Sell America? Wall Street isn’t so sure
U.S. stocks ended last week on a mixed note. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped more than half a percent, while small-cap stocks took a harder hit.
That sets up the new week on uneasy footing, and it explains why more investors are asking whether it's time to walk away from U.S. stocks altogether.
The answer depends on your time horizon and how you think about risk.
Should you stay or should you go?
There are real reasons for caution.
Valuations are stretched after the S&P 500 delivered more than 90% in total returns over the past five years. The Shiller P/E had the market entering this year at one of the most expensive levels of the past 150 years.
Historically, those moments end up with major pullbacks.
Some well-known voices are also pumping the brakes. Investor Jim Rogers says America’s $38.3 trillion debt load pushed him to sell all his U.S. stocks. Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon recently said a 10%–20% drawdown over the next year or two wouldn’t surprise him.
And investors aren’t just talking. A record amount of cash has poured into money-market funds, a classic sign that fear is creeping back in and safety is back in style.
The case for staying put
There’s another side to this story. Despite the worry, U.S. stocks have held up far better than skeptics expected. Data from Bespoke Investment Group shows most bear markets last less than a year, while bull markets tend to run much longer.
Meanwhile, Crestmont Research finds that every rolling 20-year period since 1900 delivered positive returns for the S&P 500, dividends included, even when investors lived through wars, recessions, inflation spikes, and policy mistakes.
What institutions are saying
Institutional investors aren’t rushing into a “sell America” trade. JPMorgan points out that tariffs and geopolitics can stir volatility, but the U.S. remains deeply woven into the global financial system, too central to sideline easily.
Strategists at Charles Schwab frame it more bluntly: volatility is an uncomfortable price of admission for long-term returns.
Walking away from U.S. stocks can feel sensible when the headlines stack up. But history keeps delivering the same lesson. Discipline tends to beat timing and balance usually beats bold exits.