Some light-hearted, seasonal reflection on the major economic and investment market events of the past 12 months

‘Twas the market before Christmas,

So, let’s gather around the tree,

To note some market events of 2023.

The Federal Reserve took great care,

As inflation moderated without much flair.

Economists were off and sang the wrong song,

When the call for recession ultimately proved wrong.

The US dollar was the best currency in town,

Meanwhile, the yen collapsed and went down.

While the yuan cheapened Chinese prices,

As China suffered a big real estate crisis.

People were restless, up all night in their beds,

As thoughts of their Belco bills danced in their heads.

Then out of the blue computers were hacked,

When the Bermuda Government was cyber-attacked.

He seemed like he was altruistic and could not fail,

But Sam Bankman Fried went straight to jail.

Despite louder calls for more crypto woes,

Surprisingly bitcoin jumped up and rose.

The Fed cranked up rates and turned up the heat,

Creating some pressure on a bank balance sheet,

Deposits took flight, and many banks did tank,

It included a huge one called Silicon Valley Bank.

Taylor Swift minted a billion or more,

On her highly successful Eras Tour.

I did not write this with Chat GPT,

Even though it was big in 2023.

Higher than eagles, some stocks did rocket.

And they dominated the return of the entire market.

Now Tesla, Now Alphabet,

Now Microsoft and Nvidia

On Meta! On Apple, too!

On Amazon, to name a few.

Upward they went to Heaven,

They were the magnificent seven!

Obesity is a problem so vast,

Now, with new drugs, this may not last.

GLP-1 drugs seem amazing and great,

With sales of Ozempic climbing at an exponential rate.

Charlie Munger passed away in his 100th year.

He was a favourite investor I hold dear.

His wit was legendary and trite,

Lots of what he said was right.

Let’s end this horrible poem right,

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a good night.

• Nathan Kowalski CPA, CA, CFA, CIM, FCSI is the chief financial officer of Anchor Investment Management Ltd. and can be contacted at nkowalski@anchor.bm

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