Hey Superheroes, Earnings season is testing nerves on both sides of the Pacific. In the U.S., the Federal Reserve held rates steady at 3.5–3.75% on Wednesday in what was likely Jerome Powell’s final meeting as Chair. The decision split the committee 8–4, the biggest dissent since 1992, as policymakers struggled with inflation that’s been above […]
There’s a bit of tension in the air heading into the May meeting. The Reserve Bank of Australia has already lifted the cash rate to 4.10% after two back-to-back hikes. The last move in March wasn’t a comfortable one either. It scraped through on a 5–4 vote. That tells us something important. This isn’t a […]
Hey Superheroes, Earnings season has arrived, and it’s pulling no punches. The ASX 200 slid below 9,000 this week as a brutal run of profit warnings rattled investors. Healthcare led the losses, dragged down by a historic collapse in Cochlear (more on that shortly), while banks and real estate also came under pressure. Financials are […]
Hey Superheroes, Wall Street just hit a new all-time high. The S&P 500 rose 0.26% on Thursday to close at 7,041.28, eclipsing its previous record set back in January. The Nasdaq joined the party a day earlier, closing at a record 24,016 and notching an 11-session winning streak, its longest since November 2021. The rally […]
Hey Superheroes, Markets flipped fast this week. A last-minute ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran wiped out weeks of tension in a single move. Oil prices plunged. Risk assets rallied. Sentiment turned almost overnight. U.S. crude oil closed down 16.4%, its largest single-day decline since 2020. Back home, the ASX 200 advanced 2.7% on Wednesday […]
Hey Superheroes, A quick note before we dive in. Spotlight is landing in your inbox on Thursday this week ahead of the Good Friday and Easter break. Normal programming resumes next week. It’s been one of those weeks where the news kept coming. Oil pulled back after Trump signalled the war with Iran could wind […]
Why are markets nervously watching the same data that used to reassure them? Right now, markets feel a bit like a cricket match where the scoreboard isn’t quite adding up. Growth is slowing. Inflation isn’t settling. And central banks, the ones markets usually rely on for direction, are waiting for clarity that isn’t coming. That […]
Hey Superheroes, It’s been a volatile week for global markets. Oil has been driving the narrative. Prices surged above US$107 a barrel after fresh conflict in the Middle East, before pulling back on signs of possible diplomatic progress. Markets felt it. The S&P 500 fell 1.74% in a single session, while the Nasdaq dropped 2.38% […]
Hey Superheroes, This week had two big drivers. Rates and oil. The RBA lifted the cash rate again, up 25 basis points to 4.1%. It was a split decision and the first back-to-back hike since mid-2023. The message was clear. Inflation is still a risk, and it may stick around longer than expected. Then oil […]
Oil prices briefly surged to almost US$110 a barrel as tensions in the Middle East escalated. Prices have eased since then. But they’re still well above where they were before the conflict. And that’s enough to change the conversation. Just weeks ago, investors were increasingly confident that the global fight against inflation was nearing its […]
Hey Superheroes, Markets had one clear focus this week. Oil. The conflict involving Iran has pushed Brent crude above US$100 a barrel for the first time since the 2022 energy shock. And the ripple effects are already being felt here in Australia. The International Energy Agency responded with a record release of 400 million barrels […]
Headlines are dominated by U.S. missile strikes on Iran and oil prices surging as energy markets react to the possibility of disruption in one of the world’s most critical supply routes. But the real risk for markets may not be the war itself. It is that the conflict is colliding with an inflation problem that […]