I have a few theories…
1 — no one really gives a shit about Ukraine (it’s all virtue signaling anyway), and has bought the scare.
2 — the large hedge funds, banks, and the usual Pelosi-types already bought the crash after shaking out all the retail investors due to the Russia, Russia, Russia insanity in the media.
3 — covid is now the thing of the past, the Fed has been given the ‘out’ to raise interest rates, so retail are now buying back into the market
BUT … the oddity is both Gold and BTC is up by a very large amount.
Gold +1%
BTC +10%
All this in the backdrop of sanctions and the cutting off of Russia from the DS financial system.
A little more nuanced currently. They have yanked certain Russian banks from the SWIFT system, BUT, they are still allowed to use SWIFT for their current commodity exports... which is the bulk of their trade.
So really, this SWIFT action is a complete nothing-burger. It's a theatrical play by the EU and US to impose tough words onto Russia.
On the other hand, Russia does have their own messaging system (vs SWIFT) which they would use for trade with China, and now there is talk with India to settle transactions with Rupees.
Russia (and their trade allies) are looking to move away from the Petro-Dollar... this is why the DS is super scared.
Russia also sold off nearly all of their US securities over the past 10 years and has been stockpiling gold. They've been preparing for this.