Here's how the pros are navigating the wild swings in the stock market

Published Sat, Feb 29 202012:33 PM EST

Key Points

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 each plummeted more than 11% this week and posted their worst weekly declines since the financial crisis.
Those sharp losses come as countries all around the world report a growing number of coronavirus cases.
CNBC spoke with two professionals navigating these wild market swings. Here's how they're doing it.

Concerns over the coronavirus' impact on corporate earnings and the global economy sent stocks careening lower this week, spooking near-term traders and long-term investors alike. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S & P 500 each plummeted more than 11% this week and posted their worst weekly declines since the financial crisis. The 30-stock average also entered correction territory after falling more than 10% from the record high set on Feb. 12. The S & P 500 dipped into correction territory as well after posting a record high on Feb. 19. Volatility has surged and bond yields have collapsed. Those sharp moves come as countries all around the world report a growing number of coronavirus cases and traders try to quickly gauge the impact on the global and U.S. economy. Good traders see this fear and anxiety as an opportunity. CNBC spoke with two professionals navigating these wild market swings. Here's how they're doing it. A 'gift' Jeff Kilburg, CEO of KKM Financial, referred to Thursday and Friday's sessions as "gifts," noting there are now "significant opportunities to rebalance and reposition and flat out buy names you have been holding off on." On Thursday, the S & P 500 posted its first six-day losing streak since August. The Dow, meanwhile, notched its longest daily slide since the summer of 2018. The Cboe Volatility Index , widely considered to be the best fear gauge in the market, broke above 40 this week and reached levels not seen since February 2018. But these levels are not "sustainable in the world of central bankers' engagement," Kilburg said. Kilburg added he's buying American Airlines and Exxon Mobil, two stocks that have gotten pummeled this week. 'Ride the wave' Mike Katz, partner at New York-based proprietary trading shop Seven Points Capital, said they have been in and out of short positions throughout the sell-off, trying to "ride the wave until it feels like the pressure is off." "A lot of times, the market just grinds up over weeks and months, sometimes even years," he said. "Then you get one of these big washes and it's usually very quick; like taking the elevator down." It took the S & P 500 just six days to go from closing at an all-time high to dropping more than 10% from those levels, data from Deutsche Bank shows . "The market has gone from extreme bull mode, where everybody wants to pay up, to now a pretty sharp drop in a very short period of time," Katz said, noting more "panic" selling is needed before his firm changes its trading strategy. At that point, "some of the names that everybody was willing to pay up for, those are the same things we'd be interested in. They're just going to be a bit more reasonably priced," he said. Shares of tech giants Apple , Microsoft , Amazon and Alphabet propelled the major U.S. stock averages to record highs. Those stocks got battered this week, dropping more than 10% each. Katz added he uses short-term indicators such as previous day's intraday lows to look for signs on whether the selling pressure will abate or continue. Subscribe to CNBC PRO for exclusive insights and analysis, and live business day programming from around the world.

A pedestrian carries an umbrella while walking in front of the New York Stock Exchange, Feb. 26, 2020.

Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Concerns over the coronavirus' impact on corporate earnings and the global economy sent stocks careening lower this week, spooking near-term traders and long-term investors alike.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 each plummeted more than 11% this week and posted their worst weekly declines since the financial crisis. The 30-stock average also entered correction territory after falling more than 10% from the record high set on Feb. 12. The S&P 500 dipped into correction territory as well after posting a record high on Feb. 19.

Volatility has surged and bond yields have collapsed.

Those sharp moves come as countries all around the world report a growing number of coronavirus cases and traders try to quickly gauge the impact on the global and U.S. economy.

Good traders see this fear and anxiety as an opportunity. CNBC spoke with two professionals navigating these wild market swings. Here's how they're doing it.