What’s the point of all this?

Why am I saving and investing?

After a week like last week, it’s an important question. There are many reasons people save and invest, including to:

Live the life they want today and in the future

Accumulate resources so they’re prepared for any bumps in the road

Provide an education for their children

Offer assistance to parents

Do good in the world

Live comfortably in retirement without anxiety

However, none of these reasons have anything to do with short-term market fluctuations.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 5.7 percent, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 6 percent, and the NASDAQ fell 6.5 percent, reported Barron’s.

Those are big moves for a single week. The kind of moves that light up the emotion centers of investors’ brains and make them want to sell.

It’s not a new phenomenon. In 2002, in an article for CNN Money, Jason Zweig explained the brain’s potentially negative influence on investment decisions, “But in the world of investing, a panicky response to a false alarm — dumping all your stocks just because the Dow is dropping — can be as costly as ignoring real danger. For one thing, it can cause you to flee the market at a low point and miss out when the market bounces back. A moment of panic can also disrupt your long-term investing strategy.”

So, what happened last week? In short:

The Fed raised rates, as expected. The Federal Reserve raised the Fed funds rate by a quarter of a percent, which may benefit savers and investors, but will make borrowing more expensive.

Tariffs triggered trade war worries. The Trump administration levied tariffs on China, raising concerns of a global trade war.

You’re fired! There was additional turnover among senior advisers to President Trump.

Can they do that? British news reported a data analytics firm has been influencing elections around the world in some unsavory ways.

Don’t share my data! There was news a social media firm had shared the personal data of thousands with a researcher who shared it with a third-party firm without permission.

The economy is chugging along. Last week’s U.S. economic releases were overshadowed by everything else, but many indicated a strengthening economy, reported Barron’s.

That’s a lot to take in over the span of five days.

LET’S TAKE A GOOD NEWS BREAK.

After last week, we could all use some good news. Here are intriguing headlines from the Good News Network:

Scientists Believe They Found a Way to Stop Future Hurricanes in Their Tracks

Dog that Shoplifted a Book on ‘Abandonment’ is Given the Love It was Asking For

We’re Not Spinning a Yarn Here: Knitting May Boost Health and Happiness

This Pollution-Gobbling City Bench Can Absorb as Many Toxins as 275 Trees

Free Clothing Hung on Streets to Help the Homeless Stay Warm

There is a lot of good news in the world. Unfortunately, it doesn’t pack a wallop like bad news does, so we hear less about it.

This article was provided by Peterson Wealth Management. For information, call 775-423-8007, or visit PetersonWM.com.