Gold Price Gold is trading lower in part because higher inflation risk is keeping interest rates higher for longer, which hurts non‑yielding assets like gold even amid volatility and geopolitical stress. Image: MarketDesk Research

Aggregate U.S. Dollar Position, Non-Commercial Traders Rising Middle East tensions and a jump in energy prices have pushed speculators back into the U.S. dollar, marking their first net-long position of the year. No surprise there:…

Monthly Brent Oil Price Oil prices face greater upside than downside risk in the near term, with Brent likely to stay elevated if disruptions persist. Given how slowly such issues tend to ease, the balance…

Real S&P 500 Index vs. Conflicts Markets are quick to price in fear. The S&P 500 usually dips when conflict erupts, but it often manages to recover its losses as long as demand and earnings…

Interest Rates – Market Pricing for the Number of Fed Rate Cuts Markets have sharply repriced the Fed path. Investors shouldn’t see “no rate cuts before 2027”, but they should recognize that the hurdle for…

Earnings Sentiment – S&P 500, STOXX 600, Topix, MSCI EM, MSCI World Analysts’ sentiment on S&P 500 earnings has cooled slightly in recent weeks but remains positive overall amid ongoing optimistic outlooks for the full…

Hyperscalers Realized Year/Year Growth – Earnings vs. Free Cash Flow While hyperscalers are still delivering steady earnings, their free cash flow growth has sharply cooled, and that gap could prove costly, since stock performance has…

S&P 500 Performance vs. EM and DM Ex-U.S. Equities Since the Middle East conflict began, the S&P 500 has left global peers behind, outperforming both emerging and developed ex‑U.S. markets. Investors still see the U.S.…

U.S. Equities and Wars Some major geopolitical events have knocked U.S. stocks down 15% or more before. Is this time different? For now, markets look like they’re pricing in hope, not fear. Image: Gavekal, Macrobond

S&P 500 Futures vs. Brent Crude Oil S&P 500 futures and Brent crude oil have moved in tandem lately, but the correlation has softened this week. Are markets breaking away from oil prices? Maybe investors…

VIX vs. S&P 500 Compared with past oil shocks, the S&P 500’s drop looks measured. Investors seem braced for short-term turbulence rather than a structural shift in sentiment. The pullback feels more like caution than…