The stock market just finished its worst week since 2020. Here's what the pros say to do in a sell-off.

• The stock market is in meltdown mode amid the trade war.
• Most advice in times like this is, "don't panic," but it can be hard to keep a cool head.
• Market pros say have some advice if you're worried about your portfolio amid the sell-off.

The stock market just capped off a historic two-day plunge amid the panic caused by President Donald Trump's trade war.

On Friday, The Dow Jones Industrial Average cratered by more than 2,200 points, the Nasdaq 100 ended in a bear market, and the S&P 500 lost almost 6%.

That adds to Thursday's declines, with the two-day crash vaporizing over $5 trillion in market cap.

No sector of the S&P 500 was spared, and at the end of Friday's session, investors were taking stock of the worst week for the market since the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

In these moments, people may be tempted to peak at their investments and wonder: now what?

While "don't panic" is sage advice, the impulse to take drastic measures can be strong, especially if you're staring at a sea of red in your investment portfolio.

Retirement horizons are long, and history shows that the general path of stocks is up and to the right. However, if you need to make adjustments to your investment for some reason, there's some general guidance that could help you weather the storm.

Here's some recent advice market pros have shared with Business Insider.

Don't sell while the market is down

Deep plunges are often followed by a market rebound, and even if the market doesn't stage a full comeback, if you need to sell you should wait for things to turn.

As Gina Bolvin, the president of Bolvin Wealth Management Group, told BI's Matt Fox in March about steps to take before a recession:

"Don't panic. The headlines — and the market — change quickly."

There are safe havens in the storm

Familiarize yourself with stocks that are considered cyclical (those that tend to outperform when the economy is strong, such as consumer discretionary stocks), and those that are defensive (such as consumer staples stocks).

Consumer staples are the best-performing S&P 500 sector in 2025, up 5.4% even after two days of market carnage. By comparison, consumer discretionary stocks are down 17% year-to-date, technology is down 18%, and communications stocks are down 10%.

Gold and Treasurys have also been historical safe havens, and investors can get exposure easily through ETFs.

"The only change to your portfolio should be to confirm it's diversified and you can weather the storm in good times or bad," Bolvin said.

Resist the urge to trade

It can be tempting to try your hand at day trading by timing the market or deploying an exotic options strategy to take advantage of the swings.

However, options are complicated and day trading is hard for even seasoned pros. The hard truth is that most day traders lose money.

Buy and hold is still the best way to protect yourself.

Have some cash set aside

Having some of your investments in cash or cash equivalents, like a money market fund, is important. Whether saving for an emergency or looking to deploy it into future investments, holding cash ultimately protects from some of the downside in the event of a big plunge in the market.

"Even outside of a recession, you should aim to have an amount of cash on hand to fund at least six months of your expenses, or if you are retired and don't have employment income to support your spending, perhaps up to two or three years," Brett Panziera, CFP, an associate director of financial planning at EP Wealth Advisors, told BI's Fox.