The S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) tumbled more than 4% across the week whilst US stock markets finished higher.
Here are my three key investor takeaways from the week.
Seeing the forest for the trees
Whilst the human cost will be significant, in terms of asset markets and performance, the events in Ukraine are another bump in the road for markets.
For several years, if not decades, now markets have been all but immune from geopolitical events and risk, due to the understanding that they are generally localised, and few countries have the wherewithal to join any armed conflict.
More importantly, they know that central banks and governments are attuned to these risks and expect them to respond accordingly.
If nothing more, these events remind us that many companies are simply unimpacted by these events, with the likes of Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) actually gaining on the news.
Even the beaten-down can keep falling
The week offered another insight into the importance of companies to keep expectations in check and that any level of underperformance will be punished in ASX reporting season, even if said company has already fallen 70% in value. A 20% fall on a company down 70% is still a significant fall.
Management teams under pressure
Finally, pressure has once again returned to management teams around the world to deliver on their pay packets and create value for shareholders.
They must negotiate higher input costs, difficult staffing situations and make major decisions around the level of margin compression they are willing to wear.
