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August Market Summary Global equities recovered in August, regaining the ground lost in July’s selldown in AI shares. The MSCI All Country World IMI rose 2.79% and the S&P 500 rose [...]

Background  Every few years, a piece of academic research comes along that genuinely changes how thoughtful investors should think about markets. Professor Hendrik Bessembinder’s work is [...]

Executive Summary May delivered strong global equity returns led by a return of technology and AI leadership. The S&P 500 reached a new all-time high, the Nasdaq posted its strongest monthly [...]

Executive Summary March was a challenging month for global markets, as the escalating US-Israel conflict with Iran and the near-total shutdown of oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz sent [...]

Executive Summary  October 2025 saw global markets reach new all-time highs despite a volatile start marked by trade tensions between the US and China. Swift diplomatic efforts helped restore [...]

My wife and I, together with some friends, just came back from a two-week vacation in Hokkaido and had the opportunity to stay at the Higashiyama Niseko Village, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve. The [...]

Executive Summary  The third quarter of 2025 marked a robust rebound for global markets, as easing trade tensions, strong earnings, and AI enthusiasm pushed equities to all-time highs. US, [...]

In the early hours of 1 October 2025 (local time), the US government officially shut down. This shutdown occurred primarily because the two major parties in Congress failed to reach an agreement [...]

Executive Summary  July was a fantastic month for stocks, reaching new highs supported by strong AI earnings, low inflation, and a weaker SGD boosting portfolios. Key indices including the [...]

Two months ago, due to the radical tariff policies proposed by President Trump, many experts predicted that the US economy was on the brink of a recession. This pessimism caused the US stock [...]

Executive Summary  The S&P 500 was up 6.3% in May 2025, one of the best months in history. The rally has been driven largely by tech and communication companies that are either selling [...]

Executive Summary  January was a good month for stocks and bonds; however, stock markets are facing greater uncertainty as the Artificial Intelligence (AI) capex trade that has powered markets [...]

Executive Summary  In September 2024, the stock market marked its first positive month in five years, largely due to a 50-basis point rate cut from the Federal Reserve (Fed) and stimulus [...]

As the 2024 US presidential election approaches, investors are grappling with uncertainty surrounding the potential outcomes and their implications for the financial markets. The political [...]

Executive Summary  August 2024 brought sharp market swings, driven by weak U.S. economic data and an unexpected rate hike from the Bank of Japan, which triggered a carry trade unwind and a global [...]

In recent years, I have been hearing more and more investors say that all they need to do is buy an ETF or Index Fund that tracks the S&P 500 index and they would get the investment returns [...]

I love getting stuff for free. My word, I seriously love getting stuff for free. In fact, the only person I know who loves getting stuff for free more than me is my mother. The apple doesn’t fall [...]

The recent economic sabre-rattling between the US and China have upset the markets, with indexes shedding year-to-date gains as investors wake up to the reality that a full-blown trade war is a [...]