Every year is filled with exciting, scary, stressful, eye-catching, all important headlines that turn out to be nothing special in the end. There were a few this year, but the big one was the recurring theme around the Fed raising rates.
Well, we can finally toss this one in the nothing special pile too because it’s official – a 0.25% fed funds rate hike was announced Wednesday. The Fed dragged out the most telegraphed move of 2015, until December…and the world didn’t end.
Of course, that didn’t stop people from imagining every conceivable outcome. The extended wait gave investors more time to stew over and second guess any attempt to avoid the worst case scenarios. And the media kindly reminded us of the more ludicrous possibilities…every…single…month.
So, now that the deed is done, we can move on. Lesson learned. Right? Headlines are a distraction to your financial plan.
Besides, the holidays are upon us. It’s time to close the book on 2015 and get ready for all the crazy headlines in 2016.
Happy Holidays to you, and a prosperous New Year!
Last Call
- Why Very Low Interest Rates May Stick Around – N. Irwin
- How Social Media Can Feed Investors’ Panic – WSJ
- Commodities Bust? Love It! – Bloomberg
- What Investors Can Learn from the Oil Bust – J. Zweig
- How Not to Invest – J. Rekenthaler
- Beware The Recency Pitfall – L. Swedroe
- Momentum Deterioration, Crashes, and Prospects – Investor Field Guide
- The History of the Black-Scholes Formula – Priceonomics
- The Guinness Brewer Who Revolutionized Statistics – Priceonomics
