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At the end of last year, the big question was, “Will 2019 bring the end of the recovery?” All of the data seemed to point to an answer of “Not yet.” And so far, that answer still holds. The big picture suggests growth is likely to continue for the rest of the year, which should, in turn, support the financial markets. But there’s more to the story...

Recently, the markets have experienced another round of volatility as the worries seem to be piling up. Tech stocks struggled on the news that Washington will be taking a hard look at regulating them. Concerns over a trade war continue to reverberate throughout the market. And the yield curve remains inverted, escalating fears of a more severe slowdown.

Recent declines have taken the U.S. stock markets down more than 2 percent. Not surprisingly, worries have started to grow. After all, this could be the end of the bull market. But is it time to hit the panic button?

Not for the first time, October was a difficult period for the stock market. With the drop seen over this past month, there is increasing fear that this is it—the big one that will take us back to the depths of 2008. Although that level of concern is certainly understandable, a closer look at the real economic and market situation around the world suggests that the volatility we are now seeing (and may well continue to see) is perfectly normal.