text: Vice Chairs of Blackstone Advisory Partners (Assets Under Management: $649 billion; not to be confused with BlackRock), Byron Wein and Joe Zidle, released a note to clients for expectations during 2022. Most notably, they expect that the S&P 500 will make no progress in 2022. The pair expect that value stocks will outperform growth, and in line with other analysts, expect there to be a correction during the year not to exceed 20%.The Blackstone executives agree that inflation will sustain at an elevated level throughout 2022, ending the year at no less than 4.5%. They say that during 2022 “inflation becomes the dominant theme,” driven largely by increasing prices in rent and increasing wages. Also predicted is a 20% increase to the price of gold. US investors will return to traditional inflation hedges, they say, and gold will “reclaim its title as a haven for newly minted billionaires, even as cryptocurrencies continue to gain market share.”On cryptocurrencies, Wein and Zidle predict that Jamie Dimon will use a period of cheap cryptocurrencies to accumulate a massive portfolio in the space before coming out in support of crypto. “J.P. Morgan seeks to become a leader in the space,” and will become a mainstream investment vehicle in financial markets.Because oil is expected to reach such expensive levels, $100 per barrel according to the two, 2022 may be the year of nuclear energy. They expect nuclear energy to gain traction as a safe and viable alternative to oil and predict that a huge “nuclear site is approved for development in the Midwest of the United States.” Additionally, they speculate that “fusion technology [will] emerge as a possible future source of energy.” Stemming from nuclear energy, support for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing is expected to build. The government, according to Wein and Zidle, will ramp up regulation and require companies to publish certain metrics “deemed critical” to ensure environmentally friendly business operations are in place, and progress is being made toward net-zero emissions.The intense focus on green energy will expectedly create an ever-increasing demand for lithium batteries, likely to be dominated by the Chinese production industry. This will create a setback as the United States is unable to purchase enough batteries to sustain demand and production plans for electric vehicles and other goods that require lithium, cobalt, and nickel. – T.W.Evergrande updateChina issued a demolition order to Evergrande for the destruction of 39 residential buildings to be completed by 14 January 2022. Investors have been losing confidence in the Chinese real estate sector. Trading was halted on Evergrande’s stock this week, and as a result, other property developers’ stock has started to decline. A number of Chinese real estate developers currently have a combined near total of $200 billion in bonds and expenses coming due by the end of this month. Developers are running out of options to secure funding, and the Chinese government is warning that failure to deliver on these payments may result in “civil and social unrest.” DoubleLine’s Jeff Gundlach says that “China is uninvestable.” He believes that investments in China could be confiscated amidst a new flurry of listing requirements within the country. The crackdown on real estate is no reassurance, according to Gundlach. There is no insurance that China will allow whatever sector market participants decide to invest in to operate freely.