Investing

Story of the month On October 13, Microsoft succeeded in finalising its acquisition of Activision, the American video games publisher, after months of legal battles with three of the world's most powerful regulators (in the US, the UK and Europe). Microsoft was already the world…

Story of the month In mid-October, the US government and the Department of Energy (DOE) announced the allocation of $7 billion to support the development of 7 regional hubs dedicated to the production, distribution and storage of clean hydrogen. The funding, part of the Infrastructure…

Dong Chen, Head of Asia Macroeconomic Research Pictet Wealth Management. Most indicators for Chinese economic activities in October continued to improve. Growth in nominal retail sales rose further to 7.6% y-o-y in September, up from 5.5% in September and slightly above market consensus of 7.3% . This higher-than-expected…

Out of the chaos come heroes Yanxiu Gu, Spécialiste produits, actions chinoises ODDO BHF AM. " The technology race between China and the US is not going to end any time soon. But investors may miss good opportunities by turning away from these stocks" US RESTRICTIONS…

Xiao Cui, Senior Economist - Pictet Wealth Management. Core CPI came in weaker than consensus expectation, increasing 0.227% MoM (consensus: 0.3%). This is a step down from its 0.32% MoM print last month. The YoY reading fell further to 4.0% from 4.1%. Core inflation is headed…

The conflict in the Middle East threatens to further destabilise the economy and financial markets. As a result, we remain neutral stocks and overweight bonds. Luca Paolini, Chief Strategist at Pictet Asset Management. Asset allocation: geopolitical vulnerabilities Just as the markets had started taking the…

Generative AI and ChatGPT have captured the public imagination. Asset managers have been watching developments closely too. David Wright, Head of Quantitative Business Strategy & Stéphane Daul, Senior Quantitative Analyst Pictet Asset Management. Machine learning (ML) is being hailed as a better way to pick…

César Pérez Ruiz, Chief Investment Officer Pictet Wealth Management. A far stronger-than-expected US employment report for September pushed bond yields to new 16-year highs last week and raised the possibility of a November interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve. Non-farm payrolls increased by 336,000…

This month’s Editorial by Olivier de Berranger, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and CIO, and Alexis Bienvenu, Fund Manager, La Financière de l’Echiquier (LFDE). A new era of abundance is upon us. Not, alas, in political, social, environmental or even economic terms. Rather, it is for…

Commentary from Norman Villamin, Group Chief Strategist at Union Bancaire Privée (UBP). The Hamas invasion of southern Israel over the weekend, while an eruption of an on-going regional conflict and humanitarian crisis has the potential to expand to a prolonged conflict that historically has been…