Morgan Stanley market views, organized for advisors.

Geopolitical risk returned to the forefront in February, as the Iran conflict sparked renewed volatility and pushed investors toward higher-quality assets.

Credit and securitized markets reacted with widening spreads in some segments, while areas perceived as safer saw stronger demand....

AI is accelerating creative destruction across markets, but the key risk for investors is not disruption alone; it is disruption colliding with leverage to create contagion.

Today’s backdrop looks more like dispersion than systemic stress, with AI repricing specific sectors...

Industrial real estate is entering a new phase where rents have softened, but the cost to build has continued to climb, leaving market rents roughly 20% below replacement-cost levels.

This gap has already choked off new development, with construction starts...

Geopolitics moved to the forefront in late February and early March as U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, followed by Iranian retaliation and tanker attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, pushed oil prices higher and briefly reshaped risk sentiment.

Markets...

The recent Supreme Court decision striking down global tariffs under emergency powers, followed by the rapid reimposition of duties under a different statute, signals a more discretionary and politically driven U.S. approach to global economic engagement.

Trade, immigration and capital...