February 24, 2022, 11:44 am EST
Russia Attacks Ukraine
Today’s focus of the world is on Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine with near 3 million people. Putin decided to launch the attack on Ukraine with full-scale actions including bombing from the ground and air. Global stock markets responded with a sharp sell-off and a gap-down (Nikkei -1.7%, Shanghai -1.7%, DAX -4%, FTSE -3.8%, CAC -3.8%, DJIA -2%, S&P -1%, Nasdaq -0.2%)
The drop in the US markets hit hard on the financial sector (JPM, MS, BAC, C, WFC all -4% or more) and consumer staples (PG, KO, PEP -3%). However, the technology sector is holding up well at this moment. It could be due to the earlier drop created oversold condition. So, the mega-caps rebound slightly (AMZN, GOOGL, MSFT +1%, FB, TSLA flat).
The significance of today’s drop indicates that the bull market is officially over. As we know that the US, Europe, NATO, and United Nations do not have major actions to deal with Russia Putin besides meeting, talking, and condemning. Most likely, the entire Ukraine is to be taken over by Russia.
The strength of military from Russia and China and the weakness of the US and Europe make the stability of the world heading into worse condition over time as we can witness.
Investment strategy should be geared toward safety or low-risk mode. Raising the cash level sounds like a good choice.
