Crude oil hit $110 a barrel this week. The price of natural gas rose in sympathy. In addition to the already-announced economic sanctions, demands to add an embargo on Russian energy exports are increasing. Be careful what you wish for. Most of the world governments have already instituted several hard-hitting sanctions against Russia. Financially, the harshest step so far has been barring Russia’s central bank and several large Russian banks from using the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) system. SWIFT is a messaging network used by almost all financial institutions to quickly and accurately receive information such as…
Insights & Advice
Tag: sanctions
Investors should take a deep breath
The war drums are beating. Oil and gas prices are soaring. Inflation is at a decades-long high. Bearish sentiment is exploding. And the stock market is giving investors angina. What to do? Take a deep breath and remember that whatever the circumstances, this too shall pass. I know that is easy to say, but a longer-term perspective might prevent you from doing something foolish like selling into this downturn. Let’s address the present fear that today’s geopolitical tension will somehow escalate into possibly WWIII. Sure, anything can happen, but is war the most probable outcome? The present reaction by the…
Stocks bouncing in a box
Over the next three weeks, equities will likely trade in a wide range. The caveat to that forecast: if the Fed suddenly changes policy, or if a shooting war erupts in Ukraine. Those are two big ifs. Unfortunately, I can neither forecast when or what the next Fed head will say, nor predict Vladimir Putin’s next move. The next Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting occurs in mid-March. The latest CPI and PPI inflation data show inflation accelerating at a rate much higher than economists and the Fed expected. It is all but certain, according to the bond market vigilantes,…