Perspectives Newsletter: Q2, 2022
What began as a market wobble in the first quarter turned into a full rout and bear market in the second as the S&P 500 dropped by more than 15% in a quarter for just the ninth time since the end of World War II. There was seemingly no investable asset class immune to the weakness as equities across the globe were hit hard, bonds posted another quarter of negative returns, crypto plunged and even many commodities pulled back as recession fears took hold. The second quarter also saw 90% of the trading days post an intraday move of at least 1% in the S&P 500, the most volatile reading since 2009. At the root of much of the weakness was inflation that continued to march higher, and the fear that in an effort to tamp out inflation the Fed would push the US into recession. With inflation running hot and central banks around the globe tightening in response, the more speculative areas of the market were hit hardest. Growth stocks witnessed a bear market just in the second quarter; when combined with losses from the first three months of the year, the index has a negative return of nearly -30% at the midpoint of 2022. Value stocks were relative stars by comparison, falling just -12% in the quarter and about -13% for the year. Small and midcap stocks also lagged their larger peers but nowhere was the damage as severe as in the crypto space. Long touted as a safe haven or inflation hedge, it proved to be neither as crypto currencies were trounced in the quarter. The flagship Bitcoin lost over half its value.
