Focusing on the Long Game Under Stress

I looked up from my desk and found the market down more than 10%. The next day, it was up 10%. The day after, down 10% again. That violent yo-yo-ing was the reality this past spring. At one point, the S&P/TSX Composite Index lost a quarter of its value in about a week.

Reflecting on 2020, the most memorable (or rather, forgettable?) part of the year was the market freefall during the spring. Amid the chaos, our team triple-checked every holding’s balance sheet and the discounts on offer and acted decisively. During such a stressful period, how were we comfortable that we were making good decisions?