While all eyes are on the election over the next few days, investors are buckling up for a bumpy ride. Wall Street is facing what could be its most volatile week of the year, with a gauntlet of potential 'market movers.' In an eight day span, there is new inflation data, the November jobs report, earnings reports from five of the "Magnificent Seven" companies, the presidential election, and the Federal Reserve meeting to decide interest rates. Any one of those items would normally be reason to watch the markets, but taken altogether they are enough to keep some investors on the sidelines.
While the markets have been weighing the presidential election for months, their biggest motivation might be the Fed meeting two days after Election Day. Right now, investors are still split over whether the Fed will lower interest rates again, after doing so in its last meeting in September. "The Fed might not go ahead and lower rates, and personally I don't see a reason for them to do so," says Richard Rosso, financial planner. "That, along with the fact that you have a lot of people just sitting it out waiting for the election, creates this volatility that can make you anxious."
"But just because you're anxious, that doesn't mean you need to do anything about it," he continues. Indeed, Rosso recommends riding it out and seeing where things are after the dust settles from the election and the Fed. He also cautions investors to not be alarmed at a pullback in the markets. "Frankly, the market has been overheated," he tells KTRH. "It's like when you run your oven for four hours on Thanksgiving, and the oven's got to cool...that doesn't mean anything's wrong, (the market) has just got to cool down...and that actually gives traders better entry points."
"So your best decision for this week is to do nothing."
Photo: AFP