Opportunities & pitfalls of investing at sentiment extremes
The debate over whether the US will experience a hard, soft or no landing was of little consequence during the quarter. Despite the market now pricing in just three rate cuts in 2024 compared to six at the start of the year, the MSCI All-Country World Index rose 8% in the first quarter. Anything artificial intelligence (AI) remained the dominant theme, however, performance broadened across sectors and regions. Both the MSCI World Index of developed markets and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index were higher, while the former outperformed – an all too familiar dynamic.
GLP-1s are shrinking more than patients
Obesity is a growing global health concern, with the prevalence nearly tripling since 1975. Traditional interventions like diets and exercise have struggled to curb the epidemic, but a new class of drugs, GLP-1 agonists, shows promise. Developed by pharmaceutical giants Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, these drugs are proving effective in combating obesity by reducing appetite and increasing satiety.
AI to drive the next leg of cloud adoption
Data is the new oil, and the cloud is the new pipeline.