Is the Stock Market a Pandemic?

People are fine with a 20 % rise in the stock market, but they find a 20% fall to be catastrophic. People should set their portfolios based on their subjective view of risk and not expect themselves to be indifferent to fluctuations. The combination of four factors make the market vulnerable to an outside shock. That doesn't mean there will be an outside shock, but if there is, the damage could be substantial. As happened in february march when the pandemic rolled around and the stockmarket went down about a third in just 34 days,. fastest descent in history.