Pretty much as was expected Donald Trump has declared his war almost over. Its not. It has destabilised the global economy. What might be roiled in its wake? One area to watch is how a liquidity default-storm in Private Credit could infect global bond and equity markets, causing a global market crisis.

Global disruption – how likely is it to end quickly? Trump’s objective was to install a regime that will do his bidding in Iran. The appointment of Khamenei v2.0, the lack of a clear opposition, or defectors, makes a swift closure increasingly less likely. Global markets are pricing for a long, destabilising war with rising inflationary and geopolitical volatility.

How swiftly the Iran conflict is resolved, and the Straits of Hormuz reopen, is critical for global markets. Whatever excuses are being bandied about to explain the US attack – it’s all about what new Administration emerges in Iran. Will it be prepared to deal with Trump on Trump’s terms, or will it choose to fight a long war of attrition?

Markets aren’t much concerned about Iran. US Military might is expected to prevail, cowing the Ayatollahs into acceptance of Trump’s maximalist demands. What could possibly go wrong? Trump is no student of history, and may not understand the gamut of military, logistical and geopolitical risks aligned against him.

The Russians have captured the FT, apparently! The headline that Gilts are about to crash because the Government will borrow more to increase defence spending is Pravda 101. The reality is Gilts should rally on increasing the strategic deterrence that defence spending will create.

The future will be set not just by the defence and deterrence discussions last weekend in Munich, but by how global markets react to competition. New Chinese AI drops from DeepSeek and Qwen may challenge US hyperscalers and challenge expectations of global demand and markets.  

There are times when the course of history takes on a momentum of its own, most often in periods of conflict around hegemonic change – as exist today. This year’s Munich Security Conference will address stressed and fractured global alliances – while markets should be figuring out how conflict risks have risen and potential outcomes worsened.

The threat board is looking crowded this morning. From UK political risk, escalating conflict risks, a possible credit burp and what happens next in unsustainable narratives – who knows what further No-See-Ums lurk in the background. Yet markets party on. What can possibly go wrong…..?

Catharsis is a marvellous thing. Reform and the Tories will duke it out for the British right, leaving Labour to get on with ever-so-slowly trying to fix Broken Britain – which could be evident by 2029. A great political battle is in prospect. Bring it on!

The frenetic pace of activity in Washington this week has left the commentariat stunned while dulling the market’s sensitivity to momentous events. Some of it is madness, while much of what Trump is doing makes curiously perverse sense – but what are the risks it all spectacularly unravels?