Wow. What a crazy time to be on vacation.
Let’s see…
The Fed raised interest rates. There was a bit of hiccup regarding that. In my humble opinion, this is the last “freebie” interest rate hike the Fed has in its quiver. In other words, this interest rate hike probably doesn’t have the possibility of tanking the economy. But, the next one might be a different story. If the Fed pulls the trigger on the next hike too quickly, that could be the one that pops the whole economic expansion and heads us into the next recession.
If you are a conspiracy theorist, it’s too late to affect the mid-term elections, but a series of ill-timed rate hikes toward the end of this year, and into the next drops the economy into recession just in time for the next Presidential election. That’s pretty far fetched, that they would do it on purpose, but it could happen nonetheless. (I like that nonetheless is one word 🙂
Also, a trade war!
Again.
Not just with China this time, but with Europe and Canada?!?
Actually, there are a few glitches in our trade with Canada, but this taking a club to some pealing paint. It probably won’t fix anything, and might make things worse, but when your motto is shoot first, ask questions later….
If all of that weren’t enough, the European Central Bank surprised everyone by going semi-dovish.
It’s actually a BRILLIANT move in this finance writer‘s opinion. With the uncertainty in Italy, and the crazy uncertainty coming out of the U.S., plus the need to unwind the “unusual stimulus” that the Europeans have been doing, a softer interest rate policy might be just the thing to cushion a soft landing. Something our American central bankers might want to consider.
If that weren’t enough, the tax law changes from last year are actually going to impact your taxes come next January, so it’s time to start understanding those.
And finally, if you live here in Colorado and you participate in the PERA retirement program (you lucky dogs), there was a law passed that is kind of a big deal that you want to understand moving forward.
I’ll get to all this, and more in the coming week.