Early Thursday morning, the Dow Jones Industrials index broke through the mythical 40,000-point barrier. But reaching these levels was a long and winding road. The chart below gives an overview of the Dow's trajectory over the last 20,000 points.

The Dow Jones first closed above 20,000 points in early 2017, when investors began to anticipate a corporate tax cut in the US under former President Donald Trump. These expectations were met towards the end of the year and helped the Dow Jones surpass 25,000 points in January 2018.

However, the Dow struggled in 2018 after enthusiasm for the tax cut waned, trade tensions between China and the US rose and the Federal Reserve raised interest rates. The Dow Jones ended the year down by more than 5%. Then came the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Dow Jones fell 38% from its intraday peak in February 2020 to its March 2020 low of 18213.65. Over the following months, the benchmark index recovered as Covid vaccine development progressed and the Fed and lawmakers took unprecedented steps to support the economy. In November 2020, the Dow Jones closed above 30,000 for the first time.

The momentum generated by the Covid bottom continued into 2021, when the Dow surpassed 35,000 points. However, inflationary pressures and Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent the Dow plummeting to 28,660.51 points at the 2022 low. Since reaching this low, the Dow has rebounded by 40%.

Yet another demonstration of the need for investors to remain invested for the long term.

Is this the result of too much bureaucracy, over-regulation or lack of innovation?   Whatever the case, the old continent seems to be lagging far behind the rest of the world in the technology sector. Among the world's 10 largest tech stocks, only AMSL is present. The United States is ultra-dominant in this field.

A sharp rise in the price differential between New York-traded copper prices and those observed on other commodity exchanges sent shockwaves through the global industrial metals market. The price differential has triggered a frantic race to supply copper to the United States, as producers have a vested interest in selling their raw material on the market offering the best prices.

The source of this dislocation is a sharp rise in demand for copper while supply remains limited; it is this supply-demand imbalance that has driven up prices on the Comex exchange in recent days. The premium obtained by New York copper futures over the London Metal Exchange price reached an unprecedented level of over $1,200 per tonne, whereas the usual spread is only a few dollars.

New York City now boasts 349,500 millionaires, more than any other city in the world.

Over the past decade, the number of millionaires in New York has risen by 48%. Meanwhile, in the San Francisco Bay Area, the number of people with seven-figure wealth rose by 82% to 305,700, the second-highest figure in the world. This increase is due to the massive rise in financial markets and real estate prices. Meanwhile, 78% of Americans are living pay check to pay check, according to the latest Payroll-org survey. The rich are getting richer at an unprecedented rate while inequality continues to grow.