“Diversify Before You Get Spooked”: Edward Jones CEO’s Halloween Lesson for Investors
Edward Jones CEO Penny Pennington urges investors to resist the tech-stock temptation and embrace diversification as markets ride one of their strongest rallies in decades.
If the stock market were a Halloween party, Big Tech would be the one showing up in a gold-plated costume. The crowd can’t take its eyes off it, yet Edward Jones CEO Penny Pennington has a message for investors getting swept up in the spectacle: don’t dress up your portfolio as only a tech play.
The comment came during a Yahoo Finance interview on October 31, 2025, as markets closed out the month with optimism powered by heavyweights like Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and Apple. After a blockbuster quarter that saw Amazon alone add $300 billion to its valuation thanks to strong cloud earnings, the euphoria is understandable. But Pennington’s advice cuts through the hype—diversification isn’t just an old-school cliché, it’s survival strategy in a market addicted to algorithms and AI headlines.
The Mag 7 and the Market’s Sweet Tooth
There’s no denying it, tech has been the market’s rocket fuel. The so-called “Magnificent Seven”—Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla—have driven most of the S&P 500’s gains this year. Together, they’ve carried indices to near-record levels, feeding investor optimism that the AI boom is more revolution than bubble.
Yet history reminds us that no rally lasts forever. Pennington pointed out that this six-month surge ranks among the five strongest in 75 years. That’s a statistic worth celebrating, but also one that should make any investor pause before going all-in on one sector. “We think valuations are high, but they’re not at all-time highs,” she said, emphasizing that the economy remains strong, productivity gains from AI are real, and equities still have room to run—just not all in one direction.
The Discipline Behind Diversification
Diversification may sound boring compared to the dazzle of trillion-dollar market caps, but it’s the backbone of long-term wealth building. Pennington underscored that every client’s portfolio should reflect their risk tolerance, goals, and time horizon. “The rules of the road haven’t changed,” she said. “Invest according to your time horizon and the goals you’re trying to accomplish.”
That means keeping multiple sectors in play—from industrials and healthcare to financials and energy. It’s about balance, not bias. Investors who go too heavy on tech could find themselves spooked when volatility strikes, as it inevitably does. “Don’t dress up your portfolio as only a tech portfolio,” Pennington quipped. “You’re likely to get spooked when volatility rises and falls.”

