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Experts say stock market slow-down is much needed

CHARLOTTE — Financial experts call the recent losses in the stock market a much-needed "course correction."

Since the beginning of 2014, the Dow is down nearly 6 percent, and economists told Channel 9 that it's an expected turn of events.

"All along, everybody was expecting there was going to be some kind of profit-taking and some kind of what they call a 'correction,'" said University of North Carolina Charlotte economist John Connaughton.

Experts said the Fed's announcement that it would taper injections into the economy, as well as weakening growth in economies around the world -- including Brazil and India -- led to lower expectations on Wall Street. However, financial planners said investors aren't necessarily hurting.

"The market is down 5 percent here, but that's 5 percent off all-time highs. A lot of money has been made in the last four or five years," said Kelly Graves with Carroll Financial Associates, Inc.

Graves said investors close to retirement are safe from the downward turn of the stock market because they aren't heavily invested in equities.

As for young investors, financial planners call this a golden opportunity to buy into stocks they may not have been able to previously afford.

"It's healthy for the market to kind of consolidate, regroup," Graves said.

Experts predict the market will drop another 2-4 percent before it levels off.