Week of March 21, 2022

Last week the U.S. equity markets had their best week since November 2020, boosted mainly by growth stocks.  The S&P 500 and Dow surged 6.1% and 5.5%, respectively, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ jumped 8.1%

“After one of the best weeks in years, now the question is will stocks be able to hold those gains?  One bit of good news is April is historically one of the best months for stocks, so the calendar remains a positive for the bulls,” said Ryan Detrick of LPL Financial.

The stock market declines of 2022 have to come to an end at some point and getting clarity from the Fed is a good start.  The Russian invasion of Ukraine still remains the major focal point for investors across the world.  Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that if peace talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, it will mean the start of a third global war.  This, of course, would be disastrous for the global investment markets.

“Bear market rallies are the most vicious.  The rally in equities over the past week was one of the sharpest on record.  While it could go a bit higher, we remain convicted it’s still a bear market and we would use this strength to position more defensively,” Morgan Stanley’s Michael Wilson said in a note.