This year has been tough for investors. The inflation numbers may have been down in October, but it was still 7.7% compounded on last October’s 6.2%, and that’s too high. Interest rates are rising fast in response, making capital more expensive, and the available cash is chasing goods constrained by tight supply chains and continued COVID lockdowns in China. Food and energy prices are high, and likely to rise, as Russia’s war in Ukraine puts a major clamp on global supplies of natural gas, wheat, and cooking oils.