How to Value (Tech) Stocks Traditional ways to value companies (such as multiples, sum-of-the-parts, discounted cash flows…) already existed long before Econopolis was founded. However, for emerging subindustries (like software SaaS), these tools often fail spectacularly. A young tech company often reinvests every dollar of revenue back into growth, resulting in negative earni ...
Can the Amazon breathe life into climate diplomacy?
From 10 to 21 November 2025, world leaders will gather in Belém, Brazil, for the 30th UN Climate Conference (COP30). The choice of venue, at the mouth of the Amazon, gives both symbolic and practical weight to a crucial moment for global climate diplomacy. Ten years after the Paris Agreement, countries are expected to show whether ambition can still match reality. The setting h ...
#MacroFriday: The Continued Downtrend in German Industrial Production
I would prefer not to touch upon this sore spot, but unfortunately the current environment leaves me with no other choice. Despite some fragile survey-based optimism about the European industry, industrial production continues to trend lower in the eurozone. Last week in our MacroFriday, we discussed industrial production in the US, which showed a decade without growth once w ...
Resource Nationalism On The Rise - Part 2: Unprecedented Government Intervention
A couple of years ago, I wrote an article about ‘Resource Nationalism’ in which I talked about a record deployment of clean energy technologies which were propelling unprecedented demand growth in the so-called critical minerals markets. As a result of this, these energy transition minerals, which used to be a rather small segment of the market, had moved to centre stage in the ...
Do you have nuclear fusion on your bingo card?
Nuclear fusion is the holy grail for producing energy: virtually limitless clean energy without the waste or meltdown risk of fission. Besides from making reaching climate goals a lot easier, it also provides a solution to the recently more prominent question of energy security and independency. The latest headliness have made updated promises for this exiting new technology, y ...
The quiet power of proxy advisors: when outsourced governance becomes systemic risk
In the world of corporate governance, few actors are as influential (and as little understood) as proxy advisory firms. Companies like Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis have become de facto arbiters of shareholder democracy. Their recommendations can sway the outcomes of board elections, executive pay packages, and even major strategic decisions across gl ...
#MacroFriday: Made In America
Industrial Production in the US has barely risen since 2017, especially excluding high-tech. The blue line suggests little output growth in the broader manufacturing base once high-tech components are excluded. While consumer spending has clearly grown since then, this suggest the continued offshoring of industrial production, something the current US administration is actively ...
Why “Self-Sufficiency” will spark more climate action than “Moral Ambitions”
Three years ago, together with Geert Noels and Yanaika Denoyelle, I co-authored “Climate Shock”, a book in which we outlined twenty climate solutions for Belgium and quantified their CO₂ impact. Since then, the world has changed profoundly, and so has the way we approach climate policy. Public interest in climate issues has declined, and political support across Europe is far m ...
Who are the Real Champions?
Reminiscences of an analyst: the resurrection of the Belgian stock market Image generated by Gemini Beautiful Bel20 Year-to-date, the Bel20 net return index delivered a return of roughly 18%. That is almost as much as the Nasdaq composite (+22.8%) and better than the S&P 500 (+17%), excluding the 10% drop of the US dollar. Returns vary strongly amongst indices and with ...
#MacroFriday: Boom in Infrastructure Spending Behind the AI Revolution
After last week’s research trip to Boston, where we focused on developments in automatization, robotics and of course AI, we dedicate this week’s MacroFriday to the remarkable surge in construction spending in US manufacturing related to this fields. Although reshoring manufacturing to U.S. soil might be the current talk of the town, these developments have actually been under ...