INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Stocks prices tumbled Monday in a massive sell-off in the U.S. and around the world amid fears of a U.S. recession.

Analysts say it’s in response to a weak job report that came out Friday.

Finance professor Joseph Fitter from Indiana University Bloomington on Monday broke down for I-Team 8 what it means for people with stocks and 401Ks savings plans.

“I wouldn’t panic. That’s the very message. Don’t go out and sell your 401K. Maybe don’t look at it because it’ll make you upset, but there’s no reason to panic and sell at this moment,” Fitter said.

Many reasons caused the market to react. The July jobs report showed employers added 114,000 jobs, which was less than the forecasted 185,000 openings. Plus, unemployment went up, both here in Indiana and the nation. Still, Fitter says, it’s normal to see the stock market dip.

“You have to remember what we had in the past 3, 4, 5 years: COVID pandemic and post-COVID is unusual for an economy, and it’s taking a while to work through that unusualness.”

Fitter calls Monday’s drop in stock prices a market correction. “A normal stock market goes through one of these 10% corrections once every 18-24 months, and we haven’t had one of these corrections in about 18 months, so we’re on schedule.”

Fitter says, historically, a 4.3% national unemployment number is still pretty low. If it hits 5%, he says, that’s worrisome. He says there’s no recession, at least not yet.

“I don’t think there’s a need to call it ‘a recession’ immediately. I think there’s a lot of panic in the market. There’s a lot of nervousness. Maybe assets became overvalued, overpriced. The stock market has been too high. What it’s doing now is coming down to earth.”

Among the stocks taking a big hit were tech stocks like Apple, Google and Amazon.

“If you’re taking a long-term approach, maybe you’re 20, 30, 40 years away from retirement, this is an opportunity. It’s like there’s a sale on Aisle 5 at the grocery store. Stocks have been cut by about 10% since the start of the correction.”

Inflation will cool or slow down eventually, Fitter said. He suggests watching the Federal Reserve and, if it’ll slash interest rates to help stimulate the economy, that could mean more investment opportunities.