You’ve raised a glass and sung Auld Ang Syne (I hope, after the last blog you did!), and now it’s time to say goodbye to 2022. What are we leaving behind?
Culture
The Mirriam-Webster dictionary word of the year was Gaslighting. Defined as “the act or practice of grossly misleading someone especially for one’s own advantage,” we all may have felt that way for the last 2 years.
The most listened-to song was provided by – surprise!- Taylor Swift with Anti-Hero. I must admit I heard this song for the first time in December.
The most-viewed YouTube video was from Minecraft creator Technoblade being eulogized by his father.
The top selling author in 2022 was Colleen Hoover. At one point, I saw that out of 20 books listed on the New York Times bestseller list that week, SIX of them were written by Colleen Hoover. On my to-do list for 2023 is to read one of her books.
On Ye Olde Google, people were searching for Wordle more than anything else.
Investments
- The US stock market was bad, only to be outdone by the US Real Estate sector (as measured by a REIT index fund).
- International stocks finally beat US Stocks, but that means they just lost 3% less.
- Bonds, which are supposed to be our safety valve during bad stock market years, still lost double digits, but still 6% better than US large company stocks.
Top business headlines included
- Corporations fleeing Russia because of the Ukraine invasion.
- OPEC stifling production in the face of less oil coming from Russia.
- Inflation!
- No one can seem to hire enough people.
- A constant stream of nonsense from Elon Musk.
- Cryptocurrency implosion – WHAT. A surprise.
- Hybrid work from home is here to stay.
- Constant ransomware attacks across companies of all sizes.
Farewell to the problems of 2022. Looking forward to happier times in 2023.
