Latest from BCA Research
President Biden’s political capital has fallen as he enters a challenging year that will include a domestic faceoff with the House Republicans and foreign crises stemming from China, Russia, and Iran. Stay defensive and prefer bonds over equities.
When does rising unemployment become a bigger problem than inflation? The Fed won't cut rates until that happens, probably thwarting market hopes of big cuts in 2H.
The most important question investors need to answer is whether this is the right time to shift the portfolio to a more aggressive and cyclical stance now that the end of the hiking cycle is in sight. To answer this question, we review the most recent macroeconomic, geopolitical, and equity market developments, and do our best to separate facts and data from sentiment and conjecture. We conclude that there are many challenges ahead and equities are not in a clear yet. We recommend investors add small positions in areas of the market that benefit from rate stabilization while maintaining an overall defensive stance.
Europe’s domestic economy continues to surprise to the upside, can small-cap stocks do the same?
Remain cautious and defensive overall. Stay long DM Europe over EM Europe. Look for EM opportunities in Southeast Asia and Latin America over Greater China.
The growing threat of fiscal dominance; lower real interest rates; a weaker USD; increasing aggregate demand in Asia spurred by Chinese stimulus; safe-have demand driven by growing war risk all are bullish for gold. We are lifting our price target to $2,000/oz by year-end (from $1,900/oz) and upgrading our recommendation to a strategic holding.