Perspectives Newsletter: Q1, 2022
There was reason to cheer as markets notched another all-time high on the first day of trading in 2022. Hope that the bull market might continue quickly gave way to reality as mounting issues emerged, resulting in a rapid drawdown that ultimately saw the S&P 500 decline -13%. Deep oversold conditions combined with a flush in investor sentiment allowed the market to form a bottom to bounce from, ultimately climbing 11% over the final weeks of the quarter. Growth stocks led the way higher during the March rally, but the damage done earlier in the year still left the growth focused index down -9.04% for the quarter. While value stocks did not quite keep pace in the final rally, their superior performance earlier in the year allowed for significant outperformance for the quarter, declining only -0.74%. Perhaps most striking in the quarter was the complete inability of bonds to hedge investors’ stock positions. In fact, for many investors bonds were their worst performer, leaving the typical 60/40 portfolio down -5.5% in the quarter. Broadly speaking, international markets fared no better with the EAFE index down nearly -6% and Emerging Markets down almost -7%. The greatest weakness was seen from countries more intimately tied to the full global economy (i.e. Germany and China). The safe haven trade internationally was in commodity exporting countries like Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Australia.
