Monday morning brought another wave of red to global equity markets. In the US, the S&P 500 is about 4% off its high, the Dow Jones is about 5% off, and the NASDAQ is about 7% off its all-time high. Small-cap stocks are nearly 13% off their early November highs. These drawdowns come as unwelcomed early holiday presents, given the epic run higher we’ve seen in equity markets since the initial pandemic recovery about 20 months ago.

In light of the attention paid to the Fed’s next moves, we thought it prudent to examine what the Fed’s mandate (job) is, and what their actions can mean for investors in the marketplace.