It’s often said that the first cut is the deepest, and that may well be the case for the US Federal Reserve (Fed) delivering a blockbusting 50 basis point (bp) cut. After 918 days, this marks the end of the monetary policy tightening brought in to tame the “transitory” inflation that came to a thunderous crescendo in 2022.

Japan’s prolonged period of low interest rates, a key feature of its economic policy for decades, has significant implications for global markets.

Higher real rates in the coming years might favor value stocks

Renowned for its role as a hedge against economic uncertainty and inflation, gold has long captivated investors. One key factor influencing gold’s price is the relationship between real yields and inflation. Over the long term, gold has protected one against the pernicious effects of inflation and remains a powerful diversifier within an investment portfolio:

The yield curve in Japan is reaching intriguing levels. The Bank of Japan (BoJ) has remained resolute, maintaining an ultra-accommodative monetary policy in a world aggressively hiking interest rates to stem inflation.

What’s more, if you’d taken a 12 month sabbatical through 2023, spent on a desert island listening to the Smiths and the Velvet Underground, then upon firing up your Bloomberg on New Year’s Day, what would be most surprising of all, is that none of this uncertainty is visible in markets.

A focus on bond yields, the Magnificent 7, and the Fed pivot

Every year, the largest banks, asset managers and consulting firms publish their economic and market outlooks for the following year, highlighting key topics, trends, opportunities and areas of concerns. For the first time, we have used ChatGPT to skim-read through and summarize 48 of these outlook presentations and built a database, containing the various opinions expressed in the the areas that are traditionally of interest to our clients and us.

Governments have traditionally argued that as long as debt remains manageable and serviceable without difficulty, there’s little cause for concern. While this notion holds some truth, the reality is that recent growth has largely been fueled by an insurmountable increase in debt.