Topic: Marketwatch
The quiet power of compounding
Compounding is the fundamental engine in investing and key to wealth creation, writes Richard Maparura, CEO of RF Bank & Trust (Cayman)
MarketWatch: Why most financial resolutions fail and what actually works
Getting your finances in order doesn’t require a dramatic overhaul. It requires clarity, honesty and systems that work even when your new-year-resolution motivation fades.
The US dollar in 2025: A year of change and what lies ahead
The greenback has had a rough ride in 2025, down roughly 9% so far this year, yet this weakness has not played out evenly across global currencies.
Marketwatch: The view from a high plateau
An important question for investors is: to what extent are higher US equity valuation multiples justified?
Interest rate relief is near, but path forward remains uncertain
After an extended pause, the monetary tide has turned. The US Federal Reserve is now widely expected to cut rates four times over the next year, totalling a full percentage point, starting in September.
Marketwatch: Globalisation came for factory jobs, now AI is coming for office jobs
Will AI replace or complement what white-collar workers do? The answer is likely both and will depend on the role.
Marketwatch: The great global rebalancing
Whether the US dollar’s role as the reserve currency is a benefit or a burden to America has been an interesting academic debate for years, but trade policy is now front and centre.
Marketwatch: Is European defence spending a path to sustainable outperformance?
Markets have defied consensus expectations coming into the year. The theme of ‘US exceptionalism’ has unwound abruptly, with global equities outperforming US equities and the dollar depreciating versus almost every other major currency.
Marketwatch: Green shoots in Europe
Global markets have been swept up in a wave of risk-taking, fuelled by three key factors in the US: slowing inflation, strong economic growth, and expectations surrounding policy.
The next phase of the AI revolution
Nvidia has been the poster child for the Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution; however, the story goes far beyond just one company.
MarketWatch: Animal spirits and the battle of ideas
Following the results of the US election, sustaining a favourable economic and policy mix in the United States will be very challenging.
Marketwatch: Facing risks, markets keep rising
Financial markets are continuing to brush off key risks and ignore the usual negative seasonality. As we approach a pivotal US elections and with geopolitical tensions running high, risk assets are hitting record valuations.
Navigating the diversifiers’ dilemma
One of the most significant developments in financial markets since the pandemic has been the shift in the correlation between bonds and equities from negative to positive.
The Fed dual mandate
With the risk of stagflation fading, with not much stagnation and not much inflation, the market is overwhelmingly betting that the Fed will decide to cut rates in its 17-18 Sept. meeting.
Marketwatch: Mid-year economic insights
It has now been a full 12 months since the Federal Reserve paused raising interest rates after embarking on one of the fastest paces of monetary policy tightening in living memory
MarketWatch: A spotlight on precious metals
As we approach the half-year mark, the precious metals market continues to present exciting opportunities for investors.
The limits of US exceptionalism
A central theme of the last two years has been how the US economy has outperformed the rest of the world. Both cyclical and structural factors help explain the resilient performance in the face of higher inflation and interest rates.
A look at Japan
The Japanese stock market is the second largest in the world but often gets little attention. Recently, the Nikkei stock market has been crushing records and topped the 40,000 mark for the first time at the time of writing.
Bubble Watch
The history of financial markets contains some spectacular boom and bust stories.
Consensus is rarely optimal
The increasingly unpredictable nature of market returns, forecasting the outlook is tougher than ever.
Marketwatch: Vigilantes and opportunities in bond markets
For the past three decades, worrying about the US budget deficit, rising bond yields (lower prices) and 'bond vigilantes' has been a sure-fire way to lose money in financial markets. But, recently, the bond vigilantes have started to stir again.
Marketwatch: Navigating by stars under cloudy skies
Only time will tell how effective the US Federal Reserve (Fed) has been in fighting inflation.
Capitulation of recession forecast
Whether the US economy falls into recession is not the only thing that matters for financial markets, but it is close. The simplest explanation for why equity markets have been so buoyant this year is that the widely forecast recession in the US has failed to materialise.
The elephant in the room: Recession
While global market headlines about high interest rates, persistent inflation, US debt, the impact of artificial intelligence and US-China tensions have been dominating the news, the elephant in the room is recession.
Marketwatch: AI optimism and China pessimism
Two major drivers of the global equity market this year have been Artificial Intelligence (AI) and China’s slowing economic recovery. The difference in sentiment between the two is stark.
