The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that since the start of the Iran war, stock price volatility has obscured a broader trend: the decline of the valuation premium of U.S. stocks. The Globe's Jason Kirby writes that, for over a decade, U.S. stocks had traded at a premium to Canadian and global equities, driven by the impressive performance of U.S. tech giants and a resilient consumer economy. However, since October, the valuation premium for the S&P 500 has steadily narrowed relative to that of the S&P/TSX Composite Index and the S&P benchmark that tracks world equities excluding the U.S. Measured against Canadian and global stocks, that premium for U.S. equities is at its lowest level since 2020 and in line with where it was prior to the pandemic. The peak of American exceptionalism occurred after Donald Trump became president in late 2024. Following his "Liberation Day" tariff announcement in April, 2025, U.S. stocks saw a decline but rebounded thanks to renewed investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence, boosting the Magnificent Seven tech stocks. Even so, the performance of U.S. stocks lagged Canadian and global equities last year, and have continued to underperform this year.