Every so often, I like to summarize our “CinemaScope” view of current conditions. Perhaps these days it should be called our “IMAX outlook”, but the point is to try to pull together our big picture perception of the financial and economic landscape.

Much has been written in this publication’s pages about a forthcoming correction to the aging bull market. Last month, we wrote briefly about the first visible signs of chink in the armor when, on May 17th, the Dow Jones and S&P retracted -1.8% over reports that President Trump tampered with a federal investigation.

The theme of this week’s EVA revolves around the topic of peak oil demand. Much has been written and debated about this recently – especially considering energy’s dismal start to 2017 and Trump’s recent decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement.

Better to be lucky… One of this year’s “Unexpected Outcomes” from our January 20th EVA was that the long-comatose French stock market would be one of the world’s better performers in 2017. My rationale was that, at the time, Francois Fillon, a credible and reform-minded candidate, was leading the polls for president of France. Moreover, considering his flawed and/or relatively obscure opponents, his election looked highly probable.

To Invest, or Not to Invest, that is the Question. The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article debating whether the Social Security trust fund should be allowed to invest in stocks. The piece juxtaposes two opposing views; one side arguing ‘Yes’ and the other ‘No’.