Slow food for thought

Insights and research on global events shaping the markets

Central banks have to re-learn to live with inflationary pressures and to normalize their monetary policy. Households are concerned by a decline of their real purchasing power, but healthy consumption levels can hold as long as unemployment remains low and wages increase. Businesses are seeing their profitability threatened by rising input costs. The trajectory of inflation in the months ahead will be a key variable of the economic environment.

With monetary policies tightening, speculative bubbles are bursting one after the other. SPACs are no exception.

Boosted by soaring crude oil prices, Saudi Aramco recently overtook Apple as the world's largest market capitalisation.

Global stocks market indices are on the cusp of entering bear market territory, being down around 20% from their late 2021 all-time-highs. What would be the main triggers for a sustainable rebound of equity markets?

Global equity markets are nearing bear market territory, being down nearly 20% from their recent peak. The acceleration of the market pullback seems to indicate that investors are starting to anticipate a “hard-landing” of the global economy. In other words, they fear that central banks will fail to tame inflation without triggering a recession or sharp economic downturn. This risk shouldn’t be dismissed. However, we believe that the “soft landing” scenario has merit.

So said a former U.S. Treasury Secretary in 1971 to other finance ministers struggling with the soaring dollar. 50 years later, the strength of the greenback is again threatening many financial balances around the world.

Rate hikes abound across the world, following in the Fed’s footsteps. Volatility is peaking, tech stocks aren’t out of the woods and the US administration’s shrinking oil reserves are pushing the black gold’s prices ever higher. Each week, the Syz investment team takes you through the last seven days in seven charts.

Despite the sanctions, the ruble is at its highest level in 2 years against the euro. What are the reasons behind this rebound? Will the Russian currency hold as Russia has become a financial "pariah"?

Rising oil prices, booming tourism, Expo 2020’s success, structural reforms: lately, everything seems to be going in the right direction for the United Arab Emirates. A favorable situation that is also benefiting the local equity markets.

The current context of record high inflation with the risk of a sharp economic slowdown is exceptional. Will the Fed be able to engineer a “soft landing”?

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