GeoMacro

President Trump is only the second president to have won, lost, and won again in US history, so today’s inaugural address was unlike any other since Grover Cleveland in 1893.

Informe especial

Inauguration Day or shortly thereafter will see either a global tariff of 10% or targeted but substantial tariffs on China, Mexico, and Canada. Treasury yields will rise on tax cuts, the dollar will stay strong, yet oil will also continue to rally, causing equity volatility in the near term.

This month, our Here, There, And Everywhere chartpack reiterates our main thesis for 2025: the three main narratives driving markets today – fiscal profligacy, trade war, and geopolitical conflict – will peak at some point in 2025. Why does this matter? All three have been tailwinds to US assets, and their peak should help usher in the peak in US outperformance relative to RoW. We conclude with some slides on our bullish Europe thesis.

The outgoing Biden administration has launched a slew of macro-relevant executive orders and regulatory actions. The one with immediate macro implications are the sanctions against Russian oil traders and its “dark fleet” of oil tankers.

Every year we highlight five low-odds scenarios that would have a major impact on global financial markets if they happened. This year we contemplate a total reversal of Chinese policy, a US-Iran nuclear deal, a breakdown of NATO, US military action across the Americas, and an internationally coordinated FX intervention.

It is rare for BCA Research strategists to be at the literal scene of macro calamities. The denizens of our GeoMacro team – including yours truly – live within the mandatory evacuation zones of the now increasingly on fire Los Angeles. Contrary to the conventional view, this does not make for a sober analysis. Those impacted by natural disasters and geopolitical events are often the least likely to be able to provide a neutral analysis.

In our Beta report, we take a break from US politics and focus on the investment implications of climate change. Our colleague Ritika Mankar, of BCA’s Global Investment Strategy, makes a case for long-term investors to actually completely ignore climate change in their strategic asset allocation. Global warming will simply not make any difference, macroeconomically speaking, over the next five to ten years. Over a longer time horizon, climate change may even spur more economic growth, although with higher inflation as well.

In our Alpha report, we reiterate that we expect President Trump to curb his most enthusiastic plans for tax cuts due to the pressure from the bond market. That will be good for equities in the long run – as it will assuage the pressure on yields. However, it should be negative for the USD as investors grapple with far less fiscal support for the US economy over the next four years than expected. We also give our readers a blueprint for following the news flow when it comes to trade policy. Stick to a framework and ignore tweets.

As the US faces renewed government shutdown risk, I thought it was prudent to highlight two developments to GeoMacro clients.

Informe especial

This year, our annual "What Else To Read" report focuses on academic work. We asked our research teams to share academic work that has influenced their thinking. The result is a diverse collection of papers and books that span investing, economics and geopolitics. We hope you will find something in this report that broadens your perspective and inspires your work in the year ahead. As always, we wish you all a joyful holiday season and a prosperous and healthy 2025.