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Investing looks easy until markets drop. This creates a panic-react cycle: young investors see social media, react emotionally, sell or stop investing, which fuel even more panic
Much of the panic began when big names such as Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, SoftBank, BlackRock, and some sovereign funds started selling tech shares, especially Apple, Nvidia, and Microsoft. (Getty Images)
If you have opened X (formerly Twitter), YouTube finance channels, or WhatsApp market groups lately, you have probably seen dramatic warnings: “Bigger than 2008!”, “Buffett exits — stock market crash incoming!”, “Trillion-dollar correction ahead!” At the same time, Japan — the world’s fourth-largest economy — reported a surprise GDP contraction, major tech stocks saw a sell-off, and the Dow Jones posted multiple days of declines.
It is enough to make even a calm investor nervous.
But here’s the twist: even though there are stress indicators, the economic data still does not show signs of a full-scale crash. What the world is witnessing is not the beginning of a financial collapse, but an amplification of fear, driven by emotions, viral content, exaggerated analysis, and a generation of first-time investors who have never seen a real downturn.
This is not just about markets, but about fear, panic, misinformation, and perception.
Let’s understand what is happening in the market world, why the fear looks bigger than the facts, and why the Indian markets stand steady so far compared to the Wall Street.
Why Everyone Thinks A Crash Is Coming
A surprising truth: fear is more contagious than facts. Financial panic spreads quickly because of what psychologists call “loss aversion” — the tendency to feel the pain of losing money twice as strongly as the joy of gaining it. That is why a 3% market fall triggers more emotions than a 10% rise.
Now add social media to that mix. Fear-based content gets more engagement than calm analysis. A headline like ‘Buffett trims portfolio for liquidity management’ is boring. But ‘Warren Buffett dumps Apple before disaster?’ triggers emotion, clicks, and panic.
Even normal market events such as profit-booking, tax timing, or rebalancing are sensationalised as signs of a coming “storm”.
Why Billionaires Selling Stocks Is Not Always A Warning Signal
Much of the panic began when big names such as Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, SoftBank, BlackRock, and some sovereign funds started selling tech shares, especially Apple, Nvidia, and Microsoft.
Warren Buffett, aged 93, regularly trims Apple shares to manage portfolio concentration and tax exposure. Even after selling, Apple is still his biggest holding. Notably, Berkshire’s Apple shares fell to 238 million, a 15% decrease compared to 280 million in Q2. This may seem like an alarming and bearish signal for Apple, but Berkshire has actually been trimming its Apple position for a while now, as per Yahoo Finance.
Bill Gates sells Microsoft stock in the third quarter to fund the Gates Foundation’s annual $5-7 billion philanthropic commitments. The foundation has dumped 17,000,000 shares of Microsoft, around a 65% reduction.
SoftBank has just unloaded its entire stake in Nvidia for $5.8 billion, not because of fear, but to restructure debt and rebalance after record losses. In September, SoftBank joined both Nvidia and the US government as an investor in Intel. Moreover, SoftBank previously committed to an investment of up to $40 billion in OpenAI. SoftBank is also aiming to bring its investment in OpenAI to $22.5 billion by December, per a Yahoo Finance report.
Investors sell for many reasons: tax planning, donations, rebalancing, sector rotation, or to fund new opportunities. It is not automatically a crash signal. But on social media, these nuanced decisions are reduced to a single headline: “Smart Money Is Running.”
Market Shocks vs Market Noise: What Does It Mean?
Many viral warnings focus on isolated events: a single bad earnings report, a fall in Dow futures, or a dip in Bitcoin. But crashes don’t emerge from one or two events — they are caused by systemic breakdowns.
Historically, major crashes such as 2008 (Lehman Brothers collapse), 2020 (Covid lockdown shock), and 1929 (Wall Street crash) shared certain traits: collapsing consumer demand, high unemployment, liquidity freeze, corporate defaults, and panic-driven credit withdrawal.
What is The Situation Today?
Global inflation has dropped significantly since its 2022 peak.
Unemployment in the US and Europe remains low. India’s unemployment rate in urban areas dropped to 6.4% in October-December 2024, compared to 8.3% in 2022.
Corporate earnings are stable — in fact, S&P 500 companies reported 7.4% profit growth in 2024. In India, “corporate profitability soared to a 15-year peak in FY24, fuelled by robust growth in financials, energy, and automobiles,” the Economic Survey stated in January.
Bond markets, which usually flash early warning, have not shown signs of deep distress, except in specific sectors such as US banking and European real estate.
Bond yields are fluctuating, high interest rates are pressuring financing costs, and markets are volatile. But volatility is not collapse.
How WhatsApp Finance Gurus Sell Panic
“Tomorrow, crash confirmed.”
“Withdraw money before Monday.”
“Fed wants to crash emerging markets.”
“Mutual funds will freeze — take cash out!”
These forwards cause chaos, even though they are usually baseless. Most WhatsApp finance advice does not come from economists or regulators; it comes from unverified commentators, often quoting random foreign market screenshots or falsely attributed statements.
Short-form finance content oversimplifies complex systems into scary predictions. That’s why market noise feels like a market crisis, even when it is not.
Young India Is Trading More, And Panicking More
Indian stock market participation has surged in the last four years, especially among young retail investors. Almost 40% of first-time traders today are under 30, compared to 22.9% in 2018, per the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Many started during the post-COVID bull run, when stocks, crypto, and even meme coins soared.
For many, investing looks easy until markets drop. This creates what analysts call a panic-react cycle: young investors see social media panic, check their apps, react emotionally, sell or stop investing, and fuel even more panic.
This is why the fear feels bigger today, because more people are seeing it, reacting to it, and sharing it.
Why Indian Markets Are Staying Strong
While Wall Street has seen cautious sentiment, Indian markets have continued to hit record highs. Why?
India is not just growing, it is growing differently. Unlike export-heavy Japan, Europe, and China, India’s economy is driven by domestic consumption, infrastructure spending, and services. Even during global distress, India’s internal demand — housing, finance, auto, travel, telecom, digital services — remains strong.
Sensex and Nifty both hit all-time highs in September 2024. FDI inflows are strong — especially in semiconductors, electric vehicles, green energy, and digital payments. GST collections have stayed above Rs 1.6 lakh crore for 10 consecutive months, signalling business confidence.
In simple words, India is not fully tied to the fate of Wall Street. That’s why a tech stock correction in Silicon Valley does not automatically mean bad news for Dalal Street.
What Should Investors Actually Watch?
A real crisis has certain unmistakable signs:
- Corporate profits consistently fall
- Unemployment rises sharply
- Housing or lending markets freeze
- Banks stop lending and liquidity dries up
- Bond markets show deep stress
Right now, these are not happening in India or globally. Instead, what the world is seeing is a typical market cycle: profit-taking, interest rate adjustment, sector rotation, and valuation correction.
That is not the start of a crash. That is how markets normally breathe.
Today’s financial anxiety is less about economic collapse — and more about social media amplification. Markets are whispering caution. Influencers are shouting catastrophe.
There is uncertainty, but not meltdown. It is not a market crash. But it looks like “market chat”.
Shilpy Bisht, Deputy News Editor at News18, writes and edits national, world and business stories. She started off as a print journalist, and then transitioned to online, in her 12 years of experience. Her prev…Read More
Shilpy Bisht, Deputy News Editor at News18, writes and edits national, world and business stories. She started off as a print journalist, and then transitioned to online, in her 12 years of experience. Her prev… Read More
November 20, 2025, 11:32 IST
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