The Herd Stampede

Panic selling is contagious, and it follows a predictable script:

1. Bad news hits — an earnings miss, a geopolitical shock, a rate-hike surprise
2. Early sellers drive prices down 3-5% in hours
3. Headlines amplify the fear: "Worst day since..." comparisons flood every screen
4. Retail investors check their portfolios obsessively, watching numbers fall in real time
5. The capitulation wave hits — people sell at the worst possible moment just to stop the pain

Many retail investors who panic-sold during the 2020 COVID crash missed a roughly 70% recovery that came within 12 months.