Gillian's Top Picks - Forget Me Not

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand. - Confucius

A solar eclipse was visible across much of the Northeastern United States this week. While watching the rare phenomenon (with protective glasses!) and drinking eclipse-themed Black & Blue beers, I had a browse through the “black swan event” conspiracies racing across the internet. It reminded me a bit of Y2K and the turn-of-the-millennium hysteria, which I had largely forgotten about since we braced ourselves at midnight over two decades ago.

The cyclical nature of markets forces us to remember what we have forgotten on a regular basis. The speed at which we rediscover what the news cycle has ignored defines our competitive edge. This week, I look at several asset classes that Asset TV experts are revisiting with fresh eyes--from Latin American equities to silver.

Japan's rate trajectory might have?suggested forgettable equity returns and a strong yen, but paradoxically, the nation has delivered a stock market performance to remember. CME Group 's Erik Norland explains:

"Overall, the Bank of Japan's first step towards higher rates might have the paradoxical effect of further stimulating economic growth by repealing what amounted to a tax on the banking system. Eventually, higher rates could have the impact of slowing growth as they do elsewhere--but that would be likely to require rates much higher than the current 0-10 basis point range."

Europe has suffered a number of headwinds in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but it may be turning a corner. Brian Hess of Natixis Investment Managers tells us why we might want to take a fresh look across the pond.

While domestic investment has largely dominated the news cycle, emerging markets are approaching an inflection point. Jorry Noeddekaer of Polar Capital (US) shares that the firm is overweight Latin America for the first time in years, detailing the bull case for Brazilian equities:

"We are seeing Brazil as an economy where you can say that expectation of lower rates can have quite significant positive growth dynamics. But just purely as a stock picker, we think that there's a lot of really good companies now that are very cheap and they have actually demonstrated that they could navigate a very difficult tightening environment for the last few years."

If investing with the news cycle is more your jam, why not rely on Artificial Intelligence to scan the headlines for a temperature check? S&P Dow Jones Indices ' RavenPack AI Index does just that, synthesizing a multitude of news sources on a daily basis to track shifting sentiment.

And lastly - investors may have been sleeping on silver, which stands to benefit from the energy transition. Maria Smirnova of Sprott tells Ed Coyne about several demand forces in play, including the rise of solar power:

"I think investment in solar will continue. We've made projections and published an article stating that by 2030, we think that silver use in solar alone could easily reach 300 million ounces. Think about that. That's 30% of the silver supply, including mine and scrap supply. That's an increment of over 100 million ounces that we'll need just for solar. That's about ten big mines, five to ten big mines."

Are there any Asset TV?favorites forgotten on this list? Which opportunities are you revisiting these days? As always, I'd love to hear your take. And on a more personal note--this will be my last newsletter for Asset TV as I prepare to tackle a new opportunity in my career. Thank you so much to our team, viewers and contributors for making both of my runs at Asset TV utterly unforgettable.?-- GK