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Economy

President Biden’s political capital has fallen as he enters a challenging year that will include a domestic faceoff with the House Republicans and foreign crises stemming from China, Russia, and Iran. Stay defensive and prefer bonds over equities.

When does rising unemployment become a bigger problem than inflation? The Fed won't cut rates until that happens, probably thwarting market hopes of big cuts in 2H.

Special Report

The Web 2.0 bubble is bursting, with far-reaching consequences for US stock market behaviour, sector allocation, and global asset allocation.

The Employment Cost Index decelerated to a lower-than-expected 1.0% q/q in Q4 following 1.2%, corroborating several other indicators suggesting that wage growth is moderating in the US. Compensation within goods-producing industries grew at a constant 0.9%…
The preliminary GDP estimate suggests that the Euro Area economy expanded by 0.1% q/q in Q4 2022, beating expectations of a 0.1% q/q contraction. The improving energy situation due to milder-than-anticipated weather, as well as generous fiscal support…
China’s NBS PMI release delivered a positive surprise for January. Both the manufacturing and the non-manufacturing indices returned to expansion, suggesting that economic activity is gaining momentum following Beijing’s exit from the zero-Covid policy. As…
Preliminary estimates suggest that Spanish headline harmonized CPI inflation (HICP) accelerated to 5.8% y/y in January, from 5.5% y/y, largely surpassing expectations for a moderation to 4.8% y/y. A reacceleration of fuel prices compared to January 2022, as…
The Swiss KOF Barometer jumped 5.7 points to 97.2 in January, marking the second consecutive monthly increase, pushing the index to the highest level since June 2022. Importantly, the January increase reflects improvements across all of the KOF barometer’s…
According to BCA Research’s European Investment Strategy service, Eurozone domestic demand is likely to be firm in 2023. Declining inflation will have a positive impact on consumption because it will lift real wages, which are currently contracting at 7%…

The most important question investors need to answer is whether this is the right time to shift the portfolio to a more aggressive and cyclical stance now that the end of the hiking cycle is in sight. To answer this question, we review the most recent macroeconomic, geopolitical, and equity market developments, and do our best to separate facts and data from sentiment and conjecture. We conclude that there are many challenges ahead and equities are not in a clear yet. We recommend investors add small positions in areas of the market that benefit from rate stabilization while maintaining an overall defensive stance.