How high can markets go?
股市能涨到多高？
A golden age for stockmarkets is drawing to a close
股市的黄金时代即将结束
Share prices may be surging, but even AI is unlikely to drive a repeat of the past decade’s performance
股价可能还在飙升，但即便是人工智能也不太可能让股市重现过去十年的辉煌
- surge 形容物价、利润、数量等“急剧上升、飞涨、激增”，多指在一段稳定或平静的时期内发生的短暂突然的大幅度增加（参见：小词详解 | surge）
STOCKMARKETS TEND to rise gradually; recently they have soared. American stocks are up by 21% since the end of October and stand roughly 5% above their vertiginous peak in January 2022. On February 22nd Europe’s equities set a new record for the first time in two years. India has been enjoying a multi-year boom as optimism about its economy abounds. Even Japanese stocks—a byword for stagnation—have at last exceeded the level they reached in 1989 before a decades-long slump. It has been an extraordinary run. Since 2010, the S&P 500 index of American stocks has returned 11% a year in real terms.
股市通常是逐步上涨的，近年却是一路狂飙。自去年10月底以来，美国股市上涨了21%，比2022年1月令人目眩的峰值还要高出约5%。2月22日，欧洲股市两年来首次创下新高。而在印度，投资者对经济的乐观情绪已经令股市连涨了好几年。就连被视为“停滞”代名词的日本股市也终于超过了1989年的水平（那一年之后它便经历了长达数十年的低迷）。这一轮上涨非同寻常。自2010年以来，美股标普500指数的实际年回报率达到了11%。
- soar 急升；猛增
- vertiginous 引起眩晕的
- byword （某种品质或特征的）代表人，代表事物，典范
- stagnation 停滞、萧条、滞止；迟钝
- slump （价格、价值、数量等）骤降，猛跌，锐减
These profits are all the more striking given what markets have had to contend with. The age of free money has been followed by two years of interest-rate rises—and even now bond investors are betting against imminent cuts. A trade war is raging between America and China; actual wars are raging in Ukraine, the Middle East and parts of Africa. Around the world, governments are turning away from free markets and globalisation in favour of industrial policy and protectionism. If all that has not extinguished this rally, whatever will?
鉴于市场遭遇了一系列麻烦，这样的利润水平愈显惊人。廉价资本时代之后是两年的利率上涨——即使到了现在债券投资者还在押注利率短期内不会下调。中美贸易战正酣，乌克兰、中东和非洲部分地区则在真枪实弹地激战。纵观全球，各国政府正在放弃自由市场和全球化，转而支持产业政策和贸易保护主义。如果这一切都没能压制股市的这波反弹，那还有什么能做到呢？
- imminent 表示“即将发生的、临近的、迫近的、逼近的”，常指某个不好的或危险的事物正在威胁性地接近（参见：小词详解 | imminent）
- rage （暴风雨、战斗、争论等）猛烈地继续；激烈进行
