These 17 Cartoons Capture 2018 (So Far) in Financial Markets

03/20/18 02:39PM EDT

It's been a fascinating year in global markets. And we're not even done with March...!

On a related note, we are fortunate here at Hedgeye to have our own cartoonist, the inimitable Bob Rich who has done a masterful job capturing it all in his daily cartoon. If you'd like to receive his free daily cartoon in your inbox, click here and we'll email it to you each day.

Below are a handful of some of Bob's beauties summing up the past 3-4 months.

#1

It was a rough start to 2018 for stock market bears.

These 17 Cartoons Capture 2018 (So Far) in Financial Markets - 01.05.2018 new year bear cartoon

#2

The stock market kicked off the year with a bang. 

These 17 Cartoons Capture 2018 (So Far) in Financial Markets - 01.08.2018 endangered bears cartoon

#3

In fact, January 2018 was the best start to a year in more than three decades. Then, something changed...

These 17 Cartoons Capture 2018 (So Far) in Financial Markets - 01.18.2018 rain bear

#4

Heading into 2018, we warned our subscribers that optimism about the "globally synchronized recovery" narrative would yield to "global divergences."

(Pssst ... we were right.)

These 17 Cartoons Capture 2018 (So Far) in Financial Markets - 01.31.2018 sudden change cartoon

#5

After a remarkably quiet 2017, volatility woke up.

These 17 Cartoons Capture 2018 (So Far) in Financial Markets - 02.07.2018 volatility cartoon

#6

Investors freaked.

These 17 Cartoons Capture 2018 (So Far) in Financial Markets - 02.26.2018 emotional investing cartoon

#7

An all-out brawl ensued. Stocks peaked at the end of January. Bearish investors came out of the woodwork proclaiming victory.

These 17 Cartoons Capture 2018 (So Far) in Financial Markets - 02.06.2018 bears and bulls cartoon

#8

We took a deep breath ... and reiterated our calls long U.S. stocks.

These 17 Cartoons Capture 2018 (So Far) in Financial Markets - 03.06.2018 bull bears arrows cartoon

#9

... We stayed bearish on China.

(the Shanghai Composite is down -8.2% from its year-to-date peak)

These 17 Cartoons Capture 2018 (So Far) in Financial Markets - 01.26.2018 China cartoon

#10

... We stayed bearish on Europe.

(the German DAX is down -9.4% from its year-to-date peak)

These 17 Cartoons Capture 2018 (So Far) in Financial Markets - 03.14.2018 DAX hairball cartoon

#11

... We stuck with short Bitcoin

(Bitcoin is down -56% from its December all-time bubble high.)

These 17 Cartoons Capture 2018 (So Far) in Financial Markets - 01.17.2018 Bitcoin cartoon

#12

Meanwhile, Jerome Powell took over Janet Yellen's seat as head of the Fed.

These 17 Cartoons Capture 2018 (So Far) in Financial Markets - 02.28.2018 Powell cartoon

#13

Investors speculated the Fed would finally make due on its more rate hikes promise.

These 17 Cartoons Capture 2018 (So Far) in Financial Markets - 03.08.2018 Fed hawk cage cartoon

#14

The January jobs report bolstered the rate hike narrative.

Wage growth accelerated to 2.9% year-over-year (the highest reading since May 2009). The 10-year Treasury ultimately hit a 4-year high of 2.956% on the news.

These 17 Cartoons Capture 2018 (So Far) in Financial Markets - 03.02.2018 ten year treasury cartoon

#15

We think wage inflation fears are overdone (and called for "Reflation's Rollover").

These 17 Cartoons Capture 2018 (So Far) in Financial Markets - 02.23.2018 inflation cartoon

#16

While the US's best economic and profit growth days may be behind it, corporate profit data has helped support the recent resurgence in U.S. equities, particularly in our favorite area, Tech stocks.

(Aggregate year-over-year Nasdaq 100 sales and earnings growth was up 13.1% and 16.4% in 4Q 2018.)

These 17 Cartoons Capture 2018 (So Far) in Financial Markets - 02.21.2018 earnings cartoon

#17

Despite the recent selloff, the Nasdaq is still up 26% in the past year.

These 17 Cartoons Capture 2018 (So Far) in Financial Markets - 03.13.2018 NASDAQ cartoon

These 17 Cartoons Capture 2018 (So Far) in Financial Markets - cartoon of the day

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