Richie Serna is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Finix. Finix is on a mission to create the most accessible financial services ecosystem in history by building the global operating system for fintech, starting with payments.

All major averages finished the week higher for three straight weeks of gains, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising to a record close.

Stocks dipped on Friday as investors remain cautious due to a resurgent Covid virus, a Federal Reserve meeting next week, and a historical tendency for September to be a weak month for equities.

Entering September with the entire football season ahead, it’s starting to feel a little bit more like fall. That means the markets could be in for a correction soon. There hasn’t been a major pullback greater than 5% in almost a year, and many investors are anticipating some pain on the way.

The shortfall in August payrolls relative to forecasts did not take the markets by surprise. For much of the summer, equities and bonds have been acting as if a slowdown in economic growth and momentum was already underway. 

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell gave his long-anticipated speech at the central bank’s annual symposium Friday, preparing the markets for it to pull back on some of its monetary stimulus. He said the Fed is likely to start tapering its $120 billion in monthly bond purchases this year.

The stock market is near all-time highs, which makes for a great time to plan for a big sell-off, even if you don’t expect one to come.

Strong earnings from tech stocks made investors optimistic ahead of reports next week from the biggest names in the sector. Twitter and Snap each jumped Thursday following better-than-expected second-quarter earnings reports.