What can we say about 2022? The year is only 6 weeks old, and the markets – which climbed so high in 2021 – are in a correction. The NASDAQ has fallen almost 12% since the start of the year, and the S&P 500 is behind at a net year-to-date loss of 8%. The losses have been broad-based, although tech has been particularly hard hit.
The headwinds pushing against the market momentum have come in a cluster. From the supply chain bottlenecks, to increasing shortages of goods, to steadily rising inflation, to the COVID pandemic that won’t go away and the vaccines that are seemingly ineffective, to the war drums beating on the Russia-Ukraine border, it seems there’s just nowhere to turn for a respite.
Taking a cautious approach could prove to be a prudent solution; investors can seek shelter in a defensive play that will provide some income padding in the portfolio. Dividend stocks are…
