An investment advisor in Steinbach says huge volatility in the stock market in recent days should be taken in stride. The main stock market in the U.S. fell 5.6 per cent Monday, its biggest drop in 6 1/2 years. The market's sharp drop began on Friday as investors worried that creeping signs of higher inflation might push the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rates more quickly, which could slow down economic growth by making it more expensive for people and businesses to borrow money.

Owen ReimerOwen Reimer of Steinbach Financial says markets become volatile every few years and investors should not be alarmed.

"We've had a long run of very low volatility and very stable markets. Now we're seeing a pullback, maybe it's not a full correction yet, but some pullback which everyone has kind of been expecting. But even when we expect something, sometimes it's a little disconcerting. Hopefully, people have diversified and they can weather these types of short-term noise."

Reimer adds the wrong thing to do right now is to pull money out of the markets.

"That's probably where a lot of investors lose money the most is on knee-jerk reactions. At this point, they should probably be getting good sound advice from somebody they trust, that has some experience to see if they should make changes. Maybe it's a good time to do a whole portfolio review. A lot of people have been happy for the last couple of years and now it's time to look at things and see where they are at in terms of their time frames."

Reimer says people may also want to see if there are any new investment opportunities to take advantage of while share prices are lower.