Morning Brief – US Equity Winners and the USD in 2023

US Equity Winners and the USD in 2023

By some distance the Nasdaq finished the year a big winner in 43%; the S&P managed a gain of 24% and the Dow up 14%. Despite many if not most commentators (but not SGM-FX) calling the demise of the Dollar in 2023, it finished the year down just 2% and right now is almost exactly where it was a year ago.

EUR/USD 1.0960.

Oil

With the arrival of the Iranian warship, Alborz in the Red Sea yesterday, the oil market reacted sharply with prices in all oil indices rising 2.5%. Complacency was replaced with apprehension as the Iranian destroyer passed through the Bab Al Mandeb strait.

Brent $79.

Alternative Investment

If you are nursing a headache following an overly festive end to 2023, you can console yourself(maybe) with the thought that you are better off having drunk those special bottles in your cellar than those who sat on stocks of fine wine in 2023 who have seen a decline of just over 10% in their investments. Whisky investments saw a more modest decline of 4% in 2023. However if you had made sage choices in fine wine investments in the past 40 years you would have comfortably outperformed every single asset class including US Equities. 

GBP/USD 1.2640.

The world’s most punctual airlines and airports

No surprise to Europe’s long suffering air travellers that only one European airline and no European airports featured in the global top 5 airlines and airports for being on time.

Here they are: 

Airlines: Avianca, Azul, Qatar, Delta, Iberia. 

Airports: USA, India, India, Colombia, USA.

Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head

BJ Thomas 3^rd hit and this one was a stormer going straight to the Number One spot this day in 1970 in the US and of course memorably being the song forever associated with hit cult cowboy film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Robert Redford and Paul Newman were unforgettable but so was Katharine Ross perched on the front of a bicycle with this number playing in the background.
 
Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head
And just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed
Nothin’ seems to fit
Those raindrops are fallin’ on my head, they keep fallin’

So I just did me some talkin’ to the sun
And I said I didn’t like the way he got things done
Sleepin’ on the job
Those raindrops are fallin’ on my head, they keep fallin’

But there’s one thing I know
The blues they send to meet me won’t defeat me
It won’t be long till happiness steps up to greet me

Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head
But that doesn’t mean my eyes will soon be turnin’ red
Cryin’s not for me
‘Cause I’m never gonna stop the rain by complainin’
Because I’m free
Nothin’s worryin’ me

[trumpet]
It won’t be long till happiness steps up to greet me

Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head
But that doesn’t mean my eyes will soon be turnin’ red
Cryin’s not for me
‘Cause I’m never gonna stop the rain by complainin’
Because I’m free
Nothin’s worryin’ me

Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder

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