Exploiting market volatility is a great way to make money, or lose it. Just ask the pros. And for a year which in so many ways was just as miserable as the previous one, 2021 was also crazy where your money was concerned. Very few people, for instance, would have thought to buy oil drillers and sell clean energy stocks. Gas markets took investors on an impossibly wild ride, thanks in part to Russia’s Vladimir Putin. And in the murky world of crypto, forget Bitcoin and Ether. Binance’s BNB gained a whopping 1,300%. For hedge fund managers, investments in private enterprises saved the year, and they’re hoping for more of the same in 2022. But mostly, it was a good time to be a multibillionaire.

What to expect in 2022? The U.S. economy faces no end of potential peril, as the Stephanomics podcast explains. Inflation looms large—just ask this trader who called it right in 2021. And corporate America faces a long, uphill slog this year, Gary Shilling writes for Bloomberg Opinion.
There’s no letup to Covid-19 rampaging across the globe. High-quality masks are in demand and U.S. health officials told travelers to avoid cruise ships even if vaccinated. In Africa though, inoculations of any sort are a luxury since it imports 99% of all drugs needed to combat a variety of fatal illnesses.

The year ahead will be critical for the future of Singapore as a global financial center after its efforts at living with Covid-19 met with mixed success. And the latest media crackdown in Hong Kong portends a tough year for press freedom, already reeling from assaults by Moscow, Istanbul and America’s right wing, including a certain twice-impeached ex-president. But Donald Trump faces a tough year, too: Multiple civil, criminal and Congressional investigations of him, his administration and his company may come to a head.

Police officers leave the offices of online media outlet Stand News after a raid in Hong Kong on Dec. 29. More than 200 police burst into the pro-democracy news site and arrested six people connected to it, including the acting editor in chief.​​

Photographer: Paul Yeung/Bloomberg

Ghislaine Maxwell’s high-society days are over (barring a successful appeal) as she potentially faces decades in prison—and it likely won’t be the cushy kind that held Martha Stewart. After Maxwell’s conviction this week for sex-trafficking of minors, her accusers, and those of the late Jeffrey Epstein, had this to say.
One of the more surprising revelations of 2021: Miami is the foodie capital of America. Really. And for anyone planning a trip to Hawaii, expect something more sustainable and less colonial. But if you fancy a slice of real estate heaven, and a challenge, look no further than the former East Germany.

Tran An, a Vietnamese hotspot in the Little River neighborhood of Miami

Source: Bloomberg

One Big Obstacle to Slowing a Global Fish Crash

Fish consumption has been rising at double the rate of population growth for more than half a century, outpacing even animal proteins. Humans eat more than twice as much seafood as they did in 1960, with most of the increase occurring in the developing world. But as fish populations plummet, a huge swath of the seafood industry goes unmonitored, hobbling global conservation efforts. Now one company is trying to fix that.

Bangladesh is one of several countries where the use of small transponding devices is already underway. Above, fishers unload baskets in Chandpur City on Sept. 7.

Photographer: Habibur Rahman/Eyepix Group/Barcroft Media/Getty Images

Like getting Weekend Reading? Subscribe to Bloomberg.com for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and gain expert analysis from exclusive subscriber-only newsletters.

Get the latest from Bloomberg on fixed income. The Weekly Fix is an email with the latest fixed income news, charts, and insights. Sign up here to start getting it in your inbox on Fridays.
Download the Bloomberg app: It’s available for iOS and Android.
Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. Learn more.