The S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) suffered a 2.6% fall across the week, while US stock markets managed to deliver gains.
Here are my three key takeaways from the week.
Fear driving markets
There is no doubt that many pundits will be confused about why the market rallied on Friday, with similar questions around why the bond yield slipped below 10%.
The beginning of 2022 has been met with a crescendo of fear around the threat of inflation and higher interest rates.
And despite signs that the era of super-cheap money may be coming to an end, we may well be in an era of semi-cheap money for much longer.
Navigating such volatile and fear-driven environments is extremely difficult, but the most important determinant of success remains the existence of an overriding investment strategy to fall back on in times of volatility.
Featured video: How to build an inflation-proof portfolio
Retail investors trigger selloff
According to Bloomberg, it was a massive surge in retail or DIY investors that triggered Monday’s market sell-off, subsequently exacerbated by AI-driven, passive strategies which adjust portfolios based on volatility.
The 10% correction was among the fastest in history, the continuation of a trend that has dominated the last few years; that is everything is bigger and faster than it has ever been.
Inflation jitters
Looking closely at the worrying inflation data in Australia highlighted a number of issues, the first being that the majority of cost increases had come from non-discretionary items, nearly three times more than discretionary purchases, suggesting this demand would be less sensitive to the rate hikes that many are calling for.
In the US, we saw a surge in GDP growth primarily due to companies finally restocking their inventory, which itself should be disinflationary. With volatility set to become the status quo, patience and quality remain the order of the day.
