Investors Nervous Over Continued Rate Hikes

Wall Street Journal

Physician-investors around the countryare becoming increasingly uneasy aboutthe state of the economy and are shyingaway from risky investments as a result.According to a article,the Federal Reserve may raise interestrates even further in an effort to curb inflation,partly causing bonds of companieswith low credit ratings to take a downturnrecently. Combine this with a shaky stockmarket and many investors are runningaway from any kind of investment risk.According to the article, investors withdrew$2.6 billion from junk-bond mutualfunds over a 2-week span. It is believedthat rising interest rates will be problematicfor the economy in the coming months.However, although some financial stocksare suffering as a result—such as CountrywideFinancial, down about 7% over thepast year—there are many that are stillattractive. Providian Financial, LehmanBrothers, and Morgan Stanley are allbelieved to be positive prospects.