24-05-2025
How to Exit US Markets Amid ‘Terminal Lucidity'
Terminal lucidity. It's the phrase used to describe a short period just before death when the terminally ill appear to recover. All too often it gives hope—irrational hope—to the soon-to-be bereaved. That's what strategist Bill Blaine reckons happened in the US stock market this week. After a torrid few months, the S&P 500 is all but evens on the year, and that's made many investors think that maybe everything's going to be fine.
But the reckoning comes to us all. And the truth is that tariff chaos, ongoing stress in the bond market, the risks of stagflation and still-superhigh valuations mean that if you haven't diversified into non-US markets yet, you really should get on with it. (Not everyone agrees with this analysis, of course. Listen to Ed Yardeni on this week's Merryn Talks Money for a more cheery outlook.)
