Fidelity Contrafund (FCNTX) fell about 4% today largely because it went ex‑dividend and its price was adjusted downward by roughly the amount of a scheduled distribution, not because of a sudden fundamental collapse in its holdings. In simple terms, part of your “loss” is just the fund’s net asset value being reduced to reflect cash and capital gains being paid out to shareholders.
Today’s drop in context
Mutual funds typically see a one‑day price drop on their ex‑dividend date, when the share price is reduced by the amount of the dividend or capital gains distribution. For FCNTX, the distribution is a bit over 4% of net asset value, which lines up with the roughly 4.1% change in today’s quote (from about 25.00 to 23.97).
What that means for you
If you held the fund before today, you are receiving that distribution in cash or reinvested shares, so your total economic value (price plus distribution) should be roughly unchanged aside from normal market moves. The sharp-looking percentage drop on the quote page is therefore mostly a mechanical adjustment, not an indication that the manager sold positions in distress or that a specific holding suddenly crashed today.
