What the Media Was Worried About – February 2022

What the Media Was Worried About – February 2022

The big story for February 2022 was the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  The Russian buildup was loudly called out by US/NATO intelligence.  The world saw it happening, warned Russia not to do it, but Russia eventually did it anyway.  The Pandemic has quietly ended.  There was no celebration, just a shift in the CDC’s focus from cases to hospitalizations due to COVID.  Would this have been a bigger deal without the Ukraine conflict?  Investing’s top story was that a Federal Reserve president roiled markets by saying what everything thinks the Fed should do, but nobody says it because it would roil the markets if said out loud.  Oops.  In other news, SNOWMAGEDDON came and went.  Newspersons have taken to calling these storms ‘WINTER STORM BOMB CYCLONES’ now because it sounds way more gnarly than saying an area will get a foot of snow.  Just wait for March’s “nature wants you dead” headline.  It’s right up there with MURDER HORNETS.

SNOWMAGEDDON!!!

Pandemic

Governors starting to remove mask mandates in schools and indoors

Hawaii is the last state to remove their mask mandate

Canada

Truckers protest Canadian vaccine mandates in Ottawa and at US/Canada border

Canada declares emergency – disperses truckers – emergency powers ended – donors to trucker protest doxxed

Ukraine

Russia invasion of Ukraine “imminent” – Biden admin

Biden admin – didn’t really mean imminent

Russia invasion of Ukraine “any day now” – Biden admin

Putin has already made the decision to invade – Biden

Russia and Ukraine both say invasion won’t happen

Macron to Russia – speaks with Putin

Biden working on sanctions/shutting down Nordstream with Germany if invasion happens

Russia invasion of Ukraine expected “next week” to be bloody and horrific 2-11-2022

Russian invasion of Ukraine scheduled for 2-16-2022

Russian invasion “imminent” 2-17-2022

2-22-2022 Two breakaway provinces in Ukraine (Donetsk and Luhansk) recognized as independent by Putin – Russia sends “peacekeepers”

It’s “Keev”, not “Key-yev”

Hundreds killed in first days of fighting in Ukraine

Russian shelling targets civilian areas in Ukraine

Sports

Possibly least watched modern Olympics – Russian figure skating controversy with positive doping tests and dramatic meltdowns off the ice

MLB season likely delayed

MLB to cancel games as negotiations continue between players and owners

Tom Brady retires

Finance

March rate hike might be 50 bps!!!

Possible emergency rate hike tomorrow (2/11 – “any day now”) of 50 bps

Rate hike expectations walked back – Now expecting 25 bps in March and 4-5 total for the year as energy rises due to fighting in Ukraine

 

While February’s headlines were bleak, dominated by war, looking back a month later is helpful in processing the headlines we see today.  Spoiler alert, but the sports headlines for March will be a good example of this.  The story doesn’t necessarily end after the story is printed.