The stock market bottomed out on 12 October 2022, and the weekend gone marked the two-year anniversary of this bull market - yes, it's a bull market. During 2022, we saw a vicious -25% drop in the S&P 500 in a matter of 9 months - ouch. And since then, readers will know that I have been bullish and have been on record about it. See here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Robert Baharian from Baharian Wealth Management shares his view on current market dynamics. He notes companies are driving stock prices with growing earnings, surpassing just tech sectors.

My kids discovered Google Finance whilst we were waiting to board a flight home from Ho Chi Minh last week. They were fascinated by the growth of the footwear company, Crocs (CROX), and were comparing its share price growth to that of other major companies they know of - Netflix, Microsoft, Google, Tesla, Apple, and so on.

Throughout the week we've seen a number of data points released out of the US, pointing to a slowdown in the jobs market, and the question is being asked again - are we in a recession?

Financial crisis, bear markets, and panics, they all feel the same. Our primitive human mind is hard wired to safeguard and to protect us. And the opposite can be true - greed. In the span of 3 weeks, market participants (not investors) have moved from a state of panic to a state of euphoria.

The time has come for policy to adjust. The direction of travel is clear, and the timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks.