Economic and market insight
Review of the week
Review of the week: Skip, hop and jump?
All eyes are on the direction of central bank monetary policy. After expecting a policy pivot, investors now think the most likely outcome is a skip in tightening followed by a hop to pause mode before a jump to interest rate cuts.
5 mins
Review of the week: The great retirement
The UK labour market is in a huge state of flux. The population is ageing fast, people are retiring earlier and changes to immigration are leading to a lack of ‘unskilled’ workers.
7 mins
Review of the week: Monetary mea culpa
UK inflation simply won’t drop as fast as everyone hopes, leading the Bank of England to admit it needs a new model. Meanwhile, a compromise is proposed to kick the can on the US debt ceiling till after the next election.
6 mins
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
7 mins
The Abominable Bond Men
The UK government has shattered against a new generation of bond vigilantes. Halloween came early this year, notes multi-asset fund manager Will McIntosh-Whyte.
4 mins
Schrödinger's assets
Property funds are stinging investors once again because of a run of redemptions. Senior multi-asset investment specialist Craig Brown notes their net asset values are in a happy superposition right up till the point they get measured.
5 mins
Being green is in fashion
Fashion companies are falling over themselves to show they are improving their questionable sustainability credentials. Yet some of their marketing has got ahead of realities of the shop floor, notes sustainable multi-asset investment specialist Rahab Paracha.
5 mins
How to lose friends and alienate people
The UK government has given a textbook example of how not to deliver a message. Our multi-asset portfolios fund manager David Coombs picks over the wreckage and finds coherence, but poor execution.
5 mins
How many possible futures are you prepared for?
The world has fundamentally changed, argues Rathbone Income Fund co-manager Carl Stick. Higher interest rates and higher inflation mean that cash earned today rather than tomorrow has become much more valuable.
4 mins
Treat yourself
London has been extremely busy in a sun-drenched summer, yet a difficult winter looms. Sustainable multi-asset investment specialist Rahab Paracha asks whether luxury brands are a counterintuitive way to invest defensively in a recession.
4 mins
Reasons to be cheerful
With a tough winter approaching, our head of multi-asset investments David Coombs has dusted off the barbell. All the exercise has made him chirpier than usual.
4 mins
Tomorrow Never Knows
After a hard day’s night investing clients’ cash, our head of multi-asset investments David Coombs has neglected his own savings. Yet given the Bank of England’s tough stance, are there now savings rates worth shouting about?
3 mins
My Generation (Z)
If you have to ask what’s going on, you’re too old. Lucky for you, our sustainable multi-asset investment specialist Rahab Paracha is (almost) young enough to get down with the kids.
5 mins
Snubscriptions
With inflation running hot, senior multi-asset investment specialist Craig Brown takes stock of his forgotten subscriptions.
4 mins
Peak inflation?
As our head of multi-asset investments David Coombs balks at the cost of a couple of cups of coffee, he explains why he thinks inflation may be getting close to peaking.
3 mins
Can cloud computing withstand the heat?
With inflation as hot as London in July, the technology sector has been buffeted more than most. But equity analyst Ben Derber explains why cloud computing may prove to be especially resilient.
2 mins