***NEWS RELEASE***
Don’t Stress Over the Markets, Focus on the Economy
Nationally Syndicated Host Dan Celia Says Strong Jobs Report, Wage Growth and Bump in Paychecks Should Reduce Stress Over Fluctuations
PHILADELPHIA—With this week’s wild market fluctuations, including a pair of 1,000-plus-point drops in the Dow Jones average, nationally syndicated host and biblical investing authority Dan Celia spent a lot of time keeping investors focused on their plan—and reminding them why they’re investing in the first place.
“Consider that the vast majority of stocks, bonds and other instruments in the United States are held in 401(k)s, IRAs and other qualified plans,” Celia wrote in a new op-ed for Townhall, where he is a featured columnist. “By the nature of these kinds of accounts, you have to believe that most investors are investing for the long term.
“Many are panicking,” he continued. “But, if we maintain a long-term horizon, why? We have a housing market that seems to be doing extremely well, global growth that’s looking better and better, predictions of GDP growth as high as 4 percent, and consumer confidence that is off the charts, along with corporate sentiment. We have already seen benefits to millions of people receiving higher wages or bonuses as a result of tax cuts. We recently saw the beginning of tax cuts in paychecks; everybody I’ve talked to says they saw more money than in the previous pay period.”
Confidence in the markets and confidence of corporate America is an indication that very good GDP results are to come, not to mention the important recent wage increase of 2.9 percent.
“This wage increase marks a tightening labor force that is creating more opportunities for higher wages,” Celia said. “While fears of wage increases bringing back inflation partially sparked the market dips, remember that we’re investors for the long term, not a month or a year. In my opinion, we could be looking at gains for eight to 10 years. We must remember that we are headed to a place we have not seen in a long time, where markets will be driven higher by a solid and growing economy.
“We need to shift our attentions away from the day-to-day activities in our investment accounts and focus on the economy,” he added. “The economy will take care of the markets. We have an opportunity to be invested in a market that is dependent on the economy instead of false positives created by the political atmosphere or central banks. Some things, like geo-political events that could derail the economy, are out of our control. Let’s focus on what is in our control. One thing we can do is ensure that the environment in Washington stays pro-America and pro-working American for a very long time.”
Celia leads Financial Issues Stewardship Ministries (FISM, www.financialissues.org). His program, “Financial Issues,” airs from 9 a.m. to noon EST Monday through Friday on about 640 radio stations and several television networks, including NRBTV. Watch live here.
Read more about Celia, FISM and “Financial Issues” here or visit the FISM web site, its Facebook page, on YouTube at Financial Issues with Dan Celia or on Twitter @financialissues; download the FISM app here.
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