Finimize - 👋 See ya, US stocks

What’s going on here?

Bank of America’s latest fund manager survey showed that investors slashed their US stock allocations in March – by a record 40 percentage points.

What does this mean?

Just a month ago, fund managers had high hopes for US stocks. But with a seemingly endless stream of potential tariffs and policy changes flooding out of the Oval Office, folks aren’t so upbeat anymore. Nearly 70% of surveyed fund managers now think the post-election rally – which saw the S&P 500 and Nasdaq reach record highs – has run its course, believing that “US exceptionalism” has peaked.

Why should I care?

For markets: Investors are seeing… euro signs.

With US stocks expected to fall short of their self-inflicted high bar, fund managers are backing Europe’s contenders instead. In their droves too, with Germany – the region’s biggest economy – attracting the most attention. That’s largely because the country’s politicians have pledged to spend more on defense and infrastructure, with European companies expected to benefit from the splurge. In fact, a key indicator showed that investors were more optimistic about Germany in March than at any time since early 2022. Combine those projections with Europe’s relatively cheap stock prices and low interest rates, and you can see why investors have replaced their American dreams with European fantasies.

Zooming in: How the turntables…

Stateside stocks have outdone the rest of the world’s offerings for over a decade, justifying their stomach-turning prices. And while forecasts for the US economy are falling from high to moderate, they’re moving in the opposite direction elsewhere – including both Europe and China. That’s making investors rethink their long-held beliefs. In the US, tried-and-true value and defensive stocks have outperformed high-flying growth ones by around 10% this year, while European indexes have beaten American ones by some 20% – a departure from the norm all around.

What’s going on here?

BYD revealed an EV battery system that can charge a car in the time it takes to fill up a tank, silencing both skeptics and those who “don’t have time” for electric charging in one fell swoop.

What does this mean?

BYD’s new “super e-platform” can deliver 1,000 kilowatts of power in five minutes flat – enough for a 249-mile joyride. That’s thanks to a combination of flash-charging batteries, a high-speed motor, and next-generation power chips. BYD’s new tech is nearly four times faster than Tesla’s current iteration, making it – by far – the fastest EV charging system on the planet. And with BYD planning to roll out over 4,000 of them across China, investors sent the company’s stock up 4% to a record high.

Why should I care?

Zooming in: BYD giveth cost savings, then it taketh away.

BYD has stolen customers from competitors by producing budget-friendly models. And now that it can pair that with unrivaled charging speeds, the Chinese company could grow its market share outside of its home turf. But while the new systems might nix the charging anxiety that prevents prospective buyers from pulling the trigger, they might create some new, different obstacles. Power grids may struggle to keep up with all that super-fast charging, and it could cost manufacturers – and in turn, consumers – to upgrade EVs in order to use the tech.

The bigger picture: Ship China the gold medal.

The US and Europe might have rolled out tariffs in a bid to stop China from running away with the lead, but the likes of BYD and DeepSeek look to be helping the country speed ahead anyway. Chinese carmakers are beating global brands everywhere from Brazil to South Korea. And while Tesla still holds pole position in the charging ecosystem, it sure seems as though BYD’s super e-platform is about to change that.