Second Quarter 2023 – Summary
Central banks have spent the last year or so pushing interest rates higher at their fastest pace for decades in the face of an inflation shock. Cracks were exposed in several large US regional banks which saw regulators step in to protect depositors amidst a flight of both confidence and cash. This sparked a wave […]
Second Quarter 2023 – Market Outlook
Sitting on the conveyor belt of time January saw markets on good form. The nasty 2022 was in the rear-view mirror and an early dose of optimism was bubbling up to the surface, driven by the feeling that central banks were coming to the end of their rate rising cycle and that inflation would be […]
Market Returns – a whistle-stop tour of some of the movers and shakers during the quarter
The chart shows the returns in local currency across a cross sample of major indices. The table below shows Investment Association sector average returns broken down by asset class and geography, this time in sterling. The US dollar was strong in 2022 vs. sterling, yen and euro but there has been a step change in […]
Banking under stress: A reminder of yesteryear, not a repeat of history
After such a turbulent 2022, 2023 had been feeling a little more sedate and peaceful until financial cracks began emerging in the banking system as a consequence of central banks raising rates at their fastest pace for decades. The events that unfolded during March, saw a number of US regional bank failures and ongoing questions […]
UK: Back on the front foot?
To great fanfare, the FTSE 100 surpassed an index level of 8000 during the last quarter, reaching a new index high and prompting a mixture of headlines, ranging from the soothsaying “When will it hit 9000?” to those questioning “Will it still stay at its highs?”. The FTSE 100 hit 7000 in March 2015; a […]
Summary
2022 was a very challenging year. Central banks spent the year pushing interest rates higher at their fastest pace for decades in the face of an inflation shock, partly driven by an excessive post-pandemic stimulus and second, by the rise in energy and food costs exacerbated by the war in Ukraine. By the end of […]
Labour isn’t working
The strapline from the famous Conservative Party poster ran in advance of the 1979 election, showed a queue snaking outside an unemployment office. The election followed the Winter of Discontent, characterised by widespread strikes, unions demanding double-digit pay rises and rubbish stockpiled in Leicester Square. Does all this, apart from the rubbish stockpiles, sound ominous? […]
Market Outlook
Hope springs eternal… Last year was an incredibly challenging year and brought folly to most market newsletters within just a few short weeks and so it is with slightly more nervous trepidation than usual, that I set out our thoughts for the year ahead. 2022 threw everything at us; a slowdown in economic growth, a […]
Japan
Japan flies against global trends and in many cases, this represents an attractive attribute. Whereas high inflation, aggressive central bank policies and fears of recession loom in many parts of the world, Japan pushes back against this with low inflation, supportive central banks, a fiscally supportive government coupled with corporate reforms, cheap equity valuations and […]
Market Returns – a whistle-stop tour of some of the movers and shakers during the quarter.
The chart shows the returns in local currency across a cross sample of major indices. The table below shows Investment Association sector average returns broken down by asset class and geography, this time in sterling. The US dollar was strong in 2022 vs. sterling, yen and euro but there was a step change in Q4 […]
