Heat pumps made headlines again this week because of a new analysis by Belgium’s energy regulator CREG. The conclusion? Despite subsidies, heat pumps are rarely more attractive than traditional gas boilers, at least not financially. The timing couldn’t be better: it’s been exactly one year since we last updated our electricity-to-gas price ratio chart, a key metric in understa ...

While international readers likely know Antwerp for its historical role as a global trade and financial hub, flourishing as Europe’s commercial capital in the 16th century, later rising to become the world’s diamond capital, and now home to one of the largest ports on the planet. Locally, Antwerp is simply called ’t Stad, “the city”, as if no other city really matters (and yes, ...

After 37 years as an assiduous student of the markets and their convoluted movements we are still surprised how strong the force of momentum can be. It’s a law of physics applied to human behaviour. To be clear, we are not talking about so called “momentum stocks” who are more driven by hype than by fundamentals. In those cases, valuation is stratospheric or sometimes impossibl ...

Since Liberation Day, equity markets have recovered much of their earlier losses, and credit spreads have narrowed to levels even tighter than those observed before April 2nd. However, this optimism hasn’t extended to long-term U.S. Treasuries or the U.S. dollar, both of which remain significantly weaker. This is a strong indication that financial markets are losing confidence ...

Read the 10 key messages below — and download the full report for free We’ve just launched our latest Ortelius study: Critical Raw Materials for Battery Technologies in the EU. (https://ortelius.be/critical-raw-materials/) The report explores Europe’s growing exposure in sourcing the metals that power the energy transition — and what that means for our climate goals, industri ...

Defying pressures from President Trump to cut interest rates, the Federal Reserve decided to keep its policy rate unchanged on Wednesday. A robust Non-Farm Payrolls report helped tip the scales in favor of this decision. However, placing too much emphasis on the labor market could prove risky.   While the Fed left interest rates unchanged for now, Fed Chair Jerome Powell hig ...

The Investment Opportunity of The Silent Threat in Your Water Imagine this: It’s a crisp Saturday morning, and you’re sipping coffee from your favorite mug, brewed with water from your kitchen tap. Your kids are playing in the backyard, splashing in a kiddie pool filled from the garden hose. Later, you’ll head to the grocery store, picking up packaged snacks coated to resist g ...

Europe has a materials problem. And it’s getting bigger. As the green transition accelerates and clean tech ramps up, the EU’s demand for critical raw materials is set to skyrocket. Think, for example, of nickel, cobalt and manganese — the lifeblood of batteries, but also the future of mobility, energy, defense, and industrial competitiveness. Yet while Europe formulates plans ...

In August 2024, the share price of Argenx touched 490 EUR. Today, at 502 EUR, one could argue that the stock is essentially flat year-over-year. In early 2025, the stock reached a peak of 658 EUR. However, on 8th May, the stock lost 10.9% on huge volume (129 mln EUR traded on Euronext alone) following the publication of 1Q results (with an intraday low of 467.90 EUR or -14.3%). ...

Insurance is not the most exciting business, but insurers are a key part of the financial system. Below we take a look at some of Europe’s leading players and why boring is good.   Insurers have a long history … Most insurers have a long history. The oldest insurance company in the world – Hamburger Feuerkasse – was founded in 1676 and provided fire insurance. Today’s bigges ...