Guest editorial: Uncertainty and asset prices: evidence at times of COVID-19 and beyond

The evidence shows that real stock returns and inflation for the US, FR, BD, UK, IT and BR are negatively correlated with inflation, which is consistent with the recent findings of Chiang (2023) on stock return uncertainty resulting from rising inflation. [...]data indicate that both oil and Bitcoin hold positive value, suggesting that these two assets can be used to hedge against inflation. [...]underpricing during the pandemic is not significantly greater due to a 10% daily price limit, which leads to a gradual release of retail investor appetite and an increase in stock prices in the short term. [...]retail investors controlled 66% of the market during the pandemic compared with 35% previously, while foreign institutional investor market share declined from 53% to 6%. [...]investors may benefit from using cryptocurrencies as a risk management tool during times of uncertainty.