Volatility: Staying Grounded in a Storm of News Headlines

Volatility: Staying Grounded in a Storm of News Headlines

Robert F. Kennedy, during his Affirmation Address at the University of Cape Town in 1966, quoted a phrase that he believed to be an old Chinese curse (which it turns out is of unknown origin):

“May he live in interesting times.” He went on to say, “Like it or not, we live in interesting times.”

It appears... those interesting times are here again.

At the time of writing, we’re seeing the reverberations of President Donald J Trump’s April 2nd “Liberation Day” announcement and the market response to his sweeping tariff proposals. Talking heads are debating the policy implications. Very few however are discussing the emotional and psychological impact on those of us navigating the markets day to day.

Which brings me to my friend and colleague RJ Hixson. A few weeks ago, he suggested I write something on the psychological effect of market headlines on traders and investors. I’m so glad he did. This is the kind of moment when emotional state management stops being a mindset concept and becomes mission critical.

It’s one thing to manage the pressure of performance in your trading. It’s another to manage the weight of narrative that creeps in through breaking news, social commentary, client expectations and random cab driver speculation.

Markets can be messy. The news is deafening. If we’re honest, the internal dialogue can be louder still.

It’s Not Just the Market You’re Trading Against.

Right now, traders and investors are not just processing setups and signals.

They’re also navigating:

• Emotional fallout from recent trades

• Concerned texts from clients, colleagues, friends and family

• Anxieties about “what this means” for the broader economy

• Fear of making the wrong move in public or of missing the next big one

• The internal pressure to stay composed while feeling anything but

• Uncertainty about the future

In these situations one's nervous system is activated and the stress response is 'on'. We may 'think' that we're trading the markets, the charts, trade scenarios previously planned. The mind and body however may be working from a different premise - an emotional and physiological premise... which is to keep us 'safe'. This is the function of the stress response. Fight, flight, fawn, freeze.

The more sensitive, ambitious and high-functioning you are, the more probable these aspects of mind and body impact your ability to think clearly, make decisions and remain calm in the midst of all of this.

State First. Strategy Second.

One of the most overlooked variables in trading performance is state. We're talking about the ability to regulate ones thoughts, emotions and actions (as opposed to operating from an automatic 'reactive' standpoint).

All of the data, discipline and systems thinking in the world does not help if one's internal state is triggered and in disarray. Consider the following and the impact on your decisions:

• Anxious? You exit too early, you don't exit at all or you avoid the trade altogether.

• Stressed? You get tunnel vision or break your rules.

• Disconnected? You overtrade, boredom-trade or detach from risk altogether.

This isn’t a discipline issue. It’s biology.

Your nervous system is wired to prioritise short-term emotional safety over long-term performance. If you’re not actively managing that system, you’ll be unknowingly trading from fight-or-flight. So how do we do this?

5 Ways to Stay Grounded When the Headlines Are Relentless

Here’s what I share with my clients, and use myself when the noise gets too much.

1. Check Your Information Diet

You wouldn’t eat junk all day and expect to feel sharp. Your media intake works the same way.

Ask yourself:

• Am I consuming to stay informed… or to soothe anxiety?

• Do I feel more focused afterwards or more scattered?

• Is this source actually helping me make better decisions?

During volatile weeks, reduce the noise. Tighten your filters. Don’t confuse constant input with clarity.

2. Build a Pre-Trade Regulation Ritual

Before you open your platform, regulate.

Try this:

• 3 deep breaths to ground yourself

• A 2-minute check-in: “What am I feeling right now?” Are you aware of your pulse, heart rate, other sensation in your body. What about the emotions? Are you feeling calm, confident, unsure? Become aware and still and observe.

• Check: Am I in the best possible state to take the next trading decision? Review how you showed up in your last trade briefly. Breathe deeply. Ground yourself. Set your intention on how you wish to show up in the next trading session / decision.

These aren’t 'soft' tools. They’re performance tools. They help reduce impulsivity and anchor clarity keep you aligned with your intention when under pressure.

3. Differentiate Fear from Facts

Fear spreads fast in volatility, especially in group chats or newsfeeds.

But fear often precedes fact.

Ask yourself:

• Is this coming from the chart… or from my nervous system?

• What do I know right now vs. what am I projecting?

• What would I do here if I felt clear and calm?

Act from that place.

4. Zoom Out... Mentally and Emotionally

Chaos narrows your lens. You forget what you’ve already survived, handled and learned.

This is when traders start switching systems, doubting themselves or grasping for control.

Pause and ask:

• What does the bigger picture say?

• How would I see this moment if I zoomed out to 6 months?

• Am I acting from grounded risk management or from emotion?

You don’t need to control the chaos. You just need to remember who you are inside it.

5. Process Emotion Outside the Market

You don’t need to “be positive.” You need to clear the charge.

• Go for a walk.

• Talk to someone who gets it.

• Write it down.

• Shake it off physically.

• Feel it (outside of the market), so you don’t have to trade it.

You don’t owe the market emotional perfection. But you do owe yourself awareness and care.

What About the People Around You?

Partners, clients, friends… sometimes their anxiety becomes yours.

Maybe someone asked, “So, are you still trading this week?” Or maybe you’ve felt pressure to stay composed, positive and predictable when everything inside you is bracing for a storm.

A humble opinion, from yours truly: You are not responsible for other people’s regulation.

Yes, be thoughtful. Be honest. But your first job is to manage your own state. Remember the guidance on an airplane... Put the oxygen mask on yourself first. Only then can you be of any help to others around you.

Otherwise, you risk trading to calm them instead of acting in alignment with you.

And that’s when mistakes creep in.

Final Thought - Awareness

You don’t need to be fearless. You don’t need to be emotionless.

You just need to be aware. This is the thread that underpins the 5 steps above. In order to stay grounded and aligned we need to cultivate, nurture and continue to build our sense of self awareness. I was speaking to Tom Basso last week about all things mindset and how Tom has been able to remain so calm and serene despite having > 50 years exposure to the cycles of the market. Awareness was a major factor.

Here's a quick tip from Tom himself on how to develop awareness:

• Set an alarm on your phone to go off every 30 mins with a question .. Are you aware?

• Tune into what's going on when the alarm goes off.

• Observe what you were missing, what came before, triggers and reactions.

• Breathe. Centre yourself and carry on as intended

Watch this space for a link to the full conversation with Tom once it's ready, I'll share it with you. I may well drop a note in the comments to this article when we release it into the wild.

So in conclusion, when the news gets loud, we should do what we can to return to a sense of quiet and awareness. That still point in you that knows: You’ve done this before. You know how to regulate. You know how to reset.

And if you forget for a moment? That’s okay. Pause. Breathe. Come back.

RJ Hixson, thanks for the nudge. Your timing is impeccable.

Thanks for reading