Right now, you hear a lot about how uncertain things are with the world and markets in general. Currently, we have a Fed hiking interest rates to levels not seen since 2007; a potential banking crisis; a war in Ukraine; uncertainty between China/Taiwan; and a potential debt ceiling showdown here in the U.S. All of this is on the heels of COVID-19, along with all the uncertainty with it that wasn’t just from a market standpoint but also more importantly, the health of the world. All of these events could make investors fearful, discouraged and downright depressed. But is this normal? 

An 18-year study by Morningstar shows that emotions have a history of leading to poor decisions from a return standpoint by investors. Sometimes, emotions are from fear, and sometimes they happen because a certain manager or strategy hasn’t been working lately, so the investor gets impatient and wants to move on. Â