While the US secures its long-term energy supply and industrial capacity, The cost of hedging against a market crash hits a 5 year low. China buys massive amounts of gold, and the investment world says goodbye to Charlie Munger. Each week, the Syz investment team takes you through the last seven days in seven charts.

The major US equity indexes ended higher for the week, with the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq rounding out on Thursday their best monthly gains (8.9% and 10.7%, respectively) since July 2020. Falling Treasury yields seemed to continue to boost sentiment, and a broad index of the bond market recorded its best monthly gain since 1985. On the macro side, inflation continues to cool down. In the US, the core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose 0.2% in October, a slowdown from September. The yoy increase is down to 3.5% — the lowest level since April 2021.

In November 2023, Global Aggregate bonds achieved their second-best performance in three decades, driven by lower growth expectations and reduced inflation. However, this outstanding performance is not without challenges, including persistent rate volatility, a deeply inverted yield curve, and a term premium in negative territory.

Nvidia has reported a threefold increase in sales driven by the boom in AI chips, the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 ETFs are now within 2% of their all-time highs and watch out for OJ and Uranium, the two mega bull markets nobody’s talking about! Each week, the Syz investment team takes you through the last seven days in seven charts.

Stocks closed higher over a quiet holiday-shortened trading week (US markets were closed on Thursday due to the Thanksgiving holiday and closed early Friday). The big event of the week was Nvidia Q3 results. The stock fell despite the company beating earnings and revenue estimates as it issued cautious guidance because of export restrictions to China. Nvidia’s weakness was reflected in the underperformance of the Nasdaq over the week though growth stocks outperformed value stocks overall. On the Macro side, durable goods orders dropped 5.4% in October, which is the second-biggest decline since April 2020. Slowing growth signals and dwindling inflation fears may have contributed to strong demand for a USD 16 billion auction of 20-year U.S. Treasury bonds on Monday.

From global influence to economic indicators, let's dive into the facets of this retail phenomenon!

The past week in fixed income was marked by a notable reduction in volatility, attributed in part to the Thanksgiving break. While rates experienced a modest uptick, the high beta credit (including CoCo bonds) segment emerged as an outperformer.

Gold and oil aren’t behaving as predicted, US inflation data for October came in below consensus expectations and will the S&P 500 rally for the year-end? Each week, the Syz investment team takes you through the last seven days in seven charts.

Soft US CPI sparks bonds & stocks buying spree The S&P 500 Index (+2.2%) built on its strong gains over the previous two weeks and moved above the 4,500 barrier for the 1st time since September. The week’s advance was notably broad, with the S&P 500 Index equally-weighted outperforming the S&P 500 by 1%. Value and small-cap indexes also outperformed. US Retailers earnings results were mixed; Target surged nearly 18% on Wednesday after beating consensus expectations while Walmart fell over 8% on Thursday, after it lowered guidance on increasing customer caution and falling prices for some goods. On Tuesday, the Labor Department reported that headline US CPI had remained unchanged in October, driven in part by a sharp drop in energy costs.

Fixed income investments thrived this week, benefiting from the perfect cocktail of a larger-than-expected decline in US inflation and a significant deterioration in the job market, marked by higher-than-anticipated US initial jobless claims.