Markets Happy Hour Podcast - Thanksgiving Day Special -- with Morningstar’s Lindsey Stewart

In today's Markets Happy Hour Podcast we are celebrating Thanksgiving Day, and noting the many things that US investors have to be thankful for - a market that pulled itself together sufficiently to end the month broadly flat, a likely incoming Fed chairman who is positively inclined towards rate cuts, and an economy that continues to show its resilience. Plus Thanksgiving staples seem to be down in price - which is good news for lovers of Turkey and cranberry sauce!

We were delighted to welcome Lindsey Stewart on to the podcast to discuss Morningstar's Institutional Insights across our usual five topics, and we debate whether inflation is in fact down (outside the Thanksgiving basket) while taking the temperature on the economy, this time focusing on fund managers who are definitely "glass half full" at this time.

We look at the ongoing "low hiring/low firing" job market and ask whether it is likely to change, then move to look at the recovery in equity markets, which has brought a relatively volatile November to a close. Interesting dynamics currently in markets include Nvidia driving market volatility, an increasing discernment between stocks (e.g. Google and Nvidia) and a pickiness among stockpickers.

Moving on to the UK budget we discuss the highest tax regime in history and the nature of this experiment which seems set to rival the NYC mayoral elections in terms of the concern that it will lead to an exodus of high earners. Markets have received this news relatively well and we will watch to see whether it is in fact a quencher of growth as has been widely surmised.

Finally, we examine Bitcoin's torrid performance of late and the fact that so called "DeFi" companies have trailed traditional finance companies recently, suggesting that old stalwarts still have value in today's markets' craving for some certainty.