The stock market got crazy in November, as investors tried to make sense of a deluge of news — both good and bad.
Third-quarter earnings season was strong overall, but a variety of new threats have raised tension in the stock market.
Consumers are considered the driving force of the American economy, so weak spending could spill into other sectors.
Everyone is figuring out how much of those costs can be passed along to customers and what the new competitive environment will look like.
Analysts are forecasting 7% to 10% growth in retail sales during the holiday season, so anything short of that could lead to a market sell-off.
Some businesses will be forced to raise prices to offset higher expenses, and many consumers will absorb those higher prices with their better wages.
Online sales took a step back on Black Friday compared to last year, putting extra pressure on Cyber Monday to exceed forecasts.
This isn’t all bad news, but it seems very unlikely that retailers will sail through the holiday season and blow expectations out of the water.
Cases are spiking in Europe, and the omicron variant is drawing some attention as it spreads out of Africa.
A serious public health crisis would be avoided, and the economy would remain fairly stable as people and businesses are better equipped by experience to deal with lockdowns or travel bans.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed that things pan out this way, but there are still a fresh set of challenges across a variety of sectors.
Don’t panic and leave the market completely, because stocks are one of the best hedges against inflation.