Blogs

The saying, “April Showers bring May Flowers,” that most know, actually originates from the United Kingdom, where April is one of the soggier months based on the position of the jet stream. Since this area typically has a cooler climate, the lower temperatures often push back the appearance of flowers to late April and early May. The phrase is also believed to come from an early poem written in 1557, from a man by the name of Thomas Tusser. He compiled a collection of writings he called, "A Hundred Good Points of Husbandry" with a line that goes, “Sweet April showers, do spring May flowers.”

According to a Farmers’ Almanac weather folklore, “If March comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb.” This stems from an ancestral belief in balance, meaning if the weather at the start of March was bad (roaring, like a roaring lion), the month should end with good weather (gentle, like a lamb). The application of the folklore could be used to describe the markets for the month of March as well.

February is referred to as the border between Winter and Spring, but the border didn’t detract volatile market and economic conditions from spilling over from January. Markets continued their rocky start to 2022 with the potential for Federal Reserve rate hikes coming in March as well as the geopolitical worries over Russia and Ukraine only adding to the uncertainty.

With a New Year beginning, midterm elections ahead, and some lingering items remaining from the not too distant past: COVID 19, the ongoing government and Federal Reserve’s monetary responsiveness, a continued economic recovery, and constant polarizing politics, it appears that the new normal looks a lot like the old normal.

With a new year comes new beginnings and a closing of old chapters. We review market headlines and performances of 2021 as well as preview the 2022 outlook of not-so obvious themes we expect.