Investor: Big disconnect between stock market, general public
Aug 24, 2015, 12:40 PM | Updated: 6:46 pm
(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
PHOENIX — While a dramatic slide in the American stock market captured headlines Monday, a Phoenix-area investor said there is a big disconnect between Wall Street and the economic impact on the public.
“There are more positive signs the economy is strengthening and not weakening,” KTAR’s Smart Investor Wayne Stutzer said. “Housing looks good, the job market and wages are improving; so you scratch your head and say, ‘Why is Wall Street having a panic attack when Main Street is saying things might not look the best, but they’re not the worst either?'”
Stutzer said the big dip in the stock market is a familiar song and dance.
“We haven’t had a correction in four years,” he said. “A correction is defined as a market that drops at least 10 percent but no more than 20 percent.
“Bear markets — which means the market drops more than 20 percent, which this market is still far from — would imply the United States economy is heading into a recession. I don’t see that.”
The slide is eating into some 401(k) plans, but Stutzer said the worst thing people can do is pull money from their retirement accounts.
“You want to continue funding your 401(k) plan throughout your work life,” he said, adding the accounts are tax-deductible. “You never, ever stop making contributions to those retirement accounts.”
Stutzer said Monday’s market slide could keep the federal government from raising interest rates next month.