Why Europe will power a big and beautiful 2025 for stocks

WHAT will 2025 bring for stocks?

Haze clouded my view in January. Three 2025 outcomes seemed similarly likely: US and world stocks could repeat big, 20-plus per cent booms. Or dip a little. Or grind out low single-digit gains.

But the haze lifted. Now, I foresee a brighter-than-feared 2025 – surprisingly, led by Europe. Here is why.

Stocks pre-price all widely known information and views. So, good forecasting requires seeing key forces that others miss.

That clarity arrived as I measured how European sentiment is much uglier than reality warrants. That pessimism is bullish – fostering positive surprise.