18 August 2021Global markets continued to rally in the second quarter, primarily because of the ongoing Covid-19 vaccine rollouts. Government support also helped to boost investor optimism for economic recovery in 2021. However, investors remain concerned about inflation and US rate hikes, which could cause market volatility in the coming months. The best performing assets […]
26th April 2021It’s now just over a year since equity markets across the world reached the bottom. Since then, the MSCI World Index has rallied by 79% and now sits 18% above its pre-Covid highs. The continuing vaccine rollout has boosted markets across the world as economies prepare to open up. Even in areas where […]
Even by recent standards, the third quarter of 2019 was unpredictable and volatile. Brexit continues to dominate the headlines in both the UK and in Europe, and the election of a new prime minister appears to have increased the chances of a disorderly exit from the European Union. In your Q3 2019 market commentary, we […]
Our market commentary has taken a slight change in direction, as we will now be producing a quarterly update, looking back at some of the political, economic, technological and environmental events affecting markets in the past three months. After the challenges and volatility we witnessed in the last quarter of 2018, let’s take a look at […]
2018 proved to be a very difficult year in the markets with virtually all the major markets that we cover ending in negative territory
On Tuesday, 3rd November 2020 the United States will go to the polls to elect its next President. All the indications are that Donald Trump will stand for a second term and if the words of Bill Clinton – “It’s the economy, stupid” – are to be believed, he will win.
August used to be known as the ‘silly season’. Everyone who made the news was away on holiday, nothing happened and newspapers were desperate to fill their pages. So rather more obscure stories made it into print…That, of course, was before Donald Trump. And Brexit. And Venezuela, Argentina…
The news in July really could not have been much worse. The threat of a trade war between the US and China simmered throughout the month, and then on 31st July President Trump ramped up the tension with proposals of a 25% tariff on $200bn (£152bn) of Chinese imports.
Expect the Iceberg Lettuce to replace Bitcoin as the new default currency of the internet. Maybe it’s time to get out there and plant lettuce in the back garden… or perhaps instead you should be considering a crop of avocados…
May was another month with the usual mix of good and bad news in the UK. RBS kicked off the month by announcing the closure of 162 bank branches. As online banking and mobile apps continue to bite into retail banking you do wonder just how many high street branches there will be in ten years’ time.