The past week was horrendous for the stock market. Equities worldwide responded to the twin whammy of a worsening of the Covid-19 outbreak as well as the precipitous plunge in oil prices. As a result, the Dow plunged into a bear market in just 20 days, the fastest 20% plunge in history. Unsurprisingly, it was the most volatile period that Heartland Boy has experienced in his investment journey thus far. Friends and readers have written in to ask for updates, reactions and opinions to what has been increasingly termed a black swan event. Here’s the investment decisions I have made leading up to the fastest bear market in history.

When the first confirmed case of COVID-19 was announced in Singapore during Chinese New Year, Heartland Boy began a methodical process of paring down his stocks to reach the current portfolio as shown in Diagram 1.