The key drivers behind China’s growth recovery are still largely intact, according to BCA Research.

Possible easing in geopolitical tensions adds to near-term downside risks to Brent crude oil prices, but this does not change our bullish cyclical view, says BCA Research.

The French stock market looks very vulnerable, especially relative to euro area peers, according to BCA Research.

An oversold bounce in the US S&P Utilities could occur, but that would represent a selling opportunity given overvaluation and the bearish trend in our cyclical indicator for the sector, states BCA Research.

What do the Greek general elections, the US Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act (ACA or ‘Obamacare’) and the Italian general elections have in common, asks BCA Research.

The over-capacity and over-investment problem in China is concentrated in low-end manufacturing businesses and sectors that experienced a massive boom during the last decade. Conversely, public infrastructure is grossly inadequate to accommodate further urbanization, according to BCA Research.

Investors are not well paid for the level of sovereign risk in the UK or France, according to BCA Research.

The path of least resistance for gold prices remains down, according to BCA Research.

The Dow has broken above its previous cyclical high in 2007 and the S&P 500 is close to doing the same. Investors are piling in, but many are nervous that the rally is perhaps solely based on Fed policy. How will investors know when the equity market can stand on its own, without constant shots of monetary stimulus to keep it going, asks BCA Research.

Rising Treasury yields are proving a formidable challenge to the Reits index, a fixed-income proxy, according to BCA Research.

Pricing power momentum has clearly shifted in favour of global cyclical sectors, and our global minus domestic gauge has surged into positive territory for the first time since 2011, according to BCA Research.

Inconclusive elections make further structural reforms difficult. This raises doubts about OMT eligibility, which had been widely assumed, argues the Institute of International Finance (IIF).

The US unemployment rate is highly sensitive to changes in the participation rate, according to BCA Research.

The world economy is set to improve, but there is still a lot of slack, according to BCA Research. These conditions give global equities ‘running room’.

As previously discussed in our fixed income research, we anticipate a fairly significant bear-steepening in the Treasury curve, states BCA Research. Historically, in such an environment, it proved beneficial to move down in credit quality in the corporate bond market.

Cash has been stable as a share of market cap for the past few years, despite share price appreciation, which is a good representation of the degree of cynicism toward the sustainability of the US economic recovery.

Are surging youth unemployment rates in Europe a ticking time-bomb, just waiting to detonate?

In an environment of currency volatility, the luxury sector could prove to be a refuge, especially as global top-end spending appears to be holding up well, according to BCA Research.

The gold equity sell-off probably represents a nadir in investor sentiment, typical of major bottoms, according to BCA Research.

Commodity prices have lagged global equity indexes during the recent rally, according to BCA Research.

Our fixed income team has been advocating an overweight position in the investment grade financial sector relative to non-financials within the US fixed income market, says BCA Research. But what about outside of the US?

The backdrop is constructive for US stock repurchases this year, which will boost EPS growth. Nonetheless, the key to sustaining the equity bull market is growth, not buybacks, according to BCA Research.

High single-digit earnings growth is possible for the S&P 500 in 2013, according to BCA Research.

In response to the revelations that a senior executive suppressed a damaging report into Barclays Wealth, Alix Prentice, partner in the financial services regulatory team at international law firm Taylor Wessing, predicts that the bank may face action from a UK regulator increasingly focused on suitability and client risk appetite.

Except for student loans, US household credit in all major categories has now fallen enough to allow a higher pace of overall economic growth.

Refinery stocks have gone vertical since the middle of 2012 and may experience temporary consolidations, according to BCA research.

In this edition of Q & A with BCA, we are pleased to offer a recent question posed by long-time BCA client, Mr. X. Making his first appearance in 1962, Mr. X has visited our offices at the end of each year to discuss the outlook for economic and financial markets. Please find below the first installment of what will be a five-part series recapping our December 2012 meeting.

Our global investment strategy service argues that investors increase their weight in international equities at the expense of US ones, according to BCA Research.

Gilts have underperformed the global treasury aggregate over the past few months and are currently near fair value, according to BCA Research. Will gilts continue underperforming?

Central banks may have become more tolerant of inflation, but that does not mean that there will be higher inflation rates in the next year, according to BCA Research.