In the second edition of the Long and Short of it Ian is again joined by Aoifinn Devitt of The Fiftyfaces Podcast. They discuss a month that was filled with salacious scandal, Davos drama, AI acrobatics and contained at least one happy engagement.

This inaugural episode of The Long and Short of It with Ian McKnight kicks off with a reflection on a news-filled Christmas period where geopolitics started the year in explosive fashion and markets started to digest the aftermath.

Today's episode features Aoifinn Devitt, Senior Investment Advisor at Moneta, as a guest and we discuss topics as diverse as the impact of geopolitics, UK growth, interest rates and the need for the triumph of hope over nihilism!

We conduct a health check on US equity markets, looking at valuations and of course the Mag 7, tracing their fortunes along the course of the year, and check in on how stocks such as Tesla have forged their own path and how the "average may lie" when it comes to both earning expectations and returns.