The Investment Scientist

In the face of rising uncertainties and the prospect of persistent inflation, today I investigated the historical performance of stocks and gold relative to inflation. Here is what I found:

Over the last few days, I have begun to sense that a number of my clients are worried since the S&P 500 has dropped 13% and Nasdaq, about 20%. 

I would like to argue, if you are going to worry about something, please worry about the inflation rate, which just went up to 7.9% in February even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Why is inflation so much more damaging?
You could have kept your money in a safe, and yet you still lost 7.9% to inflation in one year. If this level of inflation keeps going for ten years, you will lose 79% of the value of your money. That’s basically a wipeout.