Thankfully inflation has shown signs of slowing down as the inflation rate dropped to 8.5% in July. Economic experts are cautiously optimistic that higher interest rates enacted by the Federal Reserve, easing of supply chain pressures, and reduction in fuel prices will result in further inflation reduction in the months ahead.

If you have been watching the news lately, you probably have been hearing stories about the state of the Markets which have been very volatile indeed. As the chart below indicates, The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down almost 7% and the S&P 500 is down almost 10% since the start of 2022.

While the Markets view the presidential election positively, it continues to exhibit volatility due to the on-going threat of the Coronavirus Pandemic.

The 3rd quarter saw the Markets make up for losses from March and grew 9.2%.