Roger S. Conrad

Shares of Aggressive Holding Avangrid Inc (NYSE: AGR) trade basically where they began 2022. That underperformance of the Dow Jones Utility Average is no surprise, with the US arm of 81.65 percent owner Iberdrola SA (Spain: IBE, IBDRY) facing regulatory and operating uncertainty on three fronts. And Wall Street is obviously skeptical, with six “underweight/underperform/sell” recommendations by Bloomberg Intelligence-tracked analysts last month.

The S&P 500 rose roughly 18 percent from a mid-June low to its summer high in mid-August. Since then, it’s given back about two-thirds of those gains—and is showing every sign of setting a new yearly low in the coming weeks.

Since the start of 2022, the US Dollar Index is up about 15 percent to its highest level since 2001. That’s the result of determined inflation-fighting by the US Federal Reserve in the context of a still relatively strong US economy.

You’re not an experienced investor until you’ve seen a real bear market. I define that as a selloff for stocks deep enough to do real damage to wealth, and long lasting enough to change investor behavior.

The California Air Resources Board voted to ban sales of gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035, and targets minimum electric vehicle market share of 35 percent by 2026 and 68 percent by 2030. And 17 other states will likely follow suit.

The Dow Jones Utility Average has returned roughly 6 percent year to date. That compares with a -12 percent decline for the S&P 500, even after the past month’s torrid rally. Re-shoring of investment to the US, growing popularity of domestic businesses, low relative valuations and utilities’ well-earned reputation for resilience are four good reasons for outperformance. And as the feature article highlights, benefits from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 are a solid fifth.