Record highs, meet a reality check
When stocks are sprinting to fresh peaks, nobody wants to hear the word “correction.” But the ECB’s vice-president just basically yelled it from the balcony, telling CNBC the risk is “quite elevated.” That’s not exactly the kind of vibe traders order with their morning espresso.
What’s making him nervous?
It’s not one thing, which is the annoying part. He flagged:
- Valuations: markets are already priced like everyone got the memo that nothing can go wrong
- The war in Iran: geopolitics loves to show up and ruin the party
- Private credit vulnerabilities: the sort of hidden risk that sounds boring right up until it isn’t
Why you should care
This is the kind of warning that doesn’t move markets by itself, but it can make investors a little more jumpy. If stocks are already expensive, any shock — oil, rates, credit stress, you name it — can turn a healthy pullback into a messier unwind.
Big picture: the message is simple, if not comforting — when everything looks perfect, the market tends to be one surprise away from remembering it’s not.