Emerging market stocks have not won much lately, but the Fed may be a winnable fight. The Federal Reserve, which announces its policy decision on September 17, 2015, is on the verge of starting a rate hike cycle for the first time in more than 10 years.

When markets are tough, emotions can take over. The natural emotional response to sharp stock market declines is to sell. In periods like these, especially when the media sensationalize every gloomy angle as they tend to do, an objective look at the data can be reassuring and help us make better investment decisions.

The recent market downdraft and related uncertainty in China have led to many investor questions. The strong 6.5% rebound in the S&P 500 over the last three trading sessions (August 26, 27, 28, 2015) has cut the S&P 500’s losses from the 2015 peak (2130 on May 21, 2015) to 6.7%.

As a bull market matures over the second half of an economic expansion, periods of increased market volatility are likely to become more common.

This year has brought a whole lotta flat. The S&P 500 dipped into negative territory for the year last week (on August 12) and is only up about 1% year to date. The bond market has been flat–the Barclays Aggregate Bond Index has returned just 0.51% so far in 2015.