Economic and corporate uncertainties are elevated as we progress through the first quarter.
There’s no getting around it, tariffs are the headliner no matter where you go. Immediate financial impacts are on goods imported from China, but President Trump’s orders have also pressured the economies of Canada, Mexico, Colombia, and the Euro Area during the first month of his second term.
There is a knock-on effect, though. Services companies, namely many firms in the Information Technology sector, have felt unease given their relatively high share of revenue generated from overseas.
Euro Gems
Ironically, the European bourses, such as the German DAX 30, France’s CAC 40, and the UK’s FTSE 100 have surprised many investors with strong early-year returns. Across-the-pond alpha coincides with a, we’ll call it, “wobbly” US dollar. The EUR/USD currency pair keeps defending parity after impressive strength in the greenback throughout the fourth quarter.
The macro scene drives so many market narratives today, but at the industry level and when scanning profit reports among individual companies, the story is pretty good. Consider that the S&P 500 paces for a mid-teens Q4 EPS growth rate with more than two-thirds of reports released, according to FactSet.
Eye on Monetary Policy…
What’s more, consumer spending is healthy after a downright jaw-dropping holiday shopping season. January inflation gauges were worrisome at first glance last week, but Treasury yields have merely trodden water since the December Fed meeting; it now appears that the FOMC may be done cutting rates. With the All-Country World Index reaching an all-time high last week, equities seem just fine with that reality.
…But Fiscal Policy Clarity Needed
Stocks have ascended even with the occasional volatility spike so far in Q1. What has been missing are those animal spirits talking heads chirped about last year. Dealmaking has been tepid through mid-February and the IPO market remains on ice.
Perhaps it all comes back to policies in Washington—clarity on tariffs, what taxes will look like in 2026, how supposed deregulation unfolds, and changes to immigration. We will learn where CEOs across sectors stand over the coming weeks considering a busy conference slate.
Here are the headline gatherings:
Information Technology & Communication Services
February 26: Bernstein 3rd Annual Tech, Media & Telecom Forum
February 26: Wolfe March Madness Software Conference
February 27: Susquehanna 14th Annual Technology Conference
March 3: Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom (TMT) Conference
March 10: Deutsche Bank 33rd Annual Media, Internet & Telecom Conference
March 17: NVIDIA GTC AI Conference
April 1: Evercore ISI 2nd Annual Cybersecurity Summit
Health Care
February 27: Citi Medtech and Life Sciences Access Day
March 3: TD Cowen 45th Annual Healthcare Conference
March 11: Barclays 27th Annual Global Healthcare Conference
March 11: Jefferies Biotech on the Bay Summit
March 11: Carnegie Healthcare Seminar
March 17: Oppenheimer 35th Annual Healthcare MedTech and Services Conference (virtual)
March 18: KeyBanc Capital Markets Annual Health Care Forum (virtual)
March 26: Nordic-American Healthcare Conference
Consumer Discretionary & Consumer Staples
February 26: TD Cowen Glowing Ahead: Beauty & Wellness Summit
March 5: Evercore ISI 9th Annual Housing and Building Products Symposium
March 10: Citi Consumer Conference
March 11: Bank of America Securities Consumer and Retail Conference
March 12: UBS Annual Global Consumer and Retail Conference
April 2: J.P. Morgan Retail Round Up
Financials & Real Estate
February 19: Morgan Stanley 8th Annual CRE Conference
February 26: ING Real Estate Conference
March 2: Citi Global Real Estate Property CEO Conference
March 4: RBC Capital Markets Global Financial Institutions Conference
March 11: Wolfe Research Fintech Forum
Industrials
February 19: Barclays 42nd Annual Industrial Select Conference
March 3: Evercore ISI 17th Annual Industrial Conference
March 4: Deutsche Bank 12th Annual Shipping Summit (virtual)
March 6: Barclays Select Series: Industrial Energy & Infrastructure Corporate Access Day
March 11: JP Morgan Industrials Conference
March 18: Bank of America Global Industrials Conference
Energy, Utilities, Climate
February 26: Canaccord Genuity Sustainability Summit (virtual)
March 3: Morgan Stanley Global Energy & Power Conference
March 4: Jefferies Power, Utilities and Clean Energy Conference
March 6: UBS Nuclear Conference (virtual)
March 10: CERAWeek
March 12: BNP Paribas Consumer Ingredients and Chemical Conference
March 26: UBS Global Energy and Utilities Conference
March 28: Jefferies Virtual Cleantech and Utility Equipment Conference
Materials & Crypto
February 23: BMO Capital Markets 33rd Global Metals, Mining & Critical Minerals Conference
February 24: Bitcoin Investor Week
February 25: Bank of America Global Agriculture and Materials Conference
March 5: Bitcoin Ski Summit
Regional
February 24: JP Morgan Global Emerging Markets FI Conference
February 25: Goldman Sachs European Technology Conference
March 3: Morgan Stanley European Healthcare Conference
March 3: Morgan Stanley`s London EU MedTech Conference
March 4: UBS European Healthcare Conference
March 12: UBS Technology, Media and Internet London Conference
March 12: Citi European TMT Conference
March 12: JP Morgan European Opportunities Forum
March 18: Bank of America Asia Pacific APAC Telecom, Media & Technology TMT Conference
March 18: Morgan Stanley European Financials Conference
Investor Specific & Multi-Sector
February 24: JP Morgan Global High Yield & Leveraged Finance Conference
February 25: Oppenheimer 10th Annual Emerging Growth Conference (virtual)
March 11: Evercore ISI 2nd Annual Private Markets Forum
March 18: Exane BNP Paribas Transforming Industrials, Materials and Energy Conference
March 25: HSBC Global Investment Summit
March 26: JP Morgan Public Finance Transportation & Utility Investor Forum
Twitter: @ChristineLShort
The author may hold positions in mentioned securities. Any opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author, and do not in any way represent the views or opinions of any other person or entity.
