Opinion

Donald Trump likes to present himself as a leader guided by instinct and personal conviction. International treaties, diplomatic traditions, and established norms are, in his view, merely suggestions that he can ignore at will. This attitude lies at the heart of his political identity: America first, and whatever Trump believes is good for America is what will happen.

When everyone expects the same thing, it is time to think differently. A good example comes from Value Line, a company that makes stock market forecasts. They predict higher returns when valuations are low. Individual investors do exactly the opposite.

An insignificant Danish pension fund dumps all its US Treasuries. Financial media eagerly jump on this headline, because that is not something most investors would just expect. About the underlying structural cause, which has little to do with a president gone off the rails, you hear a lot less.

In Asia, Luxembourg’s challenge is not explaining its rules, but translating stability, judgment and trust across cultures and expectations globally, Christophe Santer finds.

The global economy is facing significant challenges. Geopolitical tensions are often palpable, and the sharp rise in precious metal prices suggests that fear is widespread, likely driven by a range of perceived threats.

In the run-up to the Senate elections later this year, a presidential candidate has been making some rather odd moves. After briefly plucking away the president of a, at least on paper, sovereign state, and more or less annexing Greenland, again on paper, the chair of the US central bank was next in line. As a result, crucial charts that already tend to stay out of the spotlight receive even less attention. Fortunately, not here.

The product classification in the revised SFDR does not allow for any ‘shades of green’. That is regrettable, because precisely such labels would make investment choices clearer for investors.

The US Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell. Officially, the case concerns the renovation of government office buildings in Washington. No one should pretend to be naive enough to take that explanation at face value.

Passive investing does not exist. It is a comforting fairy tale we tell ourselves, while we all press the same buttons en masse.

A new year, a new round. Every year at the beginning of January, I once again look with amazement and confusion at the equity market outlooks from the major financial institutions. And especially at the projected returns, which are invariably clustered right around the long-term average. Because one thing you can be almost certain of is that those projections will not materialize.