{"id":48114,"date":"2026-03-15T11:35:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T11:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/15\/altaf-kassam-us-stocks-may-not-snap-back-after-the-iran-war\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T11:35:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T11:35:13","slug":"altaf-kassam-us-stocks-may-not-snap-back-after-the-iran-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/15\/altaf-kassam-us-stocks-may-not-snap-back-after-the-iran-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Altaf Kassam: US stocks may not ‘snap-back’ after the Iran war"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As the conflict in the Middle East continues to roil global markets, investors are searching for signs of a turnaround.<\/p>\n

However, today on CNBC<\/a>, Altaf Kassam \u2013 EMEA Head of Investment Strategy and Research at State Street Global Advisors \u2013 provided a sobering reality check.<\/p>\n

While historical precedents suggest that markets often rally before a conflict officially concludes, Kassam warned that the current geopolitical and economic landscape \u2013 defined by a direct military confrontation with Iran \u2013 may not follow the traditional “snap-back” script.<\/p>\n

Instead, a persistent \u201crisk premium\u201d is expected to hang over US stocks long after the guns fall silent.<\/p>\n

The \u2018fear tax\u2019 on US stocks to stick around<\/h2>\n

Kassam said financial markets are inherently forward-looking \u2013 often pricing in the conclusion of a war well before the final ceasefire.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn previous conflicts, what we\u2019ve seen is that markets discount the end of the war<\/a> well before any military conflict has ended,\u201d he noted, adding this phenomenon could repeat if investors see a clear diplomatic path forward.<\/p>\n

Kassam specifically highlighted the role of the White House, saying, \u201cit seems clear that President Trump is preparing some off-ramp, and when he says the war is over, the markets might start to have some relief rally.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, he cautioned that while a celebratory headline rally is possible, it should not be confused with a return to the low-volatility environment seen in previous years.<\/p>\n

Kassam doesn\u2019t see a V-shaped recovery ahead<\/h2>\n

One of the most striking aspects of Kassam\u2019s analysis is the belief that the \u201crisk premium\u201d currently embedded in US stock prices will not simply evaporate once hostilities cease.<\/p>\n

Unlike the \u201cV-shaped\u201d recoveries typical of the last decade, State Street anticipates a much stickier environment for risk in 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we believe is that the risk premium that has started to be baked in will stay there,\u201d Kassam explained, adding that \u201cmarkets won’t snap back as quickly as they fell, and we won’t see a clean mean reversion.\u201d<\/p>\n

What this means is: the structural damage to global energy supply chains and the heightened threat of asymmetric retaliation have fundamentally shifted the floor for valuations, leaving investors to grapple with higher costs of capital and lower price-to-earnings multiples for the foreseeable future<\/p>\n

The looming shadow of stagflation<\/h2>\n

The most notable threat to the long-term health of the stock market, according to Kassam, is the potential for a \u201cregime change\u201d in the global economy toward stagflation.<\/p>\n

As oil prices hover near $100 per barrel and the Strait of Hormuz<\/a> remains a flashpoint, the twin pressures of stagnant growth and rising prices create a toxic cocktail for \u201crisky assets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kassam warned that \u201cthe worst-case scenario… is stagflation, low growth and increasing inflation.\u201d If the global economy enters this regime, the era of easy gains through passive index investing may be over.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be a much tougher market to trade,\u201d he concluded, signalling that active management and a focus on defensive sectors like energy-intensive alternatives or aerospace may be the only way to navigate this complex new reality.<\/p>\n

The post Altaf Kassam: US stocks may not 'snap-back' after the Iran war<\/a> appeared first on Invezz<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the conflict in the Middle East continues to roil global markets, investors are searching for signs of a turnaround. However, today on CNBC, Altaf Kassam \u2013 EMEA Head of Investment Strategy and Research at State Street Global Advisors \u2013 provided a sobering reality check. While historical precedents suggest that markets often rally before a <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48115,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-48114","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-investing"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}