Inflation and the Stock Market - A Memo on the Couch, January 2016

Inflation began to rear its head in early 2021, when our emergence from isolation permitted too much money. Inflation worsened as 2021 wore on and late in the year the Fed acknowledged that it wasn't likely to be short-lived. The stock market which had ignored inflation and rising interest rates for most of 2021 began to fall around year-end. Exogenous events have the ability to undercut the markets' mood, especially in tougher times. Russia's invasion of Ukraine reduced supplies of grain and oil and gas, adding to inflationary pressures.