Energy Was the Only Bright Spot in the Stock Market’s Gloom
The energy industry has become the stock market’s equivalent of a road hog. As financial markets around the world fell this spring on worries about high inflation, rising interest rates and the strength of the economy, energy was the only sector gaining ground.

Energy funds surged 18.4 percent, on average, in the first half of the year. Funds focused on every other area of the U.S. economy lost ground. Energy funds were also the best sector to own in 2021, according to data from Morningstar Direct. But investors with long memories will recall that the energy industry came in dead last in 2020 as pandemic shutdowns sent the economy into recession.

Now drivers are not alone in figuring out how to navigate energy costs. Russia’s war in Ukraine has created so much uncertainty about energy supplies that investors are having trouble making bets about the future of energy prices and the broader economy. A recent investing note from Charles Schwab said the broker did not recommend making significant bets on any market sector, including energy, “partly due to the highly volatile nature of the market and the uncertain trajectory of economic growth.”