There have certainly been better times to be looking at your financial portfolio.
“I was just meeting with my accountant,” Calgary resident Shannon Matheson said.
“Things are in the minus… it’s ouchy.”
“It’s not been great,” said Darrin Ambrose, another Calgary resident.
Trillions have been lost from the global stock market since the U.S. Trump administration announced retaliatory tariffs on dozens of countries — leading to economic volatility, poor sentiment and lots of red on index screens around the world.
The Canadian dollar, Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and crude oil all finished lower on the day Monday, despite an earlier rally.
Adding to the frustration for investors, isn’t the fact the pull-back is happening — it’s why it happened.
“The difference here is that it’s a manufactured situation,” explained Darren Cooper, Senior Investment Advisor with Wellington-Altus Private Wealth in Calgary.
The top 500 companies in the United States have lost a year’s worth of value in three trading days since the Donald Trump announcement on Wednesday, Apr. 2.
The U.S. president has shown few signs of backing down on widespread tariffs levied against nations around the world, despite the mounting pressure in the financial markets.
“There were decisions made that had binary outcomes that turned things towards this negative situation,” Cooper said.
“The reality is it’s up to one, or a very narrow set of people to make an announcement that could change that view.”
Phones are ringing off the hook in Cooper’s office as his clients try to manage the current situation.
“We are on top of things, we’re paying close attention to what’s changing — what’s more worry versus fact.”
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“You want to make sure you’re working hand-in-hand with your clients, making sure they’re not overly worried things are being missed.”
But Cooper admits people in his line of work are having a hard time deciphering what might come next from the White House, and how that could impact people’s net worth.
“If somebody comes up for air with us, we want to make sure they’re confident they’re going to be okay.”
Similar conversations are also happening in Calgary counselling and psychologist offices.
“It might not be the first thing that gets mentioned on an intake, but ultimately (finances) end up being part of the service we provide,” said Sarah Rosenfeld with the Calgary Counselling Centre.
“The piece that’s usually helpful for folks is that thematically, we’re all seeing some of these (impacts).”
Rosenfeld says many people feel isolated when they’re dealing with a catastrophic situation such as a dramatic loss in their net worth.
But the widespread nature of this particular market development can also bring people closer together.
“In the absence of connection, they feel it’s only happening to them.”
“Nobody’s immune from what’s happening — it’s just that some people don’t see that as an opportunity to connect.”
Calgarians say they handle the losses — and emotions — in different ways.
“I have two monitors at work: one is Yahoo Finance and the other is my work,” Ambrose said. “I try to make decisions based on facts and technicals… you learn to deal with these things but it’s never exciting when they happen.”
“I’m an eternal optimist,” Matheson said.
“I’m a little bit younger so I have some time to wait it out… it’s part of the path, it goes up and it comes back down. Is it going to go up (again)? I’m hopeful.”
Advisors and counsellors are aligned in their suggestions as well.
“There’s still beautiful things happening around you,” Rosenfeld said. “There’s still kind people in the world. Trying to find moments of just sharing a smile with somebody can make a big difference during a really difficult time.”
“I can’t say I’ve slept the best I’ve ever slept the last week,” Cooper admits.
“But at the end of the day I still have my two daughters, my wife and my dog and I can go and relax with them for however many days this persists.”
Donald Trump frequently bragged about stock market gains during his first term, and the threat of losses on Wall Street was viewed as a potential guardrail on risky economic policies in his second term.
But that hasn’t been the case, and Trump has described days of financial pain as necessary.
“I don’t mind going through it because I see a beautiful picture at the end,” he said.
The Republican president has remained defiant despite fears that he could be pushing the U.S. toward a recession, insisting that his tariffs are necessary for rebuilding domestic manufacturing and resetting trade relationships with other countries.
—With files from The Associated Press
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Albertans frustrated with stock market losses: ‘It’s a manufactured situation’
