Well, that was not the start we were hoping for after a strong 2021. After closing at an all-time high on the first trading day of the year, we saw nearly uninterrupted selling across all sections of the US market. Unpleasant? Yes. Unexpected? No.

The rogue thunderstorm blowing into this situation is the standoff between Russia and the West by way of Ukraine. I don’t pretend to be an expert in geopolitical matters, so I won’t attempt to forecast the outcome. However, plenty of investors are taking measures to protect their portfolios from any escalation on that front, which shows in the daily price moves. This isn’t the first flare-up of hostilities, and it certainly won’t be the last. Before hitting that sell button, think about all the prior occurrences and the related outcomes.

For the average American, the Federal Reserve raising interest rates has ramifications beyond the immediately visible. With the current expectations being that the Fed will likely raise its key interest rate possibly up to four times in 2022, this piece will examine the impact of higher rates.

Peering into a crystal ball is an interesting challenge for obvious reasons. Nobody knows how the future will play out, and even if we did, gauging the market’s reaction to that future is impossible. For example, anyone who foresaw the devastating economic impact of the still-ongoing pandemic would have surely pulled their money from the stock market and missed the returns over the last two years. That being said, what are some major themes to watch for in the year ahead?

Like it or not, the Federal Reserve's actions (and sometimes just words) hold tremendous sway over the stock market and the economy. Their influence over the markets birthed the saying, “Don’t fight the Fed.” Recently, they released a statement about what they believe to be the future of their monetary policy in support of their stated goals: maximum employment and price stability. This post will examine what it means to investors in the coming year.

After a nearly uninterrupted rally from the COVID low on March 23 of last year, the stock market took what amounts to a breather this quarter. At its high point, the S&P 500 had more than doubled off of its low but gave up some gains as the quarter came to a close. In our last monthly update, we mentioned that this was a possibility due to September being a historically weak period.