Topic: How To Invest

What is Pat’s commentary for the week of January 2, 2019

Article Excerpt

“I’m a very old man and I’ve worried a great deal about a lot of things in my life, most of which never happened.” —Attributed to Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson, and various other historical figures The stock market has gone through sharp up-and-down moves in the past few weeks. Some of these moves set records, according to the media. However, the records only measured changes in points or dollars. None were record-setters on a percentage basis, and that’s what matters. I think the volatility grows out of the fact that investors are starting to realize that we may be near a couple of historical turning points. Either one could turn out well or badly. First, we may be getting away from the “Quantitative Easing” phase in central banking that began at the start of the last recession in 2008. Back then, central banks wanted to restore prosperity. They generally do that by using central-bank credit to buy short-term government debt. These purchases tend to…