It was just another painful ramification of the pandemic. We’re referring, of course, to the nationwide absence of Grape-Nuts on supermarket shelves. Graver consequences of COVID-19 abound, but the whole point of comfort food is to be there in times of duress.

First produced in 1897 by Mr. C.W. Post, Grape-Nuts contains neither grapes nor nuts. It did accompany Sir Admiral Byrd to Antarctica and Sir Edmund Hillary to Mount Everest. To make amends for the shortage the manufacturer is running a contest. Ten lucky winners will receive a year’s free supply of the cereal.

Finding traditional things thought lost came to mind this week as we considered lessons learned in 2020. COVID-19 seemed to inhabit a separate universe than global markets. Though it significantly impacted the economy and capital flows, once central banks flooded liquidity into the system, investors could look beyond the pandemic to a post-vaccine world. And they liked what they saw.