Welcome to Thoughts on the Market.

I'm Mike Wilson, Chief Investment Officer and Chief U.S. Equity

strategist for Morgan Stanley.

Along with my colleagues bringing you a variety of perspectives,

I'll be talking about the latest trends in the financial marketplace.

It's Monday, February 24th at 9 a.m. Eastern.

So let's get after it.

At the beginning of the year, I suggested we had likely entered an entirely new level of

financial repression that could be positive for certain

stocks and bonds during the first half of 2020.

More specifically, during 2019, Central Bankers decided to take monetary policy accommodation to a level of support

rarely seen outside the recessions or financial crises. Part of the justification for such

dramatic monetary policy was the sell-off in the fourth quarter of 2018 that led to a few

months of disruption to credit markets. Such just function in the credit markets

always get the attention of central bankers given the negative transmission

mechanism it can have to the real economy.

The other reason often used was the ongoing trade dispute between the US and China that weighed

on the global economy, leaving much of the manufacturing sectors in a recession.

With the signing of the Phase 1 trade deal in January,

however, there was new found hope and expectations

for manufacturing and trade to snap back this year.

But there was no withdrawal of the extraordinary monetary policy support.

...