Even the worst markets are supposed to have havens. Some unnerved investors are wondering if this one doesn’t.
The S&P 500 is down 16%, its worst start to a year since 1970, according to Dow Jones Market Data. But assets of all kinds are also falling. Gold, typically considered a haven, has swung into the red. Bonds are typically another shelter, but this year they are falling alongside stocks, an unusual tandem that reflects investors’ uncertainty.
The risk-on cryptocurrency market, pitched for years as a counterweight to traditional stocks, is also imploding, with bitcoin losing more than a third of its value in 2022.
This sell-everything market is confounding big and small investors alike after a string of years when markets seemed to go only straight up. Now, investors are confronting red-hot inflation and the end of easy monetary policy. There is also the question…
