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With the first half of 2025 in the books, the global economic environment remains clouded by policy uncertainty. Over the past few weeks, a steady stream of economic data has reinforced a familiar narrative: while soft data has been volatile, hard data continues to show resilience.

Highlights from the week of June 20 – June 26, 2025.

U.S. equities hit a record high while Treasuries rallied as markets exhaled a sigh of relief over moderating macroeconomic factors.

Markets are holding steady despite mounting uncertainty, as investors, the Fed, and corporate America wait for clarity on fiscal policy and the direction of the economy.

Value investing is often synonymous with finding ‘cheap’ stocks. But cheap doesn’t always mean a bargain. We go beyond traditional valuation measures using a more expansive framework to target attractively valued companies through both a value-creation and quality lens.

Over the past week, a growing number of Federal Reserve (Fed) officials have signaled that interest rate cuts could come as early as July—a more “dovish” outlook. This is a notable pivot from the wait and see tone (a “hawkish” outlook) that had dominated recent months.

We are closely monitoring developments, but our base case is a minimal economic impact, especially with the Fed able to support growth with rate cuts.

Geopolitical tensions, continued tariff worries, and the Senate’s version of the reconciliation bill weighed on markets.