Do Choppy Markets Keep You Up at Night?
In this episode of The Informed Investor podcast: How to make sense of spikes in stock market volatility.
Published August 15, 2025.
Featuring Mark Gochnour Head of Global Client Services Group | Jake DeKinder Head of Client Communications | Wes Crill, PhD Senior Client Solutions Director and Vice President from Dimensional Fund Advisors.
While the market was relatively calm in recent weeks, that wasn’t true in the spring.
The S&P 500 Index notched returns of at least +1% or –1% on 12 out of 20 days in March, which was double the frequency of such returns over the past 30 years. Then, in early April, we saw down days of –4.8% and –6.0% followed by an up day of +9.5%.
That kind of volatility can leave many investors feeling queasy. Yet you might be surprised to know that it hardly approached the levels of volatility seen in market upheavals during COVID-19 and the Global Financial Crisis.
Should investors think about adjusting their asset allocation when the market undergoes big swings? Whether or not they choose to make a move, the data makes clear that volatility has not been a useful signal for future stock market returns.
While market volatility is never pleasant, it is a sign that market prices are responding to new information. Put another way, investors should expect volatility when new information is being processed by the market, especially if that information is largely unexpected.
Government policy updates, new economic forecasts, geopolitical developments, even headlines about widely followed companies all give markets plenty to absorb—and they all can lead to bouts of volatility.
In this episode of The Informed Investor, Dimensional’s Mark Gochnour, Wes Crill, and Jake DeKinder explain how to make sense of spikes in volatility and whether it’s possible to prepare for big swings in the stock market.
TIMESTAMPS
01:04 Indicators of current market volatility
01:33 News headlines on volatility
02:49 How the market performed in April around “Liberation Day”
03:30 Big spikes in trading volume around “Liberation Day”
04:06 Risk of missing the biggest days in the market
05:09 The history of big ups and downs in the market
05:26 Calendar-year stock returns after intrayear downturns of 20%
06:02 Calendar-year stock returns after intrayear gains of 20%
06:46 What happens to stocks after downturns of 10% or more
07:07 The investor “badge of honor”
07:49 Stock performance after periods of high or low volatility
08:43 What can investors do when the market drops
09:44 Preparing for periods of high volatility
10:56 How to determine an appropriate asset allocation
11:18 Stock performance and volatility in 2025
11:52 Stock performance and volatility in 2023
12:15 Investor emotions when the market gets choppy
12:52 Strategies designed to mitigate potential downside risk
13:34 Key takeaways
Beacon Hill Private Wealth is an independent, fee-only, fiduciary investment advisor providing evidence-based wealth planning solutions that simplify our clients' financial lives. Founder Tom Geoghegan, CFP®, CIMA®, CPWA®, RMA® is also a member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA).
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