If It Bleeds, It Leads
I received a text from a buddy yesterday. I haven't interacted with him much over the past six months, so he kinda caught me off guard:
"Any thoughts on why the stock market is struggling so much right now? Do you think it will continue to be bad?"
I stared at my screen for at least two minutes, trying to think of an adequate response. What in the world is he talking about?!?! My response:
"As of the closing bell last a few hours ago, the stock market is at the 12th highest price it's ever been in 155 years. What makes you think things are going so bad?"
"I've been seeing things about it on Twitter, TikTok and also the news. Everyone says it's bad and will keep being bad."
There's an old saying that's as relevant today as it was when originally coined: "If it bleeds, it leads." Fear sells. Fear triggers emotion. Emotion triggers reaction. Reaction triggers engagement. Engagement triggers revenue. Revenue triggers $. Translation: Fear = $.
We live in a fear-based society, and nowhere is this more true than in the reporting of financial markets. After all, it's really easy to report how bad things are when the market has a bad day. It's fun for the media to blast big red numbers on the screen, alongside a curated short-term graph that shows a jagged line moving in a down-and-to-the-right trajectory. Fear!
Truth is, the stock market returned 17.7% in 2025 and is up approximately 1% in this young year. The 12 best day-end stock market prices in history have all occurred in the last 31 days. Here, let me show a picture:
This is what the U.S. stock market has looked like over the past five years, yet at the same time, a huge portion of our society thinks we're in the middle of a crash. It’s literally lingering at the peak of the best price in human history, yet many people think we’re in the toilet. If it bleeds, it leads. Fear = $.
My biggest encouragement is to simply ignore the noise. We're not going to stop the media or people around us from using fear to manipulate our emotions. Therefore, we must insulate ourselves from the madness. I find it best to simply ignore it. Period. Live a meaningful life, make an impact on others, give generously, and enjoy some good food.
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