SUDBURY -- Financial experts say the best thing is to not panic; that advice comes as it was another down-day on major North American indexes.
The S&P/TSX plummeted a whopping 1,761.64 points on Thursday, more than 12 per cent to end at 12,508.45.
It's territory the Canadian benchmark index hasn't seen since 2018.
In New York, the Dow Jones lost more than 2,300 points to end the day at 21,200.62.
It was a busy day for Kyle Wilcox and his team at Edward Jones in Sudbury.
"I mean coming straight out of RRSP season and straight into market volatility, the phones are ringing, we're having good conversations with people and it's about keeping people informed," said Wilcox.
U.S. President Donald Trump's address from the Oval Office didn’t' appear to calm investors.
The TSX and the Dow Jones were hit with so much selling that it triggered a halt on trading, something normally implemented in order to give the markets some time to breathe.
"We never really had a health issue at the planetary level that's had this kind of an effect on markets," said Jean-Charles Cachon, a Laurentian University economist.
"Like many people, I have a few investments and I'm just not touching anything right now, if you can buy, it's a good time to buy, not necessarily anything but there are lots of probably good bargains on the market right now."
Cachon says we've seen over a 25 per cent drop in the main indexes, creating what he believes may have been one of the worst days since the eighties.
"There's been an overreaction which is based in part of the immediate effect of President Trump's comments of last night but also to the fact that the situation seemed to endure, in Italy in particular, however, there is still a recovery in China which might dampen the situation a little bit," said Cachon.
He says China is already showing signs of a recovery and after ten weeks, it gives him hope that it's also going to happen here.
"They (markets) are in a worst kind of scenario where there are probably more prudent scenarios that are likely to happen over the next few weeks and months."
Investors we spoke to on the streets of Sudbury say they have little to no other option than just to sit and wait this out.
"It does concern me but I know the markets always come back, it's a matter of waiting it out so I'm not going to worry about it," said Judy Courtemanche.
"I am retired and everything I have is in something that I can't lose money on so I just have to be careful," said Guy Prevost.
"Honestly the best advice I can give you, is have a financial advisor or talk to a financial advisor and take advice from the people who do this on a daily basis, don't make choices that you're not going to like later on," said Wilcox.
