What's going on?

Pull on your Ugg boots and settle in, folks: several European countries reimposed Covid restrictions over the weekend.

What does this mean?

Covid cases were always going to rise in the indoorsy winter months, but the far more infectious Omicron variant has blown all those expectations out the water. The Netherlands has been quick to respond, announcing over the weekend that it was closing all schools and non-essential shops until at least the middle of January. France and Germany � whose central bank just warned the country�s economy might shrink this quarter � have likewise put travel restrictions in place to slow the spread, while the UK hasn�t ruled out imposing another lockdown. And even if governments don�t make good on those warnings, shoppers are still likely to stay home to avoid taking any unnecessary risks ahead of the holiday season.

Why should I care?

The bigger picture: Whisper its name.
The cold weather isn�t just sending Covid transmission sky-rocketing, but demand for natural gas too: Europe�s gas price rose by 9% on Monday alone, on top of the 600% jump this year. Throw in Omicron-driven restrictions, and Europe is now staring straight down a double-barreled shotgun of rising prices and slowing economic growth � a phenomenon better known as �stagflation�.

Zooming out: It�s going from bad to worse.
Europe�s initial public offerings (IPOs) market isn�t exactly on terra firma either: data out on Monday showed that five of the year�s 10 biggest losers in the Stoxx 600 � an index tracking Europe�s major companies � only joined the index in the last 15 months (tweet this). That�s particularly tough to swallow because Europe just had its busiest year for IPOs since 2007. In other words, companies that might�ve been eyeing up a listing might now second-guess themselves, which could end up dragging on the region�s IPO market in 2022.