# Market Jitters? Here's What You Should Actually Do

The mood's shifted pretty quick lately. Nearly 50% of U.S. investors are now bearish on the next 6 months, compared to just 32% staying bullish. Sound familiar? Yeah, same energy as 2022 when everyone and their cousin swore a recession was incoming—spoiler alert: S&P 500 ended up surging 40%.

Here's the thing: you can't predict market timing (seriously, stop trying). But you *can* bulletproof your portfolio with three moves:

**1. Stock quality check** – Weak companies crash hard in downturns. Strong fundamentals? They rebound. Build a diversified bag of solid companies and you'll weather most storms.

**2. Pad your emergency fund** – This is the real MVP. If you raid your investments after prices dip, you're locking in losses. Keep 3-6 months of cash liquid so you're never forced to sell at the bottom.

**3. Go autopilot mode** – Emotions wreck portfolios. Dollar-cost averaging (invest consistently regardless of price) takes the guessing game out. Set it and forget it for 5-20 years.

The market will crash eventually—that's just how it works. But panicking? That's the fastest way to turn paper losses into real ones. Stay boring, stay invested.