Seize these IT bargains in 2022

Markets ended 2021 on a firm note, despite concerns about the economic impact of the Omicron variant, the belated decision of the Bank of England to raise interest rates and of the Federal Reserve to scale back quantitative easing. That share prices reacted positively to these decisions is a sure sign that investors see tighter monetary policy as necessary.

The biggest puzzle of 2021 was why bond yields remained so low in the face of soaring inflation, which was steadily proving to be less “transitory” than first billed, as economist Anatole Kaletsky of investment-research firm Gavekal has pointed out. “The refusal of bond investors to push yields much higher seemed to defy all rational explanation,” wrote Kaletsky. “Many analysts have responded by dismissing bond investors as irrational or by denouncing governments and central banks for ‘manipulating’ markets.”

However, “bond yields tell us almost nothing about the long-term prospects for growth or inflation”, he