This February will mark the fourth corporate reporting season since the COVID-19 pandemic first hit. In just two years, corporate earnings have for the most part recovered to almost pre-pandemic levels, and share prices have hit levels well beyond the peak of pre-pandemic times.

Equity market investors have now reached a crossroads. On the one hand we have rising inflation expectations and an expected uptick in interest rates, and on the other we have fear of the economic impact of higher interest rates and concerns of an imminent recession. Fear and uncertainty have sent the ASX 200 down almost 10 per cent while the VIX (a measure of sharemarket volatility) has doubled over the past few weeks.