One Big Reason Not to Panic About QE Tapering

In Wednesday's edition of Investor Beat, host Alison Southwick and Motley Fool analysts Jason Moser and Matt Argersinger dissect the hardest-hitting investing stories of the day.

Minutes from the Fed's July meeting came out Wednesday and no one knows what to think about it, let alone the market, as fears of stimulus tapering grow. In today's lead story from Investor Beat, Jason and Matt explain why individual investors should embrace the taper as an opportunity to buy some great companies at a discount.

Also in today's installment, our analysts take a look at four retailers that made big moves Wednesday. Not all retail is created equal as quarterly earnings reports continue to show. Target and Staples missed analyst expectations and the stocks took a hit, while Lowe's saw a bump after reporting that second-quarter earnings jumped 26%. PetSmart met revenue estimates and raised guidance for the year, but still took a hit because of declining same-store sales.

Finally, Jason and Matt explain why they're keeping a close watch on shares of Pandora and Gap.

The retail space is in the midst of the biggest paradigm shift since mail order took off at the turn of the last century. Only those most forward-looking and capable companies will survive, and they'll handsomely reward those investors who understand the landscape. You can read about the 3 Companies Ready to Rule Retail in The Motley Fool's special report. Uncovering these top picks is free today -- just click here to read more.

The article One Big Reason Not to Panic About QE Tapering originally appeared on Fool.com.

Alison Southwick has no position in any stocks mentioned. Jason Moser owns shares of Amazon.com. Matthew Argersinger owns shares of Amazon.com and has the following options: long January 2014 $200 calls, short January 2014 $200 puts, and short January 2014 $300 calls. The Motley Fool recommends Amazon.com, Google, Home Depot, Lowe's, Pandora Media, PetSmart, and Sherwin-Williams. It owns shares of Amazon.com, Google, and Staples. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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