It's been a rough start of the year for the stock market and it could get worse. The federal reserve has projected it will raise interest rates three times this year to curb inflation. That could mean higher borrowing costs for mortgages and car loans and a negative effect on earnings and stock prices as more investors move their money to a safer place. "That has a direct impact as we're seeing on the stock market because people are selling or liquidating their positions because they can move their money over to bonds or CDs with higher interest rates." Financial advisor, Robert Canterbury says he's been fielding a lot of calls from his clients who want to know what action if any, they should take when it comes to their investment portfolio. He advises them to stay calm and not make any emotional decisions and takes into account what kind of investor they are. "Are you an active stock trader and you're looking for good stock pics or are you with the majority of folks who have retirement savings and have basically implemented verified strategies that they're going to stick with and if that's the case you know these short term bumps in the road really aren't significant to you at this point." The first interest rate hike is expected in March. Canterbury says other events causing turmoil in the market include international relations with Russia and Ukraine and covid's impact on the economy. but there's still plenty of time left for markets to turn around - they haven't had a losing year since 2018. Happening today- tax season officially begins, which is several weeks earlier than usual. The IRS is still dealing with thousands of backlogged returns from 2021.
