Bits & Pieces
Edition #285 | 26/06/2026
Most traded | Markets & Macro | Consulting | Chart of the Week | British ETFs | Scalable News
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz wants to implement the Pension Commission’s reform proposals as a single package – a move that could spark serious political friction in Berlin. Speaking of friction, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced his resignation following a dramatic collapse in public support. We break down what that could mean for the British stock market. Meanwhile, things are equally dramatic at Accenture. The consulting giant has just suffered the worst trading day in its history. Has AI already upended the consulting business – or is Wall Street getting it wrong?
Note: The data refers to the ratio of purchases and sales of the 100 most traded stocks on Scalable Broker between 19/06/2026 and 25/06/2026.
In the spotlight: Linde
As one of the world's leading industrial gases companies, Linde also plays a key role in the space industry, supplying essential gases such as liquid oxygen and hydrogen for rocket propulsion. That exposure has reinforced UBS's bullish stance on the stock, with the bank reiterating its Buy rating. Linde shares are currently trading just shy of an all-time high.
Hype vs. market math
Markets are entering the phase where grand future narratives have to face a reality check. Whether it’s the SpaceX IPO, the cooling defence sector, or the extraordinary capital demands of the AI race, one theme is emerging everywhere: Euphoria is colliding with market math.
Fast-Tracked: SpaceX joins the major indices. SpaceX is taking the fast lane into global equity indices. FTSE has already added the stock, while MSCI will follow at today’s market close under its fast-track inclusion rules. Despite its astronomical valuation, the impact on broad global ETFs – such as the Scalable Xtrackers MSCI All Country World UCITS ETF – is expected to be negligible, at well below 0.1%. The reason? Indices are weighted by free float, and fewer than 5% of SpaceX shares are currently available for public trading.
Chain Reaction: Rheinmetall has fallen by 50% from its peak. Since reaching an all-time high above €2,000, Rheinmetall shares have been cut in half. Now, the cancellation of the F126 frigate programme is weighing on the planned IPO of Franco-German tank manufacturer KNDS, best known for the Leopard 2. Expected valuation estimates have already been reduced from €25 billion to around €15–18 billion. The catch: the German government intends to acquire 40% of the company before the listing, leaving only around 20% of the shares for the public – and retail investors are unlikely to receive an allocation in the IPO.
The Mega Deal: SK Hynix heads for Nasdaq. South Korean memory-chip champion SK Hynix is planning a secondary listing on Nasdaq. Rather than raising a little capital, the company is aiming to secure as much as $29 billion. The move highlights just how capital-intensive the race to dominate high-end AI memory chips has become.
A Free Hand for Fed Chair Warsh. Wall Street has interpreted recent comments by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as a signal that the Trump administration is prepared to give the Fed room to raise interest rates if necessary to bring inflation sustainably back under control.
Not dead yet
Accenture suffered the worst trading day in its history in mid-June, with the stock plunging by double digits. Shares are now down roughly two-thirds from their all-time high.
The immediate trigger was a lower full-year outlook and weaker-than-expected order intake. Wall Street's prevailing narrative has been swift and unforgiving: AI is automating coding, and the IT consulting business is dead.
Take a closer look, however, and a different picture emerges. The market may be confusing the slow adoption of AI across the real economy with a failure of AI itself.
Here’s why the sell-off could prove to be a classic contrarian opportunity:
- Large Corporations Aren't Start-ups: Markets had assumed Fortune 500 companies would integrate generative AI almost overnight. Reality has been far more complicated. Data privacy concerns, legacy IT systems, and cautious corporate budgets are slowing adoption. Accenture's weaker guidance reflects this delayed rollout – not the end of the AI trend.
- The Consulting Paradox: The more complex, time-consuming, and error-prone AI transformation becomes for traditional businesses, the greater the need for outside expertise. As the global market leader, Accenture is well positioned to benefit from exactly that dynamic.
- A Historically Low Valuation: Following the sell-off, the stock is trading at roughly 11 times earnings. If Accenture continues to generate dependable multi-billion-dollar cash flows, that valuation looks remarkably inexpensive.
Bottom Line: Once again, the market appears to have lost patience. For long-term investors, Accenture's correction may represent less of a warning sign and more of a compelling value opportunity.
Capital flows where it is treated well. And Europe must compete for every investment dollar on the global stage.
Jenny Johnson, CEO of Franklin Templeton, speaking on the Handelsblatt Invest Podcast
The Cost of Waiting
MSCI AC World: Monthly investment of 2% of average gross earnings since 2000
Source: MSCI (index performance net of a 0.2% annual TER), Destatis (gross earnings), Scalable Chief Economist
Thirteen members, 150 hours of meetings, and 33 recommendations for reforming Germany’s public pension system – that is the outcome of the Pension Commission appointed by the federal government, which presented its final report this week. Among its key proposals are linking the retirement age to life expectancy, abolishing early retirement at 63, reinstating the sustainability factor, and introducing an equity-based pension system.
Following the Swedish model, part of future pension contributions could be invested by default in a broadly diversified global equity portfolio. As our calculation illustrates, that would be a long-overdue step toward greater economic common sense. Had Germany embraced the capital markets for retirement savings back in 2000 – as Sweden did – and invested 2% of the average monthly gross salary into the MSCI AC World Index, the portfolio would be worth more than €85,000 today. Remarkably, only around one quarter of that amount – just over €22,000 – would have come from contributions. The remaining three quarters would be the result of capital gains and reinvested dividends.
Before the power of compounding can help ease the pressure on Germany’s pension system, however, the commission’s proposals must first make their way through the coalition committee and be translated into legislation. In doing so, policymakers should avoid creating yet another layer of bureaucracy. Instead, they should build on the foundations already being laid through the new retirement investment account: a digital infrastructure for individual savings accounts combined with a focused, privately managed range of certified ETF-based investment solutions – simple, transparent, and fair.
A Revolving Door at Downing Street
It’s not just the London Eye that’s spinning these days. At the start of the week, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his resignation, putting the UK on course for its seventh prime minister in just ten years. The timing is symbolic. This week also marks the tenth anniversary of the Brexit referendum.
Meanwhile, the London stock market has proved remarkably resilient. Since the Brexit vote, the FTSE 100 has underperformed continental European equities – but that has less to do with political uncertainty than with the index’s sector composition. Technology – the market’s biggest winner in recent years – accounts for less than 1% of the FTSE 100. Instead, the index is dominated by traditional industries such as industrials, healthcare, consumer goods, energy, and mining. Global heavyweights including Shell, HSBC, AstraZeneca, Rolls-Royce, and Rio Tinto may be headquartered in the UK, but they generate only a small share of their revenues domestically. As a result, they are far less exposed to political developments at home than many investors assume. Combined with relatively attractive valuations, the FTSE 100 can therefore serve as a useful complement to global indices that are heavily concentrated in US technology stocks.
Another hallmark of the UK market is its strong dividend culture. Companies such as British American Tobacco and Unilever have long been known for generous shareholder payouts. A broader recovery in the domestic economy, however, would likely benefit the UK's mid-cap segment even more. The companies in the FTSE 250 were among the hardest hit by Brexit and therefore stand to gain the most if the home market regains momentum.
Product-Highlight
Megatrends, All in One
Ever since the SpaceX IPO, space has become one of the market's hottest investment themes. But analysts at Morningstar argue that the company is overhyped, overvalued, and overly dependent on Elon Musk. With more than 80% of the voting rights under his control, Musk can effectively dictate every major corporate decision – a concentration risk of cosmic proportions. So how can investors gain exposure to the space megatrend without taking on the volatility of a single stock like SpaceX?
The WisdomTree Megatrends UCITS ETF offers one solution. The fund combines some of the world's most powerful long-term investment themes in a single portfolio. With more than 800 stocks from 39 countries, it provides exposure to 19 megatrends – from space exploration and artificial intelligence to the energy transition and demographic change.
For investors particularly excited about the future of space, the ETF offers another important advantage: diversification. After all, the space boom is also a tech story. No rocket leaves the launch pad, and no satellite reaches orbit without an ecosystem of high-performance semiconductors, advanced data processing, and autonomous software. That means investors gain exposure not only to the future of space, but also to the long-term growth potential of AI and the broader technology sector.
Need Cash?
Selling investments simply because you need liquidity is rarely the best solution. It interrupts the power of compounding and can trigger unnecessary taxes. A smarter alternative is to borrow against your portfolio. That way, your investments remain fully invested and continue working for you while giving you access to cash when you need it. With Scalable Credit, you can now borrow up to €250,000 using your portfolio as collateral.
Editorial deadline: Friday, 7 a.m.
Sources: Scalable and dpa-AFX