Economic and market insight
Review of the week
Review of the week: The money eraser
Inflation can often seem an abstract concept. Not lately, though: everyone is keenly aware of soaring prices. Is inflation finally starting to drop?
Read time: 8 mins
Review of the week: Expectations vs reality
There’s a disconnect between how everyone feels and how stock markets are moving. Meanwhile, the US debt ceiling looms ever larger.
Read time: 8 mins
Review of the week: A very British coronation
A King is crowned and most of England went to the polls last week. Coming up is a Bank of England rate hike and an update for American inflation.
Read time: 7 mins
Review of the week: Banking eagle, hawked
A regional bank caught up in the March banking crisis has been forcibly sold by an American regulator. Hopefully this marks the end of the chapter.
Read time: 9 mins
Review of the week: Markets on edge as earnings season picks up pace
Investors are fearful of an earnings recession as reporting season steams ahead. Meanwhile, China’s first-quarter GDP estimate suggests its recovery is proving uneven.
Read time: 7 mins
Review of the week: The cost of drama
Markets are riven over weighty questions about the economic strength of our households and businesses clashing with higher living costs, and all the while lurks the menace of unknown consequences created by a rapidly changed world.
Read time: 8 mins
Review of the week: The world has changed
Money was easy to come by in the 2010s, for businesses, households and governments. With interest rates now much higher, hard decisions loom.
Read time: 7 mins
Review of the week: Back on track?
Stocks and bonds ended the month – and first quarter –nearing the top ends of the trading ranges in place since late last year. But there’s still much uncertainty about the inflation and growth outlook, particularly if energy prices start rising again.
Read time: 6 mins
Review of the week: The fear bug strikes again
Strong gains for Europe’s banks last week were reversed by Friday’s close. With the fear bug spreading, can we be confident it won’t strike again?
Read time: 7 mins
Review of the week: Poof, like magic
Banks are very powerful, but very fragile. That’s because they are dependent on people and their ability to believe.
Read time: 9 mins
Review of the week: Move fast and break
When banks fail they do so suddenly and the shock can create panic that spreads trouble to other lenders. That’s why US regulators have stepped in swiftly and unambiguously.
Read time: 9 mins
Review of the week: The bank of mum and dad
UK central bankers fall into an age-old parenting trap while talking to investors. Also, we look at the differences between official statistics and new ‘real-time’ series.
Read time: 9 mins
Peak China? It’s been and gone
Peak China? That’s the question raised in the latest edition of the Economist. Rathbones head of asset allocation Oliver Jones summarises why we think the days of super-charged Chinese growth are over.
Read time: 3 mins
Artificial returns?
The resilience of stock markets in the face of a banking crisis and potential recession is perplexing many investors – Rathbone Global Opportunities fund manager James Thomson included. He wonders whether the promise of AI might have something to do with it.
Read time: 2 mins
A step change for the UK?
It’s not just high-street shoppers who are getting more cost-conscious. Investors too are focusing more on how much value they’re getting for their money. Rathbone Income Fund co-manager Alan Dobbie asks whether this could signal a step-change for UK stocks.
Read time: 4 mins
Olyniaeth – it’s Welsh for succession
The market to supply new-fangled electronics for tomorrow’s smarter, cleaner cars has captivated head of multi-asset investments David Coombs for several years. But in a costlier world, could there also be a resurgence in keeping older, dirtier, yet more economical, vehicles running for longer?
Read time: 4 mins
Three reasons to stick with investment grade corporate bonds
Last month’s banking sector volatility rattled investor confidence in some bank bonds. But, as fixed income fund manager Stuart Chilvers argues, there’s still a compelling case for investing in higher-quality corporate bonds.
Read time: 3 mins
The world has changed
Failing lenders bring back memories of the dark days of 2008 and 2009. Rathbones head of multi-asset investments David Coombs explains why he thinks a global financial crisis is unlikely, but notes how technology has made banking easier for customers and harder for bankers.
Read time: 4 mins
21st Century rumour mill
Work intrudes on head of multi-asset investments David Coombs’s vacation time as Silicon Valley Bank collapses. He marvels at just how fast information – and misinformation – can spread and suggests social media may be a risk to financial stability.
Read time: 5 mins
A tale of two wars
Decades of trade between the US and China boosted living standards considerably in both nations, but their relationship has been fraying for some time. Rathbones head of multi-asset investments David Coombs believes this unravelling is keeping inflation elevated.
Read time: 4 mins
Sustaining sustainability
As the hard slog of winter drags on, sustainable multi-asset investment specialist Rahab Paracha considers whether ESG issues and sustainable investing can sustain their strong momentum this year.
Read time: 5 mins
Back to the cycle
The era of virtually zero percent interest rates is over. Rathbones head of multi-asset investments David Coombs believes that means a return to boom and bust, and he outlines which businesses are most at risk.
Read time: 4 mins
Guarding your assets
Watching the Super Bowl in the wee hours of the morning makes senior multi-asset investment specialist Craig Brown misty eyed for his days playing guard somewhere deep in Essex and the past. It’s also a good reminder that not all gridiron players – or investments – are built for the same jobs.
Read time: 5 mins
What a time to join
Our (sort of) new Rathbone Funds chief investment officer Tom Carroll joined us as a decade-long economic world order was ending with a bang. Did he have to search under the desks for his fund managers?
Read time: 4 mins