Hi, I’m Gerri Willis from the Fox Business Network and host of the podcast, Rich is Not a Four-Letter Word. Volatility. That’s what we’ve got in the stock market these days and whether you’re an active investor in stocks or simply a set it and forget it 401(k) holder, you need to understand what to expect. Fortunately we have Lindsey Bell, CFRA investment strategist, in to talk about what you need to do during these volatile times. Navigating rocky markets can be frightening but as Lindsey will show, a little information can make the trip easier.

Here are the takeaways:

  • Understand the in insider market talk. It’s really not that hard. A pullback is a market decline of 5 percent to 9.9 percent. Pullbacks are common, happening once every nine months, and recovering takes a mere one and a half months. According to CFRA, we’ve had 56 bull-market pullbacks since World War II. A correction is a pullback of 10 percent to 19.9 percent and a bear market is a decline of 20 percent from highs. Lindsey says a bear market is usually caused by the economy falling into recession and, she says, that doesn’t appear to be in the cards, not now, anyway.
  • Stay faithful to tech. According to Lindsey, technology stocks still have the best growth potential among major stock sectors. Even though so-called FANG stocks, Facebook, Apple, Netflix and Google, have led the markets for sometime now, their fortunes are more secure because their fundamentals are sound, she says.
  • The biggest threat to the market? Lindsey says it’s the Federal Reserve, and higher interest rates. The Fed is on target for at least one more rate hike this year, and Lindsey says that over doing the rate hikes to wring inflation out of the economy is the biggest potential problem for markets. Higher rates clip stock performance as companies face higher operating costs.

Take a listen to the podcast! Follow me on Twitter @gerriwillisFBN and on Facebook, where my handle is GerriWillis. You can also find me on Instagram at Gerri_Willis.

Bottom line, I want to hear from you! What money issues do you want to explore? Tell me and we will get it on the podcast. Have a great day and remember, Rich is NOT a Four-Letter Word!

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