Over the past decade or so, interest rates have been front and center when it comes to what investors, analysts, and economists pay the most attention to. It's not really surprising: Interest rates underpin everything that happens throughout the economy, affecting consumers and businesses immensely. 

From an investment perspective, that might be discouraging, because we have zero control over interest rates. But it's not all bad news. What you do have control over is what you do with your portfolio, and this can help you navigate the uncertainty. 

The Federal Reserve is the central bank of the U.S., and it's tasked with a dual mandate: Maintaining "full employment" while at the same time keeping inflation relatively calm. Those two goals can and do conflict with each other. One tool the central bank's leaders use to perform these duties is setting the federal funds rate, a key interest rate at which commercial banks lend money to each other in overnight markets.  

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Source Fool.com