And you thought 4.25% was steep – The US wasn’t the only country rapidly raising interest rates to battle inflation in 2022. In Argentina, rates hit 75% by the end of the year. They're also battling 100% inflation, which makes the current price of eggs look downright reasonable. (Source: Bloomberg)

Not in the mood for surprises – Investors’ nerves are so frayed that they’ve punished S&P 500 Index companies whether they reported a negative OR positive earnings surprise for the fourth quarter of 2022. Companies who beat estimates saw shares decline by -0.2%; companies who missed estimates saw shares decline by -2.5%. (Source: FactSet, as of 1/20/23)

That’s good, I guess? – Since 1956, there have been eight bear markets in the S&P 500 Index that were accompanied by a recession. None of the bear markets bottomed before the recession began, but in all but one case, the market bottomed and began to recover before the recession ended. (Source: FactSet)

Is that a light at the end of the tunnel? – The Producer Price Index, a gauge for inflation, fell 0.5% in December. While most measures of inflation have been declining, they’re still well above the Federal Reserve's 2% target and remain near multi-decade highs. (Source: Reuters)

And just like that – Trying to outpace inflation? Forget commodities: Luxury collectibles have been deemed one of the least inflation-sensitive alternative investments. Rolex watches and Chanel handbags stood up particularly well. (Source: Credit Suisse and Deloitte)

Feel free to move about the cabin – As the Lunar New Year holiday kicked off what is traditionally one of the busiest travel weekends in China, health officials proclaimed that COVID-19 hospitalization rates were on the decline. However, there’s widespread doubt about the official account of the outbreak following the relaxation of zero-COVID policies. (Source: Reuters)

Check under the mattress – Almost half (48%) of private-sector employees lack access to a retirement plan at work. (Source: AARP)

The pricetag on Bieber fever – Pop-music icon Justin Bieber is the latest musician to rake in a pretty penny for selling the rights to his music catalogue. At $200 million, it was the largest sale to date for an under-30 artist (Bieber is just 28). (Source: Billboard)

A family feud that would make Steve Harvey jealous – Prince Harry's memoir, "Spare," sold more than 1.4 million copies on its first day. That’s the largest first-day sales total for any nonfiction book published by Penguin Random House. (Source: Wall Street Journal)

Ho hum, another triple-double – LeBron James recently scored 48 points in a single NBA game. Luca Doncic scored 50. Donovan Mitchell drained 71 points. A trend? Definitely. The NBA's team leaders are stuffing the stat sheets at a record pace, averaging a record-high 28.85 total points in games. (Source: FiveThirtyEight and Basketball-Reference.com, as of 1/17/23)