WSJ columnist Jason Zweig used CompanyIQ^® SEC Form N-CSR data to look at how portfolio managers discuss macro market risks in the latest edition of “The Intelligent Investor” newsletter.

Good afternoon.

What’s up?

This year, not much — except volatility. The Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX, often called Wall Street’s “fear gauge,” is up almost 70% so far in 2022, and gold — that ancient measure of flight to safety — is up about 4%.

U.S. stocks are off roughly 9% so far this year, and bitcoin is down about 20%.

It’s shaping up to be a period when everyone will be looking for someone to blame.

As I wrote in last weekend’s column, Stock Market Got You Worried? Write a D-Day Note, it used to be easy to point your finger at your stockbroker or fund manager when you lost money. Nowadays, you are more likely to be the culprit yourself — making some people more eager than ever to find somebody else, anybody else, to blame.

Looking through recent annual reports from mutual funds gathered by MyLogIQ, a financial data firm, I wasn’t surprised to see portfolio managers using phrases like “unwarranted heights” and “dissociated from reality” to describe the stock market they can’t seem to outperform.