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Exchange Rates And Oil Shocks

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Exchange Rates And Oil Shocks

Charles Gave
10 Mar 2026
Charles defines a large move in the price of oil as a change of more than 40% over the previous six months. In this Daily, he explores how the oil shock will affect major currencies and gold, and how to hedge against a further escalation in energy prices.
The Bargain In The Five-Year Plan

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The Bargain In The Five-Year Plan

Andrew Batson
10 Mar 2026
Chinese officials from Xi Jinping on down have in recent months been talking the talk on household consumption and rebalancing toward domestic demand. The launch of the 15th Five-Year Plan provided them with a perfect opportunity to decisively shift the growth model. Analyzing the plan, though, Andrew finds that the model is being updated rather than replaced. Household interests are getting more political attention, but mainly as a way to bolster support for the technology-driven development strategy.

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Webinar: The War And Markets

Charles Gave, Louis-Vincent Gave, Arthur Kroeber
10 Mar 2026
Since the US and Israel launched decapitation strikes against Iran’s leadership and oil and gas infrastructure has been targets of attacks, global markets have been rocked by uncertainty over how long Middle East energy supplies will be disrupted. Our panel assess the latest geopolitical situation and aims to map a path on what comes next for markets.

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Hedging In A Time Of War

Will Denyer
9 Mar 2026
War is punishing for portfolios, especially when it disrupts the flow of oil and gas. War can also affect markets through higher government borrowing, rising inflation, differing monetary policy responses and changes in the economic outlook of affected regions. The effect of these forces may explain why some hedges and safe havens have underperformed during the first week of the US-led war against Iran, says Will.

Checking The Boxes

Our short take on the latest news

Fact
Surprise
Takeaway

Germany factory orders fell -11.1% MoM in Jan, down from 6.4% in Dec

Below expected -4.3%; YoY, factory orders rose 3.7% in Jan, down from 11.7% in Dec

Drop mainly driven by high base effect; underlying trend points to improvement

Eurozone Sentix investor confidence index fell to -3.1 in Mar, from 4.2 in Feb

Below expected -3

Slump driven by sharp rise in inflationary concerns amid ongoing war in Middle East

Taiwan trade surplus narrowed to US$12.8bn in Feb, from US$18.9bn in Jan

Below expected US$16.5bn; exports (21% YoY) rose faster than imports (7% YoY)

Exports impacted by lunar holiday; underlying demand for chips remains strong

Mexico CPI rose 4% YoY in Feb, up from 3.8% in Jan

Above expected 3.9%; core CPI rose 4.5% YoY in Feb, the same pace as in Jan

Elevated oil price and weak MXN tilt risks to upside, limiting room for Banxico easing

Test Your Knowledge
The average person in England uses about 136 liters of water every day. What about the average Saudi?
  1. 68 liters
  2. 120 liters
  3. 263 liters
Post Your Answer

Chart of the Week

Week 9, 2026
Rumours that European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde could step down before her term ends in October 2027 agitated the financial community last week (see The Changing Of Lagarde). There will soon be a time to assess her legacy at the ECB. But what is already clear is that her time was characterized by significantly higher inflation than her predecessors.
Open Chart

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Essential Reading: A Book For Every Week Of The Year

Gavekal is often asked for a recommended reading list. So, here it is: a book a week that everyone interested in the world of macro investing—whether hoary veteran or eager apprentice—can benefit from reading.

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Webinar: The War And Markets

Charles Gave, Louis-Vincent Gave, Arthur Kroeber
10 Mar 2026
Since the US and Israel launched decapitation strikes against Iran’s leadership and oil and gas infrastructure has been targets of attacks, global markets have been rocked by uncertainty over how long Middle East energy supplies will be disrupted. Our panel assess the latest geopolitical situation and aims to map a path on what comes next for markets.

Tariff Troubles

After The SCOTUS Tariff Ruling
The shift in the tariff landscape following the US Supreme Court’s ruling on Friday that all tariffs imposed by Donald Trump under IEEPA—the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act—are illegal is good news for equity investors. But it is not great news, writes Will Denyer.
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The EM Triple Whammy On Full Display
It would be tempting to ascribe the simultaneous US dollar, bond, and equity market sell-off to the self-owned “crisis” around Greenland and to Trump’s threat to use tariffs against (former?) friends to force a change of sovereignty. Still, the current sell-off in bonds, and equities, may also be driven by other important factors, says Louis.
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How Europe Will Respond To Trump’s Greenland Tariffs
On Saturday, US president Donald Trump threatened new tariffs on eight European countries over their opposition to his plans to annex Greenland. Since then, attention has shifted to how Europe might respond. Cedric argues that conciliation and deescalation remains Europe’s first response to Trump’s new tariff threat, but there is now a greater chance that the EU retaliates in earnest if that strategy fails.
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Video: Supreme Court v. Trump’s Trade Policy
Initial questioning by US Supreme Court justices in a landmark trade policy case suggests that a majority believe the Trump administration unlawfully invoked emergency powers to impose broad tariffs on importers. In this interview, Will outlines the key issues at stake and considers Trump’s possible next steps if the government loses.
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US economy & markets

Hedging In A Time Of War
War is punishing for portfolios, especially when it disrupts the flow of oil and gas. War can also affect markets through higher government borrowing, rising inflation, differing monetary policy responses and changes in the economic outlook of affected regions. The effect of these forces may explain why some hedges and safe havens have underperformed during the first week of the US-led war against Iran, says Will.
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Picking Up Loans On The Cheap
As the US-led war in Iran consumes international investor attention, private credit concerns continue to bubble up within the US itself. Practitioners such as Blue Owl and Blackstone have seen their share prices crater as investors question the quality of non-bank, privately negotiated lending. The sell-off raises four questions.
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US Banks And The NatSec Intersection
US bank stocks took a beating Monday, with the S&P 500 bank index falling a painful -4.3%—almost as much as US software stocks. But Kai Xian argues that banks are emerging as one of the most promising ways to play the US government’s drive to step up investment in US national and economic security, and the recent fall may provide a buying opportunity.
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After The SCOTUS Tariff Ruling
The shift in the tariff landscape following the US Supreme Court’s ruling on Friday that all tariffs imposed by Donald Trump under IEEPA—the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act—are illegal is good news for equity investors. But it is not great news, writes Will Denyer.
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China chartbook

Gavekal Dragonomics

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Macro Update: Preparing For Normalization

Wei He, Dragonomics Team
4 Feb 2026
China’s policymakers are satisfied with economic performance in 2025, and appear confident that 2026 will be a more ordinary year that allows for a more normal policy stance. But domestic demand remains lackluster, and it’s unclear whether recent positive momentum in some areas can be sustained. In their latest quarterly chartbook, Wei and the Dragonomics team take stock of China’s economic performance and the outlook for the year ahead.

India chartbook

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India Macro Update: Downside Risks Abound

Udith Sikand, Tom Miller
23 Sep 2025
India’s domestic economic recovery is at risk as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government faces a lose-lose choice: continue to import cheap oil from its long-time ally Russia or face punitive tariffs in its biggest export market. Last week’s US interest rate cut will give the central bank more room to cut rates, but the underperformance of Indian asset prices looks set to continue.

Latest video

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Video: The Logic Of EU Bonds

Cedric Gemehl
3 Mar 2026
For Emmanuel Macron, jointly issued European Union bonds is an idea whose time has come. For Friedrich Merz, however, broad mutualization of European public debt remains a step too far. What is interesting is that despite these predictable positions in Paris and Berlin, a growing logic may nonetheless be pushing Europe toward larger-scale EU bond issuance.

Strategy Chartbook

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Global Strategy: Best And Worst Trades For 2026

Louis-Vincent Gave, Charles Gave, Anatole Kaletsky, Will Denyer, Tan Kai Xian, Cedric Gemehl, August Gudmundsson, Thomas Gatley, Udith Sikand, Tom Miller
8 Jan 2026
Past performance is no guide to future returns, and the trend is not always your friend. As such, Gavekal writers consider their most compelling 10 macro trades for 2026, on both the upside and the downside. If one theme runs through our developed-market views, it is the expectation for a sustained inflationary boom. That story is different in China, but Chinese firms look to be on the right side of an energy transition with room to run. The view on gold is nuanced, especially seen through the lens of Japanese investors facing extreme asset valuations.

Emerging markets

Video: Are EMs Back?
It’s been a good quarter for the broad emerging markets complex. The MSCI EM index has returned almost 7% in US dollar terms, while US equities are down by some -3.5%. So should investors jump on the EM train? Udith points out that there is a wide divergence in the performance of individual emerging markets, and the threat of tariffs hangs heavy over EM corporate earnings. Investors need to be selective.
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Video: Southeast Asia Under Trump 2.0
Global investors are rightly focused on the potential losers from the United States pursuing an aggressively protectionist trade policy agenda, but there may be winners as well. Tom went in search of such economies last week. Today he explains how such “swing states” are likely to perform in an intensified period of great power rivalry between the US and China.
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China Turbocharges EM Investment
As the rich world pulls up the protectionist drawbridge, investors risk missing a bigger story in emerging markets. Here, Chinese outbound investment is rebounding after the fallow Covid years, and is driving a new wave of industrialization that promises to lower the cost of the green-energy transition.
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Why This Time Has Been Different
During past episodes of risk-off volatility, the correlation between emerging market risk assets has shot up. But early August’s bout of market volatility saw a bifurcation in EMs, and no broader macroeconomic spillover effects—which speaks well of the growing maturity of emerging markets as an asset class.
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Europe's economy

Sweden As An Indicator Of Capital Flows
The debate over whether global investors are beginning to reduce exposure to US assets has intensified. After a decade of US equity outperformance, dollar strength and deep capital market dominance, signs of diversification are emerging. Sweden offers an unusually clear window into this change.
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Poland’s Advantages
In recent years, Poland’s economy has grown far faster than those of neighbors Czechia, Hungary and Slovakia. This divergence within the “Visegrád Four” coincided with a sharp widening in Poland’s fiscal deficit from 1.7% of GDP in 2021 to around 6.8% in 2025. In this report, August explains why that fiscal largesse has not undermined the longer term Polish growth story, which continues to benefit from tailwinds as it plays catchup with economies to its west and protects against a menacing Russia to its east.
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The Changing Of Lagarde
European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde is reportedly preparing to step down from her post at the ECB well before her term ends in October 2027. Whatever Lagarde’s intentions, it is certain that four of the six members of the ECB’s executive board will be replaced by the end of 2027. This prospective game of musical chairs was always likely to generate speculative headlines well in advance of the actual changes. In reality, there will be no simple bilateral stitch-up between Paris and Berlin.
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European Equities Still Offer Catch-Up Potential
By anyone’s standards, European equities have had a spectacular run, fractionally beating the stoked-up US market since November 2022. However, given that one key argument for buying European equities has been their compelling valuation relative to US stocks, it has to be asked whether, following their three-year rally, European equities still offer attractive value.
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Equities

Webinar: The War And Markets
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Video: Material Realities In China’s Rebalancing
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US Exceptionalism Versus Chinese Uninvestibility (Part III)
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European Equities Still Offer Catch-Up Potential
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Today’s Nine Important Market Trends
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Eating The Children
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Fixed income

Webinar: The War And Markets
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Video: The Logic Of EU Bonds
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Today’s Nine Important Market Trends
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On Iran
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US Exceptionalism: Trump, Keynes, Soros Or Lincoln?
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Video: Macro Positioning In An AI Bubble

From the archives: oldies but goodies

Deficit Deniers Of The World Unite
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Deficit Deniers Of The World Unite

Anatole Kaletsky
In our politically correct age the pressure to bow down before certain popularly accepted and apparently proven “truths” can be overwhelming. In the aftermath of the US elections, two such nostrums are unnecessarily vexing investors—the urgency of deficit reduction and fear of higher taxes. I believe that both of these obsessions will soon be forgotten.
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Are We Entering into Revolutionary Times?
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Are We Entering into Revolutionary Times?

Louis-Vincent Gave
The role of a society’s elite is to rise to the challenges of the times, and find solutions fitting to those times, even if this involves a radical break with the past. But the modus operandi for most leaders is to try and maintain the status quo. But if the problems are large enough, this does not work, and the same challenges reappear until either a solution is found, the elite is replaced by a new elite, or the country, system or civilization disappears.
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The High Cost Of Free Money
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The High Cost Of Free Money

Charles Gave
Perhaps the most famous economic law is the one that there is no such thing as a free lunch. By keeping US short rates at abnormally low levels beyond the financial crisis and as growth bounces back beyond the dreams of the wildest optimists, the Fed increasingly seems to be trying to ‘feed the US economy for nothing’. This is worrying, for extended periods of cheap money typically come back with a hefty price tag.
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