Reviewing Core Markets

The stock markets seem to want to reverse course but there also seems to be a gap between wants and reality. Last week was expected to be the bounce back and the turnaround. But the S&P 500 actually fell -2.7% for the week. This week is Davos bringing expectations to the surface again.

Here are how the core markets look like this morning:

Nothing but the US Dollar has done well so far this year. Which could also be part of the reason for other markets doing poorly. Of course, we know there are many reasons and blaming the strong USD is just an excuse.

Among the stock markets, the Emerging Markets have fared the best over the last month. It is still negative for the period but less so than the other markets. So, the question is whether the Emerging Markets are the ones to lead the global stock markets higher. We saw last week that Brazil has actually turned a positive return for the year-to-date.

Gold has done better than the stock markets and certainly a lot better than Bitcoin. So, this round so far goes to Gold. Bitcoin has gone through turbulent times for more than a year now and certainly fallen the hardest for the year. Bitcoin believers know very well the volatility around crypto and what to expect.

Full Disclosure: I am long Bitcoin and hold it as a long-term speculative investment. I am using US Dollar strength to travel abroad.