What's going on?

On Wednesday, the US Federal Reserve (the Fed) confirmed what most investors had already expected: it had no magic left to weave this year, and kept the country�s interest rates where they were.

What does this mean?

When the Fed cut interest rates back in October, it said it probably wouldn�t tweak them again for a while unless the state of the US economy changed significantly. And things have been pretty steady-going since then, especially where the Fed�s two key responsibilities � its �dual mandate� � of job growth and stable prices are concerned. Take the country�s unemployment rate, for one: it fell to its lowest level in 50 years last month. And while fresh inflation data out on Wednesday was higher than the Fed�s target, it didn�t shift far enough to justify an immediate change of tack.

Why should I care?

For markets: 2020 vision.

Investors are already looking forward to next year, and expect economic growth in the US � the world�s largest economy � to be higher than in 2019. That�s partly down to this year�s three interest rate cuts driving spending in the next � and partly down to an over 50% likelihood of more cuts in 2020 (based on investors� current buying and selling activity). That�d encourage even more spending and, as a consequence, growth � and will likely set positive mood music for the global economy�

For you personally: Hey, big spender.

Most investors expect US unemployment to remain low and wages to continue increasing faster than product prices. And if that�s the case, consumer spending � which has helped the American economy throughout 2019 � will likely keep climbing in 2020 too. One group of companies likely to benefit from that trend is ad platforms like Google, whose ads make up 80% of parent company Alphabet�s revenue (thanks to a 70% market share in the US). Tech stocks � favorites among Finimizers � might then continue to lead the way throughout 2020.