Open for biz… China’s biggest city is opening back up after strict Covid lockdowns rattled residents and global supply chains. Last week Shanghai officials lifted restrictions for most people after two months of isolation. Now Shanghai's main port (aka the world's largest) is working through thousands of backlogged containers chock-full of everything from diapers to dishwashers. With 26M residents returning to daily routines, oil demand could spike, translating to even higher pump prices worldwide.
Tightening time… The Fed’s busting out a new-ish tool in the inflation fight. Early in the pandemic, the US’s central bank used quantitative easing (QE) — aka “printing money” — to stimulate the economy. Now it’s switching to quantitative tightening (QT), basically destroying the $$ it printed by letting bonds and other securities it purchased mature, which reduces its cash balance and the money supply. There’s a risk the Fed could tighten too quickly (it’s selling 10X faster than its last QT in 2017), which might mean more volatility for stocks.