The Year That Was: Markets Bet On Hope Over Expectation!

As we enter 2026, and Happy New Year to all, we should reflect on the fact that while hope is a desire for a positive outcome with uncertainty about its arrival, that represents a wish for the “most desirable,” outcome; expectation is a strong belief or probability assessment that something will happen, trusting the result and often implying control even when it does not exist. Markets remain in the hope camp, despite signs which may question that optimism. All up the world’s main stock benchmarks had a turbulent year, repeatedly hitting record peaks and then pulling back as worries over […]