Bank of America last week published its 2025 market outlook.
longportapp.com/en/news/221114141
The bank recommends staying long US stocks until Q1 25, but rotating into European stocks and emerging market currencies in Q2.
In Q1, BofA expects the US economy to stay strong. The US dollar may appreciate and US small cap stocks may do well. Economies outside the US, by contrast, will remain weak, putting pressure on international stocks and currencies.
The bank expects a reversal in Q2. By then, US inflation will increase and the Federal Reserve will turn hawkish, whereas in the rest of the world governments and central banks will stimulate. Falling oil prices and a resolution to the war in Ukraine may also help international stocks.
Overall, the bank predicts positive 5-10% returns for global stocks in 2025.
I believe this is a reasonable scenario. There has to be a catalyst for relative performance to improve outside the US, and logically that catalyst would be a more hawkish Federal Reserve.
I am not going to chase US stocks in Q1, but have positioned the portfolio to benefit from lower interest rates in Europe. The European economy remains weak, so I have reduced the share of banks and other cyclical companies in the portfolio. The French budget situation adds an extra layer of risk for French stocks.
The risk with this positioning is that Trumpโs policies lead to higher interest rates globally. Most investors seem to believe that a Trump presidency means higher rates, but it is possible to argue that rates should fall instead.
stenoresearch.com/steno-signals-128-i-thought-trump-and-tariffs-were-supposed-to-lead-to-a-bond-riot/
I would like to increase the share of risky cyclical companies in the portfolio. After all, it is from improvements in the economic outlook that the greatest amounts of money have historically been made with this strategy. But I donโt have confidence in any improvement yet, and it may be that we will have to wait until Q2 25 like Bank of America suggests to see it.
๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ
@triangulacapital +29.5%
SWDA.L +21.9%
๐ฃ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ณ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐
BNP, Eiffage and Vinci were sold. Anheuser Busch and British Land were bought.