Markets
How Every Asset Class, Currency, and S&P 500 Sector Performed in 2021
How Every Market Performed in 2021
After the roller coaster of volatility in 2020, the majority of asset classes in 2021 saw positive returns as the world reopened for business.
The Federal Reserve’s accommodative monetary policy, supply chain struggles, and high demand for fuels and raw materials for the clean energy transition largely shaped the markets.
Alongside the rise in inflation, commodities and cryptocurrency outperformed as broad equity indices saw double-digit returns, with the S&P 500 rising by 26.9% in 2021.
Markets Roundup for 2021
Speculation and the energy fuels for the world’s reopening were two of the main themes for markets in 2021, reflected in Bitcoin (59.8%) and crude oil (56.4%) being the top two performing assets in that time frame.
The S&P GSCI commodity index (37.1%) was another top performer, as agricultural and livestock food prices rose alongside the Dow Jones Real Estate Index (35.1%).
Asset Class | 2021 Return | Asset Type |
---|---|---|
Bitcoin | 59.8% | Cryptocurrency |
WTI Crude Oil | 56.4% | Commodity |
S&P GSCI | 37.1% | Commodity |
Dow Jones Real Estate Index | 35.1% | Real Estate |
S&P 500 | 26.9% | Equities |
S&P/TSX Composite | 21.7% | Equities |
Russell 2000 | 13.7% | Equities |
MSCI EAFE | 7.8% | Equities |
U.S. Dollar | 6.4% | Currency |
Bloomberg Barclays Corporate Bonds Index | -1.2% | Bonds |
Bloomberg U.S. Treasury Index | -2.5% | Bonds |
Gold | -3.6% | Commodity |
MSCI Emerging Markets | -5.5% | Equities |
Silver | -11.7% | Commodity |
Source: TradingView
Despite most physical and digital commodities seeing price gains, precious metals such as gold (-3.6%) and silver (-11.7%) struggled to hold onto their value, while industrial and battery metals like lithium (477.4%) and cobalt (207.7%) surged.
Large cap equity indices like the S&P 500 (26.9%) almost doubled the returns of small caps (Russell 2000, 13.7%), with emerging markets failing to keep up as they fell 5.5%.
How the S&P 500 Sectors Performed
After last year’s poor performance as the worst-performing S&P 500 sector, energy (47.7%) was 2021’s best performing sector alongside the rise in crude oil and other energy commodities.
Two other negative performers last year, real estate (42.5%) and financials (32.6%), also turned it around and were among the top performing sectors this year.
Despite many value equities performing well, growth equities still managed to keep a strong pace. Information technology (33.4%) continued to provide strong returns with Microsoft (51.2%) outperforming many of the other tech giants.
As Amazon (2.38%) and Netflix lagged behind (11.4%), Apple (33.8%) capped off its strong 2021 returns by becoming the first U.S. company to reach a $3T market cap at the start of 2022.
Foreign Exchange and Currency Returns in 2021
While the U.S. dollar struggled last year with most currencies outperforming it, 2021 saw the dollar index rise by 6.4%, outperforming most other currencies.
The Chinese yuan (2.7%) and Canadian dollar (0.7%) were the only major currencies that managed positive returns against the U.S. dollar, while the Australian dollar (-5.7%), Euro (-7.0%), and Japanese Yen (-10.2%) were among the worst performers.
The Turkish lira was the standout loser in foreign exchange, and the turmoil was punctuated by turnover in the country’s finance minister position. While most other emerging economies raised interest rates to fight against inflation, Turkey has continued cutting rates and looks set to default on its $446 million of external debt.
The Winners and Losers of 2021
As the COVID-19 pandemic defined many of the winners and losers in 2020, the gradual reopening of international travel and business shaped the over and underperformers of 2021.
Cryptocurrencies had a standout year beyond Bitcoin (59.8%), which was greatly outpaced by many other cryptocurrencies and smart contract platforms like Ethereum (398.3%), Solana (11,177.8%), Avalanche (3,334.8%), and Luna (12,967.3%).
While Tesla (49.8%) had another strong year, Lucid and Ford Motors greatly outperformed Elon Musk’s company and the rest of the auto industry with their EV efforts. Demand was so great that Ford had to halt reservations for its F-150 Lightning pickup trucks at the end of 2021.
The pain of Evergrande Group (89.3%) shareholders is set to end soon, with the company starting 2022 by halting shares in Hong Kong as its $300 billion in liabilities remain in limbo.
Peloton (-76.4%) was another big loser in 2021 as it gave back nearly all of its gains from last year, proving lockdown speculation fueled most of its former valuation. Just Eat (-52.9%) was similarly hit hard as restaurants reopened in 2021.
Robinhood’s (53.3%) weak performance since its IPO puts a bow on 2021’s retail “stonk” frenzy kicked off by the Wall Street Bets subreddit.
With 2021 being a breakout year for retail traders and investors online, we’ll see if 2022 remains risk-on as the Fed begins tapering, or if markets are due for a change in direction.
Markets
Visualizing Major Layoffs At U.S. Corporations
This infographic highlights the accelerating pace of layoffs so far in 2022, as businesses cut costs ahead of a potential recession.

Visualizing Major Layoffs at U.S. Corporations
Hiring freezes and layoffs are becoming more common in 2022, as U.S. businesses look to slash costs ahead of a possible recession.
Understandably, this has a lot of people worried. In June 2022, Insight Global found that 78% of American workers fear they will lose their job in the next recession. Additionally, 56% said they aren’t financially prepared, and 54% said they would take a pay cut to avoid being laid off.
In this infographic, we’ve visualized major layoffs announced in 2022 by publicly-traded U.S. corporations.
Note: Due to gaps in reporting, as well as the very large number of U.S. corporations, this list may not be comprehensive.
An Emerging Trend
Layoffs have surged considerably since April of this year. See the table below for high-profile instances of mass layoffs.
Company | Industry | Layoffs (#) | Month |
---|---|---|---|
Peloton | Consumer Discretionary | 2,800 | February |
Funko | Consumer Discretionary | 258 | April |
Robinhood | Financial Services | ~400 | April |
Nektar Therapeutics | Biotechnology | 500 | April |
Carvana | Automotive | 2,500 | May |
Doma | Financial Services | 310 | May |
JP Morgan Chase & Co. | Financial Services | ~500 | June |
Tesla | Automotive | 200 | June |
Coinbase | Financial Services | 1,100 | June |
Netflix | Technology | 300 | June |
CVS Health | Pharmaceutical | 208 | June |
StartTek | Technology | 472 | June |
Ford | Automotive | 8,000 | July |
Rivian | Automotive | 840 | July |
Peloton | Consumer Discretionary | 2,000 | July |
LoanDepot | Financial Services | 2,000 | July |
Invitae | Biotechnology | 1,000 | July |
Lyft | Technology | 60 | July |
Meta | Technology | 350 | July |
Technology | <30 | July | |
Vimeo | Technology | 72 | July |
Robinhood | Financial Services | ~795 | August |
Here’s a brief rundown of these layoffs, sorted by industry.
Automotive
Ford has announced the biggest round of layoffs this year, totalling roughly 8,000 salaried employees. Many of these jobs are in Ford’s legacy combustion engine business. According to CEO Jim Farley, these cuts are necessary to fund the company’s transition to EVs.
We absolutely have too many people in some places, no doubt about it.
– Jim Farley, CEO, Ford
Speaking of EVs, Rivian laid off 840 employees in July, amounting to 6% of its total workforce. The EV startup pointed to inflation, rising interest rates, and increasing commodity prices as factors. The firm’s more established competitor, Tesla, cut 200 jobs from its autopilot division in the month prior.
Last but not least is online used car retailer, Carvana, which cut 2,500 jobs in May. The company experienced rapid growth during the pandemic, but has since fallen out of grace. Year-to-date, the company’s shares are down more than 80%.
Financial Services
Fearing an impending recession, Coinbase has shed 1,100 employees, or 18% of its total workforce. Interestingly, Coinbase does not have a physical headquarters, meaning the entire company operates remotely.
A recession could lead to another crypto winter, and could last for an extended period. In past crypto winters, trading revenue declined significantly.
Brian Armstrong, CEO, Coinbase
Around the same time, JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced it would fire hundreds of home-lending employees. While an exact number isn’t available, we’ve estimated this to be around 500 jobs, based on the original Bloomberg article. Wells Fargo, another major U.S. bank, has also cut 197 jobs from its home mortgage division.
The primary reason for these cuts is rising mortgage rates, which are negatively impacting the demand for homes.
Technology
Within tech, Meta and Twitter are two of the most high profile companies to begin making layoffs. In Meta’s case, 350 custodial staff have been let go due to reduced usage of the company’s offices.
Many more cuts are expected, however, as Facebook recently reported its first revenue decline in 10 years. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has made it clear he expects the company to do more with fewer resources, and managers have been encouraged to report “low performers” for “failing the company”.
Realistically, there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn’t be here.
– Mark Zuckerberg, CEO, Meta
Also in July, Twitter laid off 30% of its talent acquisition team. An exact number was not available, but the team was estimated to have less than 100 employees. The company has also enacted a hiring freeze as it stumbles through a botched acquisition by Elon Musk.
More Layoffs to Come…
Layoffs are expected to continue throughout the rest of this year, as metrics like consumer sentiment enter a decline. Rising interest rates, which make it more expensive for businesses to borrow money, are also having a negative impact on growth.
In fact just a few days ago, trading platform Robinhood announced it was letting go 23% of its staff. After accounting for its previous layoffs in April (9% of the workforce), it’s fair to estimate that this latest round will impact nearly 800 people.
Agriculture
Which Countries Produce the Most Wheat?
Global wheat production is concentrated in just a handful of countries. Here’s a look at the top wheat-producing countries worldwide.

Visualizing Global Wheat Production by Country (2000-2020)
Wheat is a dietary staple for millions of people around the world.
After rice and corn (maize), wheat is the third most-produced cereal worldwide, and the second-most-produced for human consumption. And considering wheat’s importance in the global food system, any impact on major producers such as droughts, wars, or other events, can impact the entire world.
Which countries are the largest producers of wheat? This graphic by Kashish Rastogi visualizes the breakdown of 20 years of global wheat production by country.
Top 10 Wheat Producing Countries
While more than 80 different countries produce wheat around the world, the majority of global wheat production comes from just a handful of countries, according to data from The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
Here’s a look at the top 10 wheat-producing countries worldwide, based on total yield in tonnes from 2000-2020:
Rank | Country | Continent | Total yield (tonnes, 2000-2020) | % of total (2000-2020) |
---|---|---|---|---|
#1 | 🇨🇳 China | Asia & Oceania | 2.4 B | 17.0% |
#2 | 🇮🇳 India | Asia & Oceania | 1.8 B | 12.5% |
#3 | 🇷🇺 Russia | Asia & Oceania | 1.2 B | 8.4% |
#4 | 🇺🇸 U.S. | Americas | 1.2 B | 8.4% |
#5 | 🇫🇷 France | Europe | 767 M | 5.4% |
#6 | 🇨🇦 Canada | Americas | 571 M | 4.0% |
#7 | 🇩🇪 Germany | Europe | 491 M | 3.5% |
#8 | 🇵🇰 Pakistan | Asia & Oceania | 482 M | 3.4% |
#9 | 🇦🇺 Australia | Asia & Oceania | 456 M | 3.2% |
#10 | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | Europe | 433 M | 3.1% |
China, the world’s largest wheat producer, has yielded more than 2.4 billion tonnes of wheat over the last two decades, making up roughly 17% of total production from 2000-2020.
A majority of China’s wheat is used domestically to help meet the country’s rising food demand. China is the world’s largest consumer of wheat—in 2020/2021, the country accounted for approximately 19% of global wheat consumption.
The second-largest wheat-producing country is India. Over the last two decades, India has produced 12.5% of the world’s wheat. Like China, India keeps most of its wheat domestic because of significant food demand across the country.
Russia, the world’s third-largest wheat producer, is also the largest global exporter of wheat. The country exported more than $7.3 billion worth of wheat in 2021, accounting for approximately 13.1% of total wheat exports that year.
Russia-Ukraine Impact on Global Wheat Market
Because Russia and Ukraine are both significant global wheat producers, the ongoing conflict between the two countries has caused massive disruptions to the global wheat market.
The conflict has had an impact on adjacent industries as well. For instance, Russia is one of the world’s major fertilizer suppliers, and the conflict has led to a global fertilizer shortage which could lead to food shortages worldwide.
-
Markets4 weeks ago
The $100 Trillion Global Economy in One Chart
-
Demographics3 weeks ago
Ranked: The 20 Countries With the Fastest Declining Populations
-
Investor Education4 weeks ago
Countries with the Highest Default Risk in 2022
-
Misc6 days ago
Visualizing Which Countries Drink the Most Beer
-
Energy2 weeks ago
Visualizing the World’s Largest Oil Producers
-
Personal Finance1 week ago
Mapped: The Salary You Need to Buy a Home in 50 U.S. Cities
-
Energy6 days ago
Which Countries Produce the Most Natural Gas?
-
Agriculture3 weeks ago
Timeline: The Domestication of Animals