal Reserve will do next, or general fears about AI-related stocks being overvalued. Deutsche Bank conducted a survey of 440 asset managers earlier this month and found that what these professionals are overwhelmingly worried about in 2026 is high tech valuations and the AI trend losing momentum. In fact, a whopping 57% of respondents said this was the one thing they believed was the biggest threat to market stability. According to Deutsche Bank's head of global economics and thematic research, Jim Reid, "We've never had such a big leader in [this category]." Put simply, investors are nervous. They're antsy over record-high stock valuations and the fact that a majority of companies have seen little to no return on their AI investments. So when any piece of good or bad news comes along, it can have a serious impact on the market. Take price swing No. 5 from the table above, for example. On November 20, the S&P 500 kicked the day off with a rally, thanks to chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) releasing fantastic earnings that beat analyst estimates. But then investors started panicking about overblown valuations in tech and news that the unemployment rate had crept higher. The S&P 500 ended the day giving back all of those gains and then some. As Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, said about the market swing that day, "This morning's stunning reversal is a sign that market psychology has become quite brittle." Unfortunately, this trend of fear and volatility is likely to continue – and maybe even worsen – in the year ahead... My friend and colleague Marc Chaikin is predicting large bouts of turbulence, lightning-quick sell-offs, and even a bear market drawdown in 2026. If Marc and his 50 years of market experience are correct, your portfolio could be in danger. However, Marc and his team have created two new signals to help you navigate the volatility. The first is a "flash buy" alert that tells you when you should get into a stock. The second is a "flash stop" sell signal that tells you when you should exit a stock. With Marc's flash buy alert, you could've made gains of 130% on biotech company Stoke Therapeutics (STOK), 171% on infrastructure investor FTAI Infrastructure (FIP), and 690% on Nvidia. And with his flash stop alert, you could've then secured those gains before these three stocks fell 50%, 65%, and 30%, respectively. These alerts could prove very useful for preserving your wealth in 2026. To learn more about these investing tools and what Marc sees coming, click here. Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement, Dr. David Eifrig and the Health & Wealth Bulletin Research Team
December 20, 2025 Reader question of the week... Q: Doc, in your financial checklist you didn't mention shared accounts. Am I set if my husband is a joint owner on all our bank accounts/credit cards/etc.? – I.H. A: Thanks for being a Retirement Millionaire subscriber, I.H. (In last week's issue, I shared a year-end financial checklist, including getting one's affairs in order ahead of time.) It depends on the account. If it's a joint banking or investment account (where you and your spouse are both owners), the surviving spouse would most likely be allowed to maintain the account due to rights of survivorship. But if you're the owner of the account and your surviving spouse is the beneficiary, your spouse would have to claim the money from the bank. In either case, your spouse will have to let the bank know you died, but the account won't need to go through probate. Credit cards are different. Most credit-card accounts have a single owner. Others may appear on the account, but they're simply authorized users, not owners. For instance, your spouse might own the account and add you on as a user. For credit purposes, it makes sense. The liability for payment rests with the owner only. This means only the owner is legally responsible for paying the bill, regardless of the authorized user's spending. Unfortunately, this also means that once the credit-card company learns of the owner's death, it closes the account, and any authorized users lose access. What's more, you can't transfer ownership of credit cards, meaning the surviving spouse can't take over the account upon the owner's death. So in your case, I.H., check that your bank accounts and credit cards are actually set up with joint owners. It's likely that one of you is just an authorized user on the credit card. If that's the case, make sure you each have a card through your very own account (not just a card with your name printed on it) in case of emergency. Keep sending your questions, comments, and suggestions our way. We read every e-mail... feedback@healthandwealthbulletin.com.
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Fifty-year stock market legend Marc Chaikin and investment-software expert Keith Kaplan just debuted a first-of-its-kind software collaboration that could help you lock in multiple 100% to 300% potential gains in the early months of 2026 – even if markets crumble. It's a completely different investing approach designed specifically for 2026. Click here now to be among the first to access it. | | |
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