Category: Daily Instagraph

US inflation ticked up slightly, with headline rising from 2.9% to 3.0% and core from 3.1% to 3.3%. However, the details are less concerning—energy inflation turned positive, and core goods declined at a slower pace, while services inflation, the main driver, eased slightly. The biggest headline? Egg prices surged 13.8% due to a bird flu … Continued

The S&P 500 rarely delivers so-called “average” annual returns of 5-10%, as most years experience either substantial gains or notable losses. Historical data since 1950 ( source: Matt Cerminaro on LinkedIn ) shows that years within this range are the exception rather than the rule, making the long-term average somewhat misleading. Investors who expect steady, … Continued

Investors have been pulling out of ESG funds at a record pace over the last two years, with U.S. ESG funds facing $20 billion in outflows in 2024, surpassing the $18 billion recorded in 2023. This trend reflects mounting dissatisfaction, driven in part by significant performance challenges. Since January 2022, for example, the S&P Global … Continued

And the tariff saga intensifies: On Sunday, Trump announced plans to impose 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the US, hitting every country, including key suppliers like Canada and Mexico. While the timeline remains unclear, the consequences are not—trade disruptions and an escalating tariff war seem inevitable, with likely retaliatory measures from … Continued

While much of the market buzz focuses on the Magnificent 7, European bank stocks have quietly staged an impressive rally over the past two years, with the Eurostoxx Banking Index surging 50% during this period. Fundamentally, European banks have spent the last decade recovering from the financial crisis, navigating cost-cutting measures, asset write-offs, and stringent … Continued

European equities have outperformed their U.S. counterparts since the start of the year, with the Stoxx 600 up 6.1% compared to a 3% gain for the S&P 500. The ongoing rotation away from last year’s winners, primarily U.S. Big Tech, is gaining momentum. However, a note of caution is warranted: while European equities appear cheap … Continued

Economist Milton Friedman, the father of monetarism, famously emphasized that the stock market and the broader economy do not always move in sync. One of his notable quotes captures this distinction perfectly: “The stock market is not the economy. The economy is not the stock market.” This observation is clearly reflected when analysing the performance … Continued

He finally did it: President Trump imposed 25% tariffs on merchandise imports from Mexico and Canada, along with an additional 10% on Chinese imports. In a global economy driven by free trade, weaponizing tariffs for political gain leaves only losers in its wake. For the U.S., expect inflation, weakening consumer demand, and a potentially more … Continued

Equity research has experienced significant downsizing, with the number of analysts at major global banks shrinking by more than a third over the past decade, particularly in Europe and Asia. Pay for analysts has stagnated, and global spending on research has dropped by 50% since 2018, largely due to regulatory changes like MiFID II with … Continued

2024 has witnessed the narrowest market in U.S. equities since the Tech Bubble. Over the past 50 years, an average of 48% of stocks outperformed the S&P 500, but in the last two years, this figure has dropped below 30%, driven primarily by the dominance of U.S. Big Tech. This is not just a challenge … Continued