Tariff Tsunami Financial Survival Guide: From Investment Diversification to Strategy Sharing

Due to the tariffs imposed by President Trump of the United States triggering a global trade war, consumers and retail investors are facing pressure. This trade war is severely impacting the market and could drive up prices for all goods, from electronics and cars to sneakers and groceries. As the S&P 500 index has fallen from its historical high in February, approaching the edge of a technical Bear Market, having dropped 20% from its peak (, how should one adjust strategies from daily consumption to portfolio adjustments to cope with this hard battle that is uncertain in duration?

Should I buy quickly before the price rises? Or should I save money to cope with the recession?

Mark Cuban, the former owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks and an American billionaire, warned his 1.4 million followers on the social platform "Bluesky" on April 3 to start panic buying goods to prepare for price increases.

It's not a bad idea to go to a local Walmart or big box retailer to buy a lot of consumables, from toothpaste to soap, anything you can find storage space for, before they have to replenish their stock. Even if it's made in the USA, they will raise prices and blame it on tariffs.

But hoarding goods is only temporary; another perspective is that in the face of the skyrocketing possibility of an economic recession this year, it's important to hold the bottom line and save money!

Evaluation and Adjustment of Investment Portfolio

There is almost nowhere to hide in the market, as global stock markets plummet due to Trump's tariff measures and China's retaliatory actions, with gold also correcting over 2% last Friday.

Vanguard Group ) and other financial advisors and companies warn investors to avoid getting caught up in the various noises and to focus on what they can control, avoiding hasty and panicked decisions.

Due to the high level of uncertainty and the unknown duration of this situation, how should investors respond?

Mara Norton, Chief Investment Strategist at Empower Investments, stated that for many years, many people only invested in the S&P 500 index, but today, diversification is indeed very effective for investors.

The following are some suggestions from experts quoted by Bloomberg:

International Stocks

Mike Bailey, the research director at FBB Capital Partners, recommends stocks from Europe, Japan, and Canada. He believes that a basket of non-U.S. developed markets, such as the MSCI EAFE index, can help increase diversification in stock holdings without the need to add Chinese stocks.

Terri Spath, the founder of Zuma Wealth in Los Angeles, also advised clients to consider Germany and Japan through ETFs. Germany is undergoing a generational shift in defense spending, which will boost its economic growth. In Japan, nominal economic growth and inflationary wages benefit from government reforms, leading to an increase in income.

buy on dips

Michael Sonnenfeldt, founder and chairman of the global high-net-worth entrepreneur network Tiger 21, still advocates for increasing stock holdings during market sell-offs—the mindset of "buying the dip" has been an almost constant force in the market in recent years. He believes that the approach investors can take now is to develop a systematic strategy to increase their buying volume directly or through ETFs when the market declines.

Investors can take action in stages: when the index falls 20% from its peak, invest a certain amount; when the index falls 25% from its peak, double the investment amount; when the index falls 30% from its peak, further increase the investment amount.

This allows investors to leverage market fluctuations without fear and adopt strategies for economic returns during economic downturns.

opportunistic play

John Pantekidis, the managing partner of TwinFocus, believes that there are significant opportunities in defense stocks and the nuclear industry in the United States and Europe.

If the United States abandons other countries as its security umbrella, nations will turn to nuclear weapons, as they are cheap and effective.

He pointed out that Europe's defense spending has been as low as about 1% of GDP, and is now around 2%. Pantekidis stated that, on average, spending could rise to around 3% to 4%. ETF investors can invest in nuclear energy through the Range Nuclear Renaissance Index ETF (NUKZ), which tracks companies in the nuclear fuel and energy industry. For defense investments, there is the Global X Defense Tech ETF (SHLD).

The cryptocurrency market is sluggish, U-based financial management ensures safety.

The cryptocurrency market has also been quiet for a long time. Some believe that Bitcoin has become a traditional financial product, aligning more with macroeconomic trends and the movements of U.S. tech stocks, while altcoins are in an even worse state. It seems that the spring for altcoins is still far from coming. Ethereum, the second-largest by market capitalization, not only did not reach a historical high during this Bitcoin bull market cycle, but has also recently fallen below $1,800, leaving investors disheartened.

( ETH ecological data has completely collapsed, Q1 data has left investors cold )

Ki Young Ju, the founder and CEO of Cryptoquant, recently cited on-chain data analysis, believing that the Bitcoin bull market cycle has ended. He is focusing on the relationship between "Realized Cap" (the total capital that has flowed into the market) and "Market Cap" (valuation based on price). The chart below shows a bearish trend: despite capital inflows, prices have failed to rise, indicating that the market has entered a Bear Market.

He also cited historical data, believing that a market reversal may take at least six months, which is consistent with past cycles such as the market downturn during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

If investors do not want to bear the risk of significant price fluctuations, apart from participating in airdrops at this time, they can also place U in the exchange for regular financial management, or stake on-chain to receive stable returns, which is also a conservative way to get through the winter.

Firmly believe that the bull market will come! "Dollar-cost averaging" or "dual-currency wealth management"

For investors who believe that the market downturn is only temporary and still want to buy on dips, in addition to continuing to execute "dollar-cost averaging," they can also consider "dual-currency wealth management," which involves selling options to collect premiums and increase short-term returns. The downside of this strategy is that if the coin price falls, they will be forced to buy the corresponding coin at an exercise price higher than the current market price. For example, the Japanese version of MicroStrategy, Metaplanet, continually uses this strategy to "target buy" Bitcoin, creating a different path from MicroStrategy (, which has been renamed Strategy).

(Metaplanet's financial report sees profits, with options creating Bitcoin yields as an important source of profit)

In fact, traditionally, dual currency investment is a trading strategy that is more suitable for range-bound markets, because once the price trend breaks through or falls below what you consider the high or low points, the currency you are forced to convert will incur a market price difference loss (MTM loss). Therefore, my suggestion is to choose a price that you feel "comfortable" with, which means that the low point at which you buy on dips is the level at which you would like to enter (. Some call this bottom fishing ), while the high point at which you sell on rallies will be the price level at which you want to take profits (. Some call this profit-taking ). This will be a more prudent investment strategy.

Set aside cash, only then can "idle money" be used for investment.

The author would also like to remind that in an uncertain market environment, the money used for investment or bottom-fishing must be "spare money". First, ensure that you have at least six months of living expenses and emergency savings, and only then can the remaining spare money be invested in the market. This can ensure that you do not panic too much when the market declines. Panic is inevitable, but do not forget that investing is a practice of psychological quality. It also prevents you from being forced to liquidate at a low point due to the need to use funds.

Let's work together to weather this tariff tsunami!

This article "Tariff Tsunami Financial Survival Guide," from investment diversification to strategy sharing, first appeared in Chain News ABMedia.