Karol Pelc

Karol Pelc

Week 22

Equities U.S. equities extended their advance, with the Dow Jones +0.90%, S&P 500 +1.43%, Nasdaq +2.39%, and Russell 2000 +1.75%. The S&P 500 recorded its ninth consecutive weekly gain while the Nasdaq finished higher for the eighth week out of…

Week 21

Macro The dominant macro theme remained the US-Iran conflict and the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, as markets increasingly abandoned the view that the disruption was temporary. After more than 80 days of disruption, investors have begun shifting…

Week 20

Macro The macro backdrop deteriorated further as markets increasingly shifted from pricing geopolitical tail risk toward pricing sustained energy, inflation and supply-chain disruption. Investors no longer treated the Iran shock as temporary. Brent remained above $100/bbl for most of the…

Week 19

Macro The macro backdrop remained resilient but increasingly uneven, with the April payroll report reinforcing the “stable, not overheating” narrative. The key macro data point was another resilient but uneven U.S. labour report. Nonfarm payrolls rose 115K versus expectations near…

Week 18

Macro The global macro backdrop remains defined by a widening divergence between resilient headline activity and a rapidly deteriorating underlying structure, as the energy shock from the Iran conflict continues to propagate through inflation, trade, and policy channels. U.S. growth…

Week 17

Macro The macro backdrop is increasingly defined by a tightening constraint set between resilient growth, persistent inflation and limited policy flexibility. Incoming data continue to argue against recession, with U.S. labour conditions holding and payroll growth (~68K/month YTD) still sufficient…

Week 16

Macro The macro backdrop this week was defined by a widening gap between what markets were pricing and what the physical economy was still dealing with. U.S. activity remained resilient enough to support the expansion narrative, with initial jobless claims…

Week 15

Macro Macro conditions continue to deteriorate at the margin, with the Iran conflict now clearly feeding through into growth, inflation and confidence channels. The IMF is set to downgrade its 2026 global growth forecast from 3.3%, reinforcing the shift from…

Week 14

Macro Geopolitics dominated the macro narrative this week, with the Iran conflict driving both inflation expectations and cross-asset positioning and introducing extreme headline volatility. Market sentiment oscillated between early optimism around a potential de-escalation, driven by signals that the U.S.…

Week 13

Macro The macro story this week was an energy shock colliding with a still-positive but clearly slowing U.S. economy. The Iran conflict remained the dominant driver of cross-asset pricing. Early hopes of de-escalation after Trump cited “productive” discussions and delayed…