I just received my Fidelity statements for October, and boy, did our accounts get hammered! The total loss was just under 4%, although the pain seemed to be deeper for international stock funds (all Fidelity funds, plus one international ETF) than for our Fidelity domestic stock funds.

It's not a Fidelity problem that caused the decline. It's a broad market problem -- namely, worries over inflation -- and lots of peoples' fund holdings suffered, regardless of the fund company.

Many on Wall Street (and other markets, too) are worried about U.S. inflation and the effect on interest rates. Oil prices were already high when late-season hurricanes creamed the Gulf of Mexico and the energy industry facilities there, which contributed to the hand-wringing. Stocks that are sensitive to higher interest rates (financial stocks, makers of high-end consumer goods, etc.) were hard hit, but, as we have seen in recent Congressional testimony, that didn't stop the energy companies from declaring tens of billions of dollars in profit.

So far this month, there has been an upturn, which has reversed the slide in most of my fund holdings. I am hoping for (but not counting on) a year-end rally, as well.mortgage calculator