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The week of 2-7-2018 was one of the most volatile weeks we have seen in over a year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was moving up and down by over 500 points each day for most of the week. Overall the markets are down about nine percent from their all-time highs. This increase in volatility has been expected. What caused the correction? Most analysts will point out that this was only a technical correction; that the markets had risen too far too fast. Prior to last week the Dow Jones Industrial Average had gone for over 400 trading days without a five percent correction. Also, with the U.S. economy continuing to grow there is concern that the U.S. Federal Reserve will increase interest rates faster than expected. So where do the markets go from here? I think that investors will use this recent price decline to add to their holdings. The long-term fundamentals of the market have not changed since this recent sell-off. Unemployment remains near historic lows at 4.1%. The U.S. economy continues to generate over 200,000 new jobs per week and inflation remains under control. In addition, the tax cuts passed into law earlier this year means that most Americans will see an increase in their pay checks. Our advice for long-term investors is to continue to stay invested and to use this market correction to add high quality securities to their portfolios.