Anyone fretting about how fragile global financial markets might be in 2026 got an early and robust response from investors who have lost none of their giddiness.

Just days into the new year, US President Donald Trump staged a de facto coup by sending his forces to capture Venezuela’s president in a lightning military strike.

A protester outside the US embassy in Madrid holds a caricature of President Donald Trump drinking Venezuelan oil.Credit: AFP

The military action promises to transform the security of America’s oil supplies, but risks have multiplied after Trump gleefully opened this geopolitical Pandora’s box.

Not even Trump’s threat to seize control of Greenland, potentially unravelling NATO and the rules-based order that has maintained global stability since World War II, could prevent US sharemarkets from hitting record highs last week.

The VIX index, a widely watched measure of expected market volatility, remains low.

Part of the reason investors are happy to shrug off events that would normally send markets into meltdown is their fascination with AI’s overwhelming dominance of any investment conversation across the globe.

AI will need a lot more than hot air – and soaring chip sales – to sustain its........

© The Sydney Morning Herald