A quick observation regarding the Dow. It’s a been a little over 48 hours since the president declared April 2nd, 2025 “Liberation Day” and imposed tariffs on all of our trading partners across the globe, a move that has caused the market to shed six trillion dollars so far. The biggest drop since Covid.

This Covid connection is ironic because 2020 is the same year we opened a Robinhood account and began buying a little stock every month. In the process, this humble prisoner learned all about the discipline of investing and what some call “the most powerful force in the world”—compound interest. Watching this account grow has been one of the most exciting experiences of my life. The S&P 500 had back-to-back years of over 20% growth in 2023 and 2024, and the handful of stocks that I picked were doing even better than that. We were right at double the total amount we invested after last year’s presidential election. Optimism was high and the markets reflected this. But most of those gains have been wiped over the last couple months, culminating with these extremely painful last few days.

I keep thinking about a Wall Street Journal article I read back in January about Warren Buffet and how while everyone was busy buying stock, the Oracle of Omaha was selling. I wish I would have followed his lead right about now. And if my little Robinhood account has been so thoroughly decimated over the last couple days, I can only imagine what some people’s retirement accounts are looking like this morning. Not selling now though. Not panicking either. We’ll keep chugging along, month by month, sticking to the script, taking advantage of the discounted prices. When you’re committed to the long view, you don’t get caught up in all the Bull and Bear headlines. We’ll survive. America will rebound. Potentially stronger than ever with a trade policy that benefits this nation’s workers and consumers. Sounds like this is the endgame. But these are admittedly dark days.

The president recently advised America to “hang tough” in a Truth Social post. What he is attempting to do is extremely bold and a massive gamble politically. I’m pretty sure those independent voters and swing states who were the tipping point in the “resounding mandate” that swept him back into office did not have a crashing stock market or a global recession in mind when they pulled the lever. Conservative media outlets are appealing for patience, albeit with nervous smiles. What else can we do but wait and see and try not to watch those plummeting red numbers on the ticker? But it’s hard not to wonder how thunderous the outcry would be if the Biden administration issued these same tariffs, or if it was Obama who was counseling us to “hang tough.”

—April 5, 2025

[This essay is the second part in the Continental Rift series first posted on March 24, 2025. See Continental Rift IV…]