This week, we dive into the nuanced world of macroeconomics and geopolitics. Elliot Hentov, Chief Macro Policy Strategist at State Street Investment Management, joins us to explore the state of deglobalization and the current status of geo-strategic competition in trade, technology, energy production and capital allocation. As we navigate the shocks of recent years and move towards a new equilibrium, the discussion focuses on the trade-offs embedded in each aspect of these competitions and the pressures on resources, carrying profound implications for consumers, investors and the political class.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Q3 earnings look like a prelude to a Santa rally, capping off another strong year for stocks. Sticking with a holiday theme, we can give thanks later this month for the outsized contribution of tech stocks to investor returns. But the AI narrative driving stocks in recent years is by now well understood and valuations look stretched. This week, we spend much of our time with Marija Veitmane, Head of Equity Strategy at State Street Markets, on where else to look for growth opportunities in global equity markets. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A stand-out macro trend of 2025, the weakness of the US dollar remains a focal point for a market that is still heavily short. Is the consensus risk ripe for a surprise or are further headwinds in store for the world's most widely traded currency? And how might macroeconomic developments in Japan, Europe and the UK add to or detract from the appeal for dollars? This week, we discuss these factors and the broader FX landscape for developed markets, with Lee Ferridge, Head of Macro Strategy for the Americas at State Street Markets.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Investors tend to underestimate the probability of tail risk events and assume market correlations will be stable. These are well-understood yet persistent blind spots that damage long-term portfolio performance. This week, we talk to David Dredge, CIO of Convex Strategies, as he shares his experiences and perspectives on the importance of overcoming these biases and incorporating convexity exposure, towards building greater resilience, maximizing compounding effects in return streams and optimizing for actual, rather than historic, returns.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Growth stocks are driving returns and economic dynamism, but also sparking discussions of whether we sit in bubble territory. Our guest this week, Matt Smith, portfolio manager at QSM Asset Management, a long/short hedge fund with a value focus, provides a timely reminder of how a consistent, fundamental-oriented approach can still offer compelling risk-adjusted returns. We also walk through current equity markets and how modest pullbacks in the AI trade could pose economic problems.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A shutdown of the US government raises myriad questions, particularly what economic impacts might be felt in the near-term and the bigger picture puzzle of how to assess the state of the economy when public data from government statistical agencies is delayed or unavailable. This week, we take a deep dive on those questions, with a focus on the September US CPI release as a test case for how to think about and use alternative data sets. We are joined by PriceStats co-founder Alberto Cavallo, global head of macro strategy Michael Metcalfe and senior strategist Noel Dixon for a wide-ranging discussion of the shutdown and how alternative data can complement public data.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Drawing on decades of experience as a policymaker, investor and trader, Mark Dow joins us this week, as we thread the currents driving the global macroeconomy together into a cohesive whole. From tariffs, inflation, US labor supply issues and Fed independence, to gold, the dollar, debt and deficits, with a side trip to Argentina in between, few stones are left unturned in this macro masterclass.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Data drives decisions big and small, but a steady and worrying trend of deteriorating quality in public economic data adds an under-appreciated complexity to the choices made by central bankers and finance ministry officials. Simona Mocuta, chief economist at State Street Investment Management, joins us to discuss how and why this problem has become so acute in recent years, how private data sources can both help and hinder policymakers, and what improvements are necessary. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Our title is the most-often asked question of recent weeks, with equity markets making new all-time highs and inflows continuing, despite an overwhelmingly consensus belief that they are also overvalued. However, this seeming paradox can persist, as Dan Gerard, senior multi-asset strategist for State Street Markets, highlights. We delve into the earnings power of the companies driving equity market returns, whether this will ever be a stockpickers market and what role the Federal Reserve is poised to play in the investing decisions driving headlines as Q3 draws to a close.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The British pound and gilts already face heavy scrutiny from markets, ahead of what could be a politically defining budget process for the UK Labour Party later this Autumn. As our guest this week details, a politically possible outcome that also keeps bond markets happy looks very difficult to achieve, potentially setting up for a period of volatility for UK assets and sterling. Helen Thomas, CEO of BlondeMoney, is back on the podcast to walk through the constraints on the government imposed both by markets and internal party politics, and where she sees points of vulnerability in each.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Summer is giving way to autumn and risk markets see few signs of a fall. Its not for lack of potential threats. Questions of Fed independence swirl and the US economy offers in equal parts the potential to either slow sharply or re-accelerate and threaten hopes for easier policy. The path of inflation is still an open question. Emerging threats to fiscal and political stability in Europe and the UK are once again on the markets mind. But none of these risks seem to demand higher risk premia, at least not yet. This week, Dan Mazza, State Street Markets head of FX forwards trading in the US, rejoins the podcast to discuss how and whether the calm can continue.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The investing world awaits the message from the Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole Symposium this weekend. As an event, historically it can often disappoint those looking for answers. Expectations for clear guidance on near-term Fed policy seem low this year. Chairman Jay Powell regularly reminds markets (and politicians) that the two elements of the central banks mandate are now in conflict. Trade tariffs are likely to boost inflation for a while longer and have delayed a more aggressive easing cycle. Yet the US labor market looks more vulnerable than at any time since the pandemic. So a thoughtful idea of what to expect is in demand and our guiding voice on the Fed, Marvin Loh, a senior macro strategist on our US team, rejoins the podcast with what to expect from policymakers this week, and beyond.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Currency markets can be a lot like equity markets in that over or under-valuations can stay stretched for longer than one might think possible, before mean reversion inevitably kicks in. Maintaining an effective FX process for the long-term requires special attention to these questions of fair value, while also keeping an eye on the day-to-day headlines and short-term price dislocations that offer opportunities for alpha. Aaron Hurd, a senior portfolio manager at State Street Investment Management, joins the podcast this week for a wide-ranging discussion on FX, from how to think around these long-term drivers of portfolio construction, to current views on the major currencies, particularly where the US Dollar goes next.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Just when inflation was within striking distance of the Federal Reserves monetary policy target of 2%, allowing them to begin cutting rates last year, tariffs as a forceful policy choice of the US administration. Higher import duties have disrupted plans to ease rates and extend the soft landing of the US economy further. Tariffs also now appear to have introduced high uncertainty in the US labor market and the staffing plans of corporations, creating a potential demand-side dampening of any inflation that tariffs and still-constrained labor supply might create. Which way do we head from here? Michael Metcalfe, Global Head of Macro Strategy at State Street Markets, joins the podcast once more with his read of what faster-moving, alternative measures of data are suggesting.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Street Signals has had its mini-hiatus and is now back for most of the rest of the summer. This week, host Tim Graf walks through the big questions hanging over markets, some of which will need to be considered in the coming weeks, before the flip flops are put back in the closet and trading desks are back to fully staffed. We ponder what's next for equity markets, whether we'll actually start to soon see strong tariff-fueled inflation and whether the US dollar is at another inflection point after a healthy first half correction.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The period following the Second World War is often referred to as the American Century, when the rise of the United States to global hegemon accelerated and solidified. Those who take an interest in the global political economy are starting to wonder if that era is coming to a close. But the volatility of US policy in recent years, as much as it has given rise to questions over whether this period of American exceptionalism is at an end, also carries with it many elements which could herald its continuation. Marvin Barth, founder and author of Thematic Markets, an independent research effort focused on long-term trends and themes, joins the podcast to pore over the most critical questions facing the United States and what the answers mean for its place in the world.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The calm after the storm of April's volatility has been maintained, despite a massive fiscal expansion passing through Congress and being signed by the President, and the end of the deferral period for most of the tariffs initially announced at the start of Q2. As we await the economic impacts of the One Big Beautiful Bill and the onset of significantly higher tariffs on most of the US' trading partners, Noel Dixon, a senior macro strategist on the team at State Street Markets, returns to the podcast to provide an independent outlook on the boosts and drags from policy and how damaging any economic costs might be in future electoral cycles.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this 100th episode of Street Signals, a theme ever-present throughout its two-year history comes to the fore once again: the ability of financial markets to come to grips with and move past seemingly implacable uncertainty. Q2 2025 alone provided what felt like a decade's worth of seismic and (theoretically) negative shocks to sentiment, yet equity markets have recovered quickly and are poised to push to new all-time highs, while many traditional safe haven currencies are on the back foot. This week, Peter Vincent, head of FX trading in EMEA for State Street Markets and a podcast regular, returns to offer his thinking on why markets remain so resilient in the face of such risks, whether the US growth outlook is poised to deteriorate and his outlook for currencies in the coming months.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Markets are still grappling with global trade and fiscal policies in flux and we were reminded this week that geopolitical risk is never out of the frame for too long. The broadening of hostilities in Israel and Iran necessarily extends the vigilance of policymakers for first and second order impacts on their economies, carrying with it potential implications for currency and interest rate markets, in particular. This week, we look at how all-important reserve managers and governments in Asia are considering all of these threats to stability and how currency and monetary policies are likely to adapt. We bring Dwyfor Evans, our head of macro strategy for Asia, back to the podcast for a broad discussion of the most relevant considerations.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Coming to you from our London Research Retreat, this week's episode of Street Signals explores the ongoing fragmentation in the global political economy and its implications for asset managers and asset owners. In a panel discussion with host Tim Graf, guests Elliot Hentov, head of macro policy research at State Street Global Advisors, and Ramu Thiagarajan, head of Thought Leadership at State Street, discuss how traditional correlation structures are breaking down, drawing parallels to the macro environment of the 1980s and 1990s. Key topics include the reassessment of equity risk premia, whether allocations to fixed income require a re-think and how relevant questions of increased heading of dollar-denominated assets remain after a tumultuous start to the year.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.