Last week, the European Commission launched its Vision for Agriculture and Food. While some may – rightly or wrongly – criticize aspects of its environmental ambitions, one promising element stands out: a circular economy solution that benefits people, planet, and profit alike.  The Fertilizer Paradox  Agriculture in the European Union relies heavily on fertilizers. These ca ...

U.S. consumer confidence saw its sharpest decline since 2021, driven by concerns over proposed tariffs and rising inflation expectations In February, the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index recorded its sharpest monthly decline since August 2021. The optimism sparked by Trump’s election has now fully faded, leaving consumers less confident than they were before the pr ...

Belgium: Where Surrealism Isn’t Just Art, It’s Policy Nourished by the exquisite art of René Magritte and Paul Delvaux, Belgium is often seen as the country of surrealism. Some even question whether Belgium is a real country at all. Social welfare is generous, most Belgians enjoy a high standard of living, and yet they seem to bask in an everlasting winter of discontent. Belg ...

This week's Fiery Flash shines the spotlight on Alibaba Group, which has seen a remarkable upswing in its stock price, hitting a three-year high. Over the past week, Alibaba’s shares jumped 11.6%, pushing its year-to-date  gains to an impressive 68.1%. The rally comes amid a series of positive catalysts: strong quarterly earnings, aggressive AI investments, and strategic partne ...

European equities have climbed more than 10% since the start of the year, outpacing US equity indices—a surprising development given the region's persistent economic stagnation and geopolitical uncertainties.     Several factors have fueled this strong year-to-date performance. Historically low European equity valuations, especially in contrast to expensive US stocks, have ...

This week, the publication of Ortelius’ long-awaited report on the socio-economic impact of a Flemish contribution to the Einstein Telescope received significant media attention. As interpretations varied widely across publications, this article aims to contextualize key findings and highlight their relevance for Flanders.     The Einstein Telescope is an advanced gravitat ...

“The days of principles are gone” - Prince Schwarzenberg discussing the end of the Metternich era in a letter to his employer, Austrian Ambassador Baron Hubner in 1851) “It is the rational optimist who fails, the irrational optimist who succeeds, for he is ready to smash the whole universe for the sake of itself.” - GK Chesterton   The Geopolitical Risk Premium In the after ...

The 30 largest technology companies listed in Hong Kong have surged more than 15% since the start of the year, driven largely by the release of Deepseek’s cost-effective AI model. This development has raised questions about the high capital expenditures in AI of US Big Tech firms, prompting a shift in investor sentiment away from US technology stocks in favor of Chinese tech eq ...

Last week, we provided a high-level analysis of the new federal government agreement, highlighting four major points. Today, we look at one specific aspect: climate policies. While the overall targets remain unchanged, new policies have been introduced, including adjustments to the fiscal treatment of plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) used as company cars. Since 2023, the tax de ...

The new government agreement led by Bart De Wever brings several significant changes for investors—and not all of them pleasant. In this article, we discuss the adjustments that could impact your investment portfolio. We focus on the simplification of the tax on stock exchange transactions (TOB), the annual tax on securities accounts, adjustments for investment companies under ...