Welcome to 10 Things Before the Opening Bell.
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1. The themes that powered stocks last year are being upended in 2022. Thanks to the Fed's hawkish pivot, investors are selling off their high-risk growth assets and pouring into value stocks set to benefit from the new policy regime. As Fed officials focus on fighting inflation, the tactics traders used to juice their portfolios last year aren't going to cut it anymore.
The major indexes have seen slices of last year's massive gains erased so far in 2022. Riskier investments like crypto and high-flying tech stocks have slumped as investors shed more speculative picks and rotate into so-called value stocks.
According to Morgan Stanley, the S&P 500 usually sees diminished returns in times of Fed tightening and decelerating economic and corporate earnings growth. Fundstrat's Tom Lee, however, is still optimistic. He says historical data suggests the stock market will do just fine in 2022, despite a slump in the first week of trading.
Here are some additional stats as 2022 gets underway:
- Alphabet, Microsoft, and Apple, which surged by 65%, 52%, and 35% respectively in 2021, are all trading down to start 2022.
- Year-to-date, the S&P 500 is down 4% and the Nasdaq 100 is down 7%.
- As of Monday, the 10-Year US Treasury yield was around 1.77%.
2. Stocks are shrugging off the inflation blues ahead of Fed chief Jerome Powell's Senate hearing. CPI data due Wednesday is in focus as the S&P 500 tentatively sets up to break its losing streak. Check out what's happening on the markets.
3. The top 20 best-selling cryptocurrencies revealed: Retail investors ditched first-generation tokens in 2021 and piled into metaverse and meme coins. See the ranking here.
4. Earnings on deck: Albertsons Companies, Kewpie Corp, and Izumi Co, all reporting.
5. Cathie Wood isn't buying the recent surge in Ford and GM stock. The car companies' electric vehicle plans haven't impressed the famed stock picker — she called their rallies "ridiculous."
6. Top strategist David Rosenberg warned of a massive market bubble. A painful correction could be coming as the Fed tightens monetary policy, said Rosenberg. He thinks the bubble could pop this year.
7. The Associated Press is launching an NFT marketplace. With a focus on photography, the news organization is partnering with technology firm Xooa to mint and release their own digital tokens. Here are the full details.
8. Bitcoin dipped below $40,000 in Monday trading as the crypto slump deepens. A hawkish Fed continues to spur a sell-off for crypto and riskier assets. Bitcoin alone saw outflows totaling $107 million last week.
9. The anti-ARKK ETF has soared nearly 40% since inception. Its CIO explained why he launched the fund to track the inverse performance of Cathie Wood's flagship fund — and he shared three ways traders use the strategy in their portfolios.
10. The town of El Zonte operates the world's first full crypto economy. The founders of "Bitcoin Beach" gave Insider a behind-the-scenes look at the initiative. Plus, they shared their thoughts on the future of global crypto dominance.
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Compiled by Phil Rosen. Feedback? Email [email protected] or tweet @philrosenn.
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