The Fragreport

The US Federal Reserve on Sunday, March 15 cut its Fed Funds Rate to zero (0%-0.25%) and announced a $700 billion-dollar quantitative easing program to counter the potential effects of the coronavirus on the US economy. This move by the Fed is a very important development as the market continues to grapple with volatility. Such moves may not seem apparently relevant when it comes to our daily lives.

An underlying characteristic of financial markets is that they are driven by the actions of human beings. Even in the age of algorithmic trading and computerized models, human behavior remains a constant with investing.

Frank Sinatra’s old tune, That’s Life always picks me up when times seem tough. I replayed that song this week and like the song, the market was riding high in February and was shot down in March because of coronavirus fears. I had to remind myself, markets correct and eventually move forward. Here are five things you should remember when assessing your retirement plan during volatile periods in financial markets.

In light of recent volatility related to the outbreak of the coronavirus, we at MCF Capital Management wanted to share our views and considerations as these developments continue to effect markets.

This month’s market commentary features our outlook for 2020. In this edition, we review general market consensus forecasts for 2020 and compare them against our expectations for the year. Equity markets got off to a strong start to the new decade, with the S&P 500 adding more than 3% by mid-January on the back of stronger than expected early fourth quarter earnings reports.

The impact of recent geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran escalated to a level that rattled markets in early January and led us to question if a new war was underway in the Middle East. Fortunately, for now, it appears that the fears of a major confrontation between the US and Iran have settled.