2025-2026: This Is the New Global Trend
There’s a line in Taoist philosophy that has always grounded me:
the world moves in cycles, rhythms, and patterns.
Most people don’t move with those cycles.
They wait for someone to announce them.
They wait for a headline, a confirmation, a green light that never comes early enough.
They see the turn only after the turn has already happened, after the trend has already run 30–50%, after the edge is gone.
But in markets — especially global macro — the real edge comes from sensing the shift before it becomes obvious.
Not predicting.
Not guessing.
Just listening.
Seeing around corners isn’t clairvoyance — it’s alignment.
It’s hearing the rhythm underneath the noise and positioning yourself before the beat drops.
And right now, the rhythm of the market is shifting in a way that very few investors are prepared for.
International Leadership Isn’t a Fluke — It’s a Full Cycle Turning
If you only look at the S&P 500, you probably think everything is fine, stable, normal.
The U.S. is up around 15% this year, which is solid by any historical standard.
But that’s a single leaf, not the forest.
The forest — the global market — is telling a completely different story.
Look at international ETFs this year.
Not one country.
Not one outlier.
A cluster of leadership across multiple continents.
Chile up 50–60%
Brazil close to 50%
Colombia around 60%
Greece up nearly 70%
South Africa pushing 60%
Austria up over 50%
Ireland, Malaysia, Japan (hedged), Indonesia all comfortably positive
Latin America as a region exploding higher
This isn’t noise.
This is a regime.
Here’s your chart placeholder:
When leadership becomes this broad and this persistent, it’s not “diversification alpha” and it’s not “random outperformance.”
It’s the kind of global rotation that happens maybe once a decade — the same kind of rotation we saw in the early 2000s when commodities, EM, and international stocks dominated for years while the U.S. lagged.
This is what Taoism means when it talks about cycles: when the energy of one sector, one region, one system reaches maturity and something new begins to rise.
The U.S. doesn’t have to collapse for this to play out.
It just needs to be less strong than the rest of the world — and we’re already seeing that unfold.
I think this international outperformance continues into next year, especially as global liquidity shifts and hard assets take center stage.
Gold, Silver, and Miners Are Not Just Rallying — They’re Surfing the Liquidity Tide
People keep asking why gold is breaking to new highs.
Why silver is finally waking up.
Why miners are doubling, tripling, and outperforming every major equity sector.
The short answer: liquidity.
The long answer: the yield curve.
We’ve begun a bull steepening — the kind that historically marks the start of a new economic cycle, new liquidity flows, and new leadership in hard assets.
Here’s where to place that chart:
When the yield curve steepens from deeply inverted levels, it signals a few things:
The worst of the tightening cycle is behind us.
Liquidity begins seeping back into the system.
Long-duration assets (like bonds) struggle.
Real assets — metals, miners, commodities — thrive.
This is why gold is ripping.
This is why silver is waking up.
This is why gold miners have been one of the best-performing sectors on the planet.
Add one more layer: seasonality.
Gold and silver historically perform exceptionally well from late November through early Q1 — a quiet but powerful tailwind that most traders ignore.
When you stack liquidity + seasonality + trend + relative strength, you’re not guessing anymore.
You’re simply listening to the rhythm the market is already playing.
This trend should continue into next year, especially as global central banks ease, the curve continues to normalize, and capital rotates toward hard assets and EM currencies.
Energy vs Bonds — The Jaws That Keep Opening
If you want a clean visual of the global macro story in a single picture, it’s this:
Energy is rising.
Long bonds are sinking.
And the spread between them keeps widening.
Here’s the placeholder for that chart:
Traders love to argue that “the jaws always close eventually.”
And that’s true — eventually they do.
But “eventually” is not a strategy, and it certainly isn’t a timing tool.
Right now, the jaws aren’t closing — they’re widening.
Energy continues to flex.
Refiners are exploding higher.
Global demand indicators are improving.
And TLT is still stuck in a long-term downtrend.
This widening spread is not random.
It’s reflecting the same rhythm the rest of the market is showing:
International equity leadership
Commodity strength
Metal strength
Liquidity improving
Yield curve steepening
Everything is pointing toward a world where real assets outperform financial assets.
Energy is part of that.
Metals are part of that.
EM is part of that.
The U.S. no longer being the default leader is part of that.
Cycles aren’t subtle if you allow yourself to see them.
Seeing Around Corners Isn’t Prediction — It’s Alignment
This is where Taoist philosophy becomes the perfect lens for trading.
Most investors are constantly wrestling with the market.
They try to bend it to their will.
They predict, force, react, overtrade, and cling to old narratives long after they’ve stopped being relevant.
But Taoism flips the script.
You don’t force the river.
You float with it.
You don’t control the wind.
You adjust the sail.
You don’t demand clarity.
You move with what’s present.
Seeing around corners comes from learning to quiet the noise, ignore the ego, and listen to the market’s underlying rhythm.
It’s the difference between reacting and aligning.
Right now, the rhythm of this market is not subtle:
International is leading.
The U.S. is fine but not leading.
The yield curve steepening is feeding liquidity.
Gold and silver are ripping.
Miners are trending.
Energy is outperforming.
TLT is weak.
Hard assets and global cyclicals are waking up.
These aren’t conflicting signals — they’re a unified theme.
A single rhythm.
And those who feel this rhythm early — before the headlines announce it — are the ones who make the most from it.
The Beat Has Already Dropped — Most Investors Are Still Waiting for Permission
The global cycle has already turned.
You don’t need a PhD in economics to see it.
You just need to stop fighting last year’s trade and start listening to the structure of this year’s.
The Taoists would say this moment calls for non-resistance — letting go of the need for certainty and accepting the direction the world is already moving in.
The markets don’t need your prediction.
They need your alignment.
The rhythm is clear:
International leadership is strong and broad.
Precious metals are in a new structural uptrend.
The yield curve is steepening from deeply inverted levels.
Energy is asserting itself again.
Long bonds remain stuck in a secular downtrend.
Liquidity is shifting globally, not just in the U.S.
The beat has already dropped.
Most investors are still staring at the DJ booth waiting for someone to tell them it’s okay to dance.
But the traders who see around corners?
They’re already on the floor.
And they’ve been moving with the rhythm for months.
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Nice one 🙂