Today was not a good day for the stock market. At one point today, the Dow was down about 250 points before it bounced back a bit and closed down 153 for the day. On a day where the Dow was down about 1%, would I be upset if my portfolio was down about 1% as well? No, not really. Until the market proves otherwise, we are in the middle of a powerful bull market, and no single day, week, or even month will likely change that. Take a look at the chart of the S&P 500:

If you lost a lot of money today, you probably feel bad about it. You might be worried about what’s going on in the Ukraine. Last night my wife asked me if I was worried. I’m not. “Who cares about the Ukraine? What does the Ukraine have to do with American companies?” I assured her. And if you happen to be worried about the Ukraine, that chart will probably do more to reassure you than anything I can say.

Warren Buffett was on CNBC this morning. I am a big fan of Warren Buffett because he has used common sense his entire life to accumulate billions of dollars. When asked about the the Ukraine, Warren Buffett assured the CNBC audience that, of all the investment world, stock traders behave the most irrationally in times of uncertainty. Warren Buffett’s not selling, I’m not selling, and you shouldn’t sell because of the crisis in the Ukraine.

As for me, I actually had a great day today! Don’t get me wrong: it’s nice to make a lot of money on a day when the Dow is up 200 points. But I think I get even more enjoyment out of a day like today. Even though the Dow was down about 1%, my portfolio was actually up slightly overall. And it wasn’t simply a case where one position pulled up the rest. In fact, six out of my nine holdings were positive on the day, including RFMD and DVAX, two stocks I’ve posted about recently.

It’s easy to make money when the market goes up. A true sign of success is limiting losses when the market goes down. And on days like today when I am able to eke out small gains when the rest of the market is tanking, I know I must be doing something right!

In the upcoming days, I plan on detailing some of the other stocks that I am holding that have been outperforming the market lately, so stay tuned!