The charts that matter: markets start the year with a crash

Welcome back, and a happy new year. 

In the year’s first issue, we’re looking ahead to what to buy in 2022. Kicking things off, Dr Mike Tubbs casts his eye over the biotech sector – and vaccine-makers in particular. Covid-19 vaccines have made huge profits for some (and less for others). Mike looks at what worked and what didn’t, and picks the best stocks in the sector. 

Mike Taylor revisits the Aim market – London’s junior stockmarket. This time last year he picked five risky small-cap stocks. This week, he looks back at their performance over the last 12 months and picks four new stocks that he thinks could do very well this year. 

And finally, Tim Dams investigates the streaming video market. The sector did very well as we retired to our sofas to watch box set after box set. But what does the future hold, and which stocks should you buy? Find out in this week’s magazine. And if you’re not already a subscriber, sign up here and get your first six issues free. 

The podcast is back, with Merryn and John looking forward to a year which they hope won’t be mired in more misery. Unfortunately, it’s not starting all that well. Interest rates are starting to rise, energy prices are going through the roof and house prices are doing the same. Listen to what they have to say here. 

Here are the links for this week’s editions of Money Morning and other web articles you may have missed:

• Tuesday Money Morning: Equity markets are growing again – but that might not be good news for investors
• Merryn’s blog: The markets in 2022: why investors should tread very carefully
• Wednesday Money Morning: Frisby’s Forecasts – what does 2022 have in store for investors?
• Thursday Money Morning: Interest rates might rise faster than expected – what does that mean for your money?
• Friday Money Morning: What does 2022 hold for UK house prices?
• Cryptocurrency roundup: Bitcoin crashes to its lowest in three months

Now for the charts of the week. 

The charts that matter 

Gold fell along with wider markets.

(Gold: three months)

The US dollar index (DXY – a measure of the strength of the dollar against a basket of the currencies of its major trading partners) saw little action this week.

(DXY: three months)

The Chinese yuan (or renminbi) was little moved, too (when the red line is rising, the dollar is strengthening while the yuan is weakening). 

(Chinese yuan to the US dollar: since 25 Jun 2019)

The yield on the ten-year US government bond shot up after the US Federal Reserve released its minutes which made it clear that interest rates could rise much earlier than markets expected (yields move inversely to prices, so as prices fall, yields rise).

(Ten-year US Treasury yield: three months)

But the yield on the Japanese ten-year bond saw a similarly big rise.

(Ten-year Japanese government bond yield: three months)

And the yield on the ten-year German Bund headed up too, but stopped short of turning positive.

(Ten-year Bund yield: three months)

Copper fell.

(Copper: nine months)

And the closely-related Aussie dollar slipped, too.

(Aussie dollar vs US dollar exchange rate: three months)

Bitcoin tumbled to its lowest price in over three months.

(Bitcoin: three months)

US weekly initial jobless claims rose by 7,000 to 207,000. The four-week moving average rose by 4,750 to 204,550. 

(US initial jobless claims, four-week moving average: since Jan 2020)

The oil price continued its rise – the Opec+ production cartel raised output less than expected in December, with supply constraints in Libya and Kazakhstan spurring the price higher.

(Brent crude oil: three months)

Amazon fell hard – the tech-heavy Nasdaq index was among the worst-hit in this week’s selloff as investors dumped growth stocks.

(Amazon: three months)

Tesla headed lower, too.

(Tesla: three months)

Have a great weekend.