The charts that matter: omicron rattles markets

Markets were rattled by the emergence of a new strain of Covid-19. Here’s how it has affected the charts that matter most to the global economy.

Welcome back.

This week’s cover has the omicron variant of Covid ruining everyone’s Christmas. Hopefully, it won’t come to that, of course. As Alex Rankine says, the new variant is a cause for concern, but it’s not a cause for panic – though markets certainly took its appearance as a sign to overreact a little. We look at just how serious things really are, and explain what it might mean for your money.

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Ben Judge

Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.

Ben joined MoneyWeek as website editor in 2008, just as the Great Financial Crisis was brewing. He has written extensively for the website and magazine, with a particular emphasis on alternative finance and fintech, including blockchain and bitcoin. 

As an early adopter of bitcoin, Ben bought when the price was under $200, but went on to spend it all on foolish fripperies.