Things aren’t looking so très bien for France right now. Five-year borrowing costs have climbed to 2.7% now higher than Greece’s 2.5%—a shocking turn for a country once considered a eurozone heavyweight. Meanwhile, the Cac 40 index dropped 1.2%, as investors seem to be losing faith in French assets.

What’s the cause of the turmoil? Political and fiscal struggles. Prime Minister Michel Barnier is battling to hold together a minority government², while Marine Le Pen’s National Rally is threatening a no-confidence vote¹ over his plans to raise taxes and cut spending. Barnier’s goal is to reduce the deficit to 5% of GDP next year, but with debt projected to hit nearly 114% of GDP and this year’s deficit still above 6%, investors aren’t feeling reassured.

To make matters worse, Greece—yes, Greece—is now seen as a safer bet for bondholders, thanks to its improving fiscal health.

President-elect Donald Trump has finalized most of his Cabinet picks, creating a team of loyalists ready to steer his second-term agenda. Here’s the breakdown so far:

• Treasury Secretary: Scott Bessent – Hedge fund CEO and former advisor to George Soros.

• Secretary of State: Marco Rubio – Florida Senator and vocal China critic.

• Director of National Intelligence: Tulsi Gabbard – Former Democratic Congresswoman.

• Defense Secretary: Pete Hegseth – Fox News contributor, veteran and critic of diversity initiatives in the military.

• Attorney General: Pam Bondi – Former Florida Attorney General.

• Health and Human Services Secretary: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – Environmental lawyer and vocal vaccine sceptic.

• Housing and Urban Development Secretary: Scott Turner – Former NFL player and Texas lawmaker.

• Secretary of Energy: Chris Wright – CEO of Liberty Energy and advocate of traditional energy sectors.

• Secretary of Homeland Security: Kristi Noem – South Dakota Governor and supporter of strict immigration policies.

The Cabinet splits into three factions with the “revenge squad” targeting justice and defence, Elon Musk’s “shrink-the-government” crew, and a “calm-the-markets” group led by Wall Street billionaire Bessent. However, delays in ethics agreements and background checks are sparking fresh controversy before Trump’s second term even begins.

Deutsche Bank’s chief global strategist Binky Chadha has set a bold 7,000-point target for the S&P 500 by 2025, a 16% increase from the 6,032 where it is now. The rally’s fuel? A strong economic backdrop of low unemployment (4.10%) and decent GDP growth (2.80%), reminiscent of past market booms of the 1960s and late 90s.

Chadha expects cyclical sectors like Financial, Consumer Discretionary, and Materials to outshine slowing mega-cap tech (step aside Apple), driven by equity inflows and economic expansion. He’s also eyeing a rebound in M&A and capital market activity, spurred by the easing of regulatory hurdles.

Chadha is counting on a pro-business Trump administration to amplify gains through tax cuts and deregulation, reigniting “animal spirits”⁴.

After causing a global IT outage in June and cancelling approximately 7,000 flights, Crowdstrike (NASDAQ: CRWD), a cybersecurity company, saw its stock tumble again by 5.9% following a Tuesday earnings call⁵ that missed expectations.

Q4 Earnings per Share⁶ were forecasted for $0.84-$0.86, falling just shy of analysts’ expected $0.87. This overshadowed an otherwise solid performance, Q3 revenue hit $1.01 billion, beating forecasts and riding the tailwind of a similar outperformance in Q2. However, a lingering lawsuit from Delta Airlines filed in October may put a $500 million dent in the expected FY earnings of $3.92 billion.

Dell Computers (NYSE: DELL) followed the trend with a 12% sink in its stock price as Q4 revenue guidance of $24-25 billion fell short of analysts’ expectations ($25.57 billion). Q3 PC revenue also fell short of expectations while the Infrastructure Solutions Group stole the limelight with 34% YoY growth.

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Macquarie Bank Limited’s London branch £13 million for a “significant” control failure that allowed a junior trader, Travis Klein, to record and conceal over 400 fictitious trades between June 2020 and February 2022, resulting in approximately $57.8 million in losses.

Klein, who joined Macquarie in 2017 and moved to the London metals and bulks trading desk in 2018, fabricated commodities trades to hide his losses. He has since been banned from the financial services industry. Meanwhile, Macquarie has strengthened its systems and stressed the issue was an isolated incident.

The trades did not impact customers or market stability.

• Israel and Hezbollah Ceasefire: as of November 27, Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a 60-day ceasefire, indicating a possible end to the Israel-Lebanon conflict.

• Trump plans to impose a 25% tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods, citing concerns over illegal immigration and drug trafficking, much to critics’ dismay.

• Not so ‘chill guy’?: Early adopters of $CHILLGUY turned $1,000 into $1 million as the coin surged 400% since launch, despite legal threats from its creator.

• Medicare/Medicaid to Cover Ozempic. The Biden administration proposes expanding Medicare and Medicaid to cover anti-obesity drugs like Ozempic, but its implementation hinges on the incoming Trump administration.

1: No-confidence vote: A parliamentary motion that could remove Prime Minister Barnier from power if passed.
2: Minority Government: A government where the ruling party does not have enough seats in parliament to pass legislation without support from other parties.
3: Equity Inflows: Equity inflows refer to increased investment into stocks, driven by investor optimism.
4: Animal Spirits: The human emotions that affect consumer confidence during periods of volatility, impacting investment (conceived by John Maynard Keynes).
5: Earnings Call: A conference by a company on its financial performance.
6: Earnings per Share (EPS): A company’s net income (minus preferred share dividends) divided by the number of common stock, an indicator of profitability per share where investors generally pay more for stock with higher EPS.

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