Here’s How Kevin O’Leary Is Investing During Tariff Turbulence: Should You Do the Same?

May 22, 2025

Keeping up with tariffs has been a little bit like watching a tennis match — they go from one side to another almost daily. It can be challenging for an investor to keep up. At times like this, it can pay to listen to an experienced investor, like “Shark Tank’s” Kevin O’Leary, and follow their lead.

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Here’s how O’Leary in investing during the tariff turbulence and whether you should do the same.

One of the biggest risks of the tariffs the Trump administration has proposed is that they will raise prices, which could lead to a recession. Federal Reserve Board of Governors Chairman Jerome Powell recently said while the Fed does not predict recessions, there is typically a one in four chance of recessions within 12 months at any given time.

O’Leary gave his insight on the likelihood of a recession in a recent interview with CNN’s John Berman. “Let me just say that we’ve been talking about recession now for four years in a row, you may recall. Forecasters of recessions have been wrong for four years straight. … We’re not in a recession right now.”

O’Leary added that he is not currently investing as he would in a recession, since there is no recession at the moment.

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O’Leary explained that, while tariffs make for “a difficult, tricky situation,” market corrections are commonplace.

“The markets correct 20% all the time, almost every 18 months. … This is nothing new for the S&P 500,” he said, adding that these corrections are often buying opportunities. “It’s a value deal.”

Professional investors commonly recommend “buying the dip,” or investing during a downturn, as there are bargains to be had when stock prices fall.

The volatility in the markets is a byproduct of the administration’s tariff policies, according to O’Leary.

“There’s a lot of volatility and that’s what you get when you take these kinds of actions,” he said. “No administration has ever taken on 60 trade negotiations simultaneously, let alone China on top of that.”

O’Leary is well known for his long-term approach to investing, and nothing in his comments about tariffs or recession would indicate he’s deviating from that.

In his book, “Cold Hard Truth on Men, Women, and Money,” he recommends the individual investor pare down spending to invest as much as possible into a 401(k) or other retirement account.

By looking at your income and expenses over a 90-day period, you can see how much money you have to invest. If you want to invest more, you need to trim back your expenses.

O’Leary recommends sticking to this approach and not worrying about a possible future recession. “I would argue right now that people that count out the American economy are constantly wrong all the time.”

Editor’s note on political coverage: GOBankingRates is nonpartisan and strives to cover all aspects of the economy objectively and present balanced reports on politically focused finance stories. You can find more coverage of this topic on GOBankingRates.com.

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