Stop trying to fix your portfolio
The Sandbox Daily (3.24.2026)
Welcome, Sandbox friends.
Today’s Daily discusses:
staying on the level
Let’s dig in.
Blake
Markets in review
EQUITIES: Russell 2000 +0.45% | Dow -0.18% | S&P 500 -0.37% | Nasdaq 100 -0.77%
FIXED INCOME: Barclays Agg Bond -0.27% | High Yield -0.34% | 2yr UST 3.942% | 10yr UST 4.408%
COMMODITIES: Brent Crude +3.98% to $99.74/barrel. Gold -0.13% to $4,412.6/oz.
BITCOIN: -1.14% to $69,971
US DOLLAR INDEX: +0.47% to 99.41
CBOE TOTAL PUT/CALL RATIO: 0.99
VIX: +3.02% to 26.94
Quote of the day
“We assume it’s the world around us that causes the feeling of busyness, but often, it’s the movement of our mind.”
- Andy Puddicombe, Headspace Co-Founder
Staying on the level
The ongoing conflict in Iran and rising oil prices have been the primary drivers of significant market swings in recent weeks.
Brent crude hovers around $100 per barrel, which is raising questions about whether higher energy costs could slow economic growth while also pushing inflation higher.
This adds to lingering concerns around broader market valuations, private credit, the path of Federal Reserve policy, and the AI story. Does anyone even remember that SaaSpocalypse boogeyman all the way back from last month?!??
For investors, these concerns create uneasiness, and that ongoing tension fuels a desire to do something.
The author Alfred A. Montapert once wrote “do not confuse motion and progress.”
With markets undergoing meaningful cross-asset volatility and many charts showing downtrends in Q1, there is a human element, or tendency, to believe that portfolios must be adjusted frequently.
However, a key principle of proper planning is that by the time uncertainty strikes, the hard work has already been done.
You’ve built the proper expectations, you’ve built a top-down portfolio that you can stick with through the ups AND downs, and you’ve trained yourself that market pullbacks are a part of the process.
A well-constructed investment strategy is built over years, not days and weeks.
It’s designed to weather different types of market environments without the need for constant adjustment.
Still, markets that lack a clear direction can feel uncomfortable. In times like these, maintaining a level-headed perspective is critical when there is so much negativity in the news.
As I always say, stay the course.
It’s more important than ever to not lose sight of why you invested in the first place, because saving and investing (rationally) are still the best ways to build durable wealth over time.
Source: Ned Davis Research
That’s all for today.
Blake
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Welcome to The Sandbox Daily, a daily curation of relevant research at the intersection of markets, economics, and lifestyle. We are committed to delivering high-quality and timely content to help investors make sense of capital markets.
Blake Millard is the Director of Investments at Sandbox Financial Partners, a Registered Investment Advisor. All opinions expressed here are solely his opinion and do not express or reflect the opinion of Sandbox Financial Partners. This Substack channel is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice. The information and opinions provided within should not be taken as specific advice on the merits of any investment decision by the reader. Investors should conduct their own due diligence regarding the prospects of any security discussed herein based on such investors’ own review of publicly available information. Clients of Sandbox Financial Partners may maintain positions in the markets, indexes, corporations, and/or securities discussed within The Sandbox Daily. Any projections, market outlooks, or estimates stated here are forward looking statements and are inherently unreliable; they are based upon certain assumptions and should not be construed to be indicative of the actual events that will occur.
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