S&P 500 Performance and Risk Appetite Indicator Good news for the bulls: Goldman Sachs’s Risk Appetite Indicator broke above 1.0 last week, a bullish signal that has historically lined up with roughly 15% median gains in the S&P 500 over the next 12 months. Image: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research
Commodities vs. 50/50 S&P 500 and U.S. Treasuries Commodities remain undervalued relative to U.S. stocks and bonds, offering room for strategic allocations that enhance portfolio balance. Image: Bloomberg
Gold Prices in Real Terms Gold’s real price is sky-high right now. It’s a very different story from the dot-com boom, when investors piled into tech and gold fell out of favor almost overnight. Image: Deutsche Bank
Cumulative Gold Demand – Gold ETF vs. Central Banks Amid macro conditions, currency moves, and rising geopolitical tension, gold’s rally gathered pace in 2025 as central banks began competing with private investors for scarce bullion. Image: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research
U.S. Equity Index Valuations vs. History The S&P SmallCap 600’s forward P/E of 16x looks attractive by historical standards, while the S&P 500’s 22x forward multiple, sitting in the 94th percentile, paints a very different picture on valuation. Image: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research
Discretionary Investor Positioning With exposure now at the 58th percentile, discretionary investors have edged slightly above neutral, still reluctant to shake off the caution that has prevailed since March 2025. Image: Deutsche Bank Asset Allocation
Gold Price vs. Other Assets You have to go all the way back to 1980 to find a time when gold looked this pricey against other assets. The question now is whether the metal cools while everything else catches up. Image: Bloomberg
Inflation – U.S. ISM Services Prices vs. Super Core PCE History shows the U.S. ISM Services Prices Index tends to lead super core inflation by five months, which means sticky prices aren’t going anywhere soon. Image: Deutsche Bank
S&P 500 Returns in January The S&P 500 is up 1% so far this month. January has finished higher three years in a row. Could this be the fourth? Since 1950, when January finishes in the green, the rest of the year has risen 87% of the time. Image: Carson Investment Research
Valuation – Mega-Cap Tech PEG Ratio Despite relying on forward growth estimates that often move, the Mega-Cap Tech PEG ratio (P/E to CY3 EPS growth) has fallen sharply, echoing the lows of 2022. Image: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research
YTD Returns of Select Equity Indices Wall Street has lost some spark. The KOSPI, fired up by semiconductor leaders, has surged 15% this year, dwarfing the S&P 500’s and Nasdaq 100’s modest 1% gains. Image: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research