New technology, new personalities and new financial instruments can create the illusion of change. But beneath the surface, finance remains driven by the same old forces — and the same old mistakes.
A slow-motion collapse in South Korea’s Kospi index erased $2.5 trillion in market value, burning investors who bet on the AI boom, writes Jiyoung Sohn, Sooyoung Rhee and Jack Pitcher, The Wall Street Journal.
Stocks face major tests this week from tech earnings and the Federal Reserve rate decision, write Sam Goldfarb and Hannah Erin Lang, The Wall Street Journal.
Stepping away from finance, I set out to travel in search of perspective – and found it in Durham, where ancient faith, industrial memory, and resilient communities meet.
For deep and ancient reasons, we hate uncertainty and fear change. But for the long-term investor, volatility is not risk. The desire to dampen it is a costly distraction.
Exchange rates fluctuate. Reserve currency status does not. As allies question American stewardship and rivals seek alternatives, the greenback’s role as the world’s trusted anchor faces its sternest test in half a century.
The U.S. has long been a beacon of safety when uncertainty reigns. That is changing, write Justin Lahart and Sam Goldfarb, The Wall Street Journal.
Soaring asset prices have revived familiar warnings about debt, bubbles and central bank independence. Yet history shows that acting on well-worn fears can be as futile as building the Maginot Line.
Most US and European investment banks expect another positive year for equities in 2026, albeit at a more modest pace. Rate cuts without recession, a two-speed commodity outlook, and rising geopolitical and inflation risks define a more complex investment landscape.
Although inflation data and commodity markets point to less severe price hikes than initially feared, central banks are now on a tightening trajectory and equity markets are predicting a textbook recession.
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