It’s a crazy world out there, we know. Asset prices are always zig-zagging back and forth, volatility spikes and subsides, liquidity is abundant and then suddenly nowhere to be found.
But here at Quartz, we’ve got your back. Now that year is halfway over, here’s a list of a few of the best-performing assets to help you make sense of what just happened.
These were the five best trades of the last six months, in our view.
1. Chinese stocks
China’s economy is famously slowing down. But as the People’s Bank of China has cut interest rates four times since November to kickstart faster growth, its stock markets have really taken off. The Shanghai Composite index is up more than 30% through the first half and the Shenzhen A Share index has risen nearly 75%. Those stellar numbers come despite signs that the rally is losing momentum. A recent slide shrank the Shanghai Composite index’s market value by roughly the equivalent of the entire of the Spanish stock market.
The source of the stock surge: leverage from investors, leverage from the brokerages themselves, and Chinese government’s recent habit of cheering on the rally.(paywall). No one knows if Chinese stocks will continue their recent tumble. But if investors got in early enough—and have gotten out safely—they’re probably too busy celebrating to care.
2. Gasoline
This time last year gas prices began their initial descent into five-year lows, as it became clear that OPEC decided that it had had enough of bubbling shale production in the US. Saudi Arabia boosted oil production, helping to crater crude prices. And with lower oil prices, came lower gas prices.
The oil price decline has petered out. Benchmark Brent crude prices are only up 13% since the start of the year. But US gasoline futures have surged nearly 40%, thanks in part to a series of refinery outages (paywall) that have kept supplies tight in several key states, such as California. And though gasoline is far less expensive than it was a year ago, the price of the pump is rising fast.
That’s bad if you were hoping cheap gas would fuel consumer spending, but great if you’ve been pumping up your portfolio gains.
3. Buying Swiss francs with euros
One of the biggest shocks in monetary policy didn’t come from the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, or the Bank of Japan (despite its best attempt). No, that honor goes to the Swiss National Bank.
Back in January, the SNB decided to scrap the Swiss franc’s peg to the euro, and the franc immediately shot 20% higher against its former partner. The move caught most investors by surprise, with firms like JP Morgan reaping huge windfalls and others like Citi licking their wounds.
At the same time, the ECB finally started its bond-buying program, surprising nobody and weakening the euro. Combined, the two events mean that anyone who had the foresight to buy francs with euros at the beginning of the year can probably use them on a very nice ski trip for themselves.
4. Gilt-y pleasures
Speaking of central banks, the Bank of England has been hanging in the Fed’s shadow for months now. It, too, cut interest rates to nearly zero and bought a bunch of bonds to keep them that way. Its economy is also jostling towards normalcy. Thus, it’s been (somewhat unsuccessfully) laying out the groundwork for its own interest rake hike for months now, a development that would surely hurt UK government debt. (When interest rates rise, bond prices fall.)
Nevertheless, the ECB’s tardy take-up of quantitative easing has thrown a wrench into those plans, especially because inflation remains so low. And because bond yields were so low on the mainland, investors came rushing over to buy British debt. And though the British 10-year has undergone its fair share of climbs and clobberings (paywall), the Barclays index tracking the so-called 10-year Gilt is up 8% in sterling terms since the end of 2014.
5. Watching Netflix soar
Netflix has been a juggernaut in the S&P 500 this year, and its market value has surpassed other corporate heavyweights like Yahoo and CBS, which illustrates how much of a force it has been in transforming entertainment industry. The stock itself is up nearly 92% in the first half alone. The next highest stock in the US benchmark index is insurance company Cigna with a 57% advance.
One of the big stories around its tremendous growth; the company has been racking up new subscribers in the US and abroad, and about a third of the company’s subscriber base is international. But it’s popular with investors, too. So popular that it decided to split its stock 7-for-1 in order to make its shares more accessible. Hedge fund investor Carl Icahn was pleased, deciding his work at the company was done and cashing out what was left of his stake.