Tiger

Lunar New Year is the start of the calendar based on the moon’s cycles.  Many countries and cultures celebrate this auspicious time with unique traditions.  Just like folks who celebrate the changing of the Gregorian calendar, Lunar New Year offers an opportunity to put the past behind them and begin a new start.  Celebrations last days.  For instance, in China, the occasion lasts 15 days, ending with the Spring Lantern Festival.  Other countries don’t party for quite as long, opting instead for something between three to seven days.  This new year could not have come soon enough.  We’d all like to put the memories of January 2022’s equity markets behind us.

Markets started the Gregorian year 2022 with a lot of fragility. It’s yet unclear how the rest of the year will go.  Atlas suspects our economy is in a period of deceleration, making both it and markets susceptible to exogenous shocks.  Add a central bank which is reversing its quantitative easing program and preparing to raise overnight interest rates to the likely slower output, and uncertainty rises further (something of which markets aren’t exactly fond).  Ultimately, America isn’t likely to remain vulnerable all year, but we’ll need to see signs of reacceleration in the economy to help buttress it going forward.

Lunar years are represented by one of 12 zodiac animals.  For the first time since 2010, this is the Year of the Tiger.  Tigers are considered brave, courageous, and strong, characteristics we might all need in 2022 if January’s market actions were any indication of how it will all unfold.