RE:Stocks are an inflation hedge Inflation = interest rate increase
look back to the 80's
No one invested in stocks when you could get over 10% a yr in a gic.
Many "investors" today are in the market only because a gic pays nothing.
the vast majority of money in the market ( retail) is with an older crowd. Ie boomers .
if said boomer could get a return on a gic that satisfies his/her cash needs they would leave the market in droves. That would mark a downdraft