Markets Happy Hour Podcast - May 28, 2026 - Don’t Stop me Now

In this week's Markets Happy Hour Podcast we reflect on a short - and in many places - sweltering - week in markets that was punctuated with two bombshells from Italy - the pope weighing in on AI and humanity as well as the ridiculed Ferrari EV - Luce. Clearly everyone is in a race - to the top or the bottom remains to be seen. Inflation numbers in the US continue to be challenging and we show in particular how wages have continued to be under pressure – as real wages are ticking down across the board. This is particularly linked to consumer sentiment and we know that consumer sentiment has been particularly low in the US, so this is another indicator of prolonged pain for the lower end consumer. In other “vibe” checks we reflect on a suggestion that there are now fewer policy tools – such as policy put – available to any central banks as a way to calm markets. Looking at the massive boost in market caps across the board we reflect on the three new members of the $1 trillion club in Asia – Samsung, TSMC and SK Hynix, which have represented the bulk of the recent outperformance in Asia. Other equity market datapoints are the deterioration of the S&P dividend yield as well as the equity market risk premium raising the question as to whether investors are being paid to take risk. We touch on the latest funding round secured by Anthropic as it races to the finish line to its pending IPO. The arms race for funding rounds and to IPO is clearly picking up pace, and all US stock markets have moved in a surge of momentum. We end with a reflection on emerging market risks and note how the likelihood of downward GDP revisions has gone up while both inflation and policy rates are also likely to rise. This is all linked to the outbreak of hostilities in Iran and is yet more evidence as to how Asia and Europe have seen the brunt of the current war much more than that of the US.