Over the past few years, the financial world has seen some ups and downs. In 2022, there was a pullback in the economy with high inflation. 2023 was a recovery of that with higher interest rates, lowering the inflation, which has been the theme for the start of 2024, but local Edward Jones Financial Advisor Ryan Painter reports interest rates will come down:
“The theme of 2024 so far is what is going to happen with interest rates. The Feds have said that rates will come down, they just don’t know how quickly and as those expectations have changed over the last six months where they thought they would cut a little faster and now they are backing off and saying it might be a slower process, maybe hold them at this rate for awhile; the market has adjusted accordingly. Our expectations are that they will come down at some point. I think the target is still at least three cuts this year, they have just pushed that back. The consensus was always that maybe this summer, but I have stopped saying that just because they have changed a couple of times of what their expectations are. So, it is probably better to just plan for any and all scenarios.”
Ultimately, Painter says the economy and stock markets are run by each individual. The consumers are the ones buying the items and dictating needs. It is when people are unable to afford items or lose interest, that is when the economy has to adapt.
