Jeff Sommer

The forces unsettling the stock and bond markets — Fed rate increases, Russia’s war in Ukraine, global sanctions on Russia, China’s lockdowns — have been…

Shares in Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook and Microsoft have all fallen this year, but Netflix has come in for the harshest punishment.

These months are historically the weakest for the market in a presidential term. Aside from coincidence, there are several possible explanations.

Stocks, bonds and commodities are already pricing in inflation, the pandemic and war.

Our columnist answers questions about the troubles in the bond market, and what they mean for investors.

The usually sedate bond market has been unsettled by worries about inflation, the Federal Reserve’s interest rate increases and even the possibility of a recession.

Retirement investments that are fine in tax-sheltered accounts can generate big headaches without that protection. Vanguard’s target date funds are a case in point.

American consumers already have high inflation. Because of the oil price shock and Russia’s war, the odds of a recession have increased, too.

Tensions with the U.S. complicate matters, but China is such a vital part of global markets that its stocks and bonds belong in diversified portfolios.