Happy, or should we say Hopeful, New Year has rarely seemed such an apt phrase. Obviously 2020 was a horrendous year for the majority of people, hence it’s good to have the last 10 months in the rear-view mirror. Entering 2021, hope that both society and the economy will evolve towards normalization in as timely a fashion as possible is a widespread theme. Ironically, it was a record year for financial assets, as Wall Street feasted while the rest of the world suffered. Governments everywhere tabled previously inconceivable amounts of fiscal stimulus, while monetary authorities definitely delivered on Draghi’s maxim of “doing whatever it takes”. Almost instantaneously this combination of adrenalin, estimated by Cornerstone Macro to equal 32.9% of global GDP, transformed the outlook for financial markets. In our minds, it was monetary action that mattered most for stocks.