Entries by Philip J Milton & Company Plc
Volatile US stocks
Volatility led by the US has escalated quite dramatically. It's impacted market values – especially some US tech cos and Nasdaq has drifted 10% now but the concerns over tariffs and the Ukraine situation and the US reaction to it, let alone clumsy politics and diplomacy, have not helped. Suddenly Nvidia and Tesla aren't...
What does US inflation mean for the UK?
Inflation in the United States rose more than expected last month to 3% - exactly the same rate as here in the UK, funnily enough!
‘Unpredictable’ best describes the start of Donald Trump’s presidency as his proposed tariffs on imported goods look likely to push up prices for American consumers.
The rate of inflation ‘over there’...
Off-piste, risk and the economy
Having grabbed a week to visit Chamonix and on one day to travel up to Aiguille du Midi (3,842 metres) to view Mont Blanc (4,805metres), gave me an opportunity to see ‘risk’ in a different context. The height, the highest I have ever been excluding flights, puts risk in a different perspective altogether
The engineering...
Are Cash ISAs under threat from the Chancellor?
Regular readers of this column will know we are not entirely (or certainly not universally) in favour of Cash ISAs simply because the balance of interest rates versus inflation means you can effectively be ‘losing’ money by having many thousands sat in an ISA ‘doing nothing’ as well as letting inflation eat it away.
Saving...
Is ‘stagflation’ looming and what can you do about it?
Interest rates have been cut to 4.5% as expected but with low economic growth, higher unemployment and price rises, some analysts fear we are heading for a period of ‘stagflation’.
First coined in the 1960s, the term simply means economic stagnation on the one hand and inflation on the other, which is neither beneficial to...
Good value, gold and Blackstone
Good afternoon. We hear BP may be in play as Elliott Investors in the US has accumulated a stake in one of our biggest companies. It’s ridiculously good value regardless and hasn’t kept up with other energy stocks. Meantime, our funds under management see yet new heights which is good, as many deep value...
Equity release – is it in your best interest?
Equity release – or remortgaging your home – saw a surge in popularity at the end of 2024, latest figures have revealed.
The Equity Release Council says there was an increase in lending of £622million in the last quarter of the year, up 16% on the year before, although the figure for the total year...
Trump tariffs and market wobbles
We woke to face the reverberations from the threatened tariffs against Canada and Mexico by President Trump, amongst others and the EU and possibly the UK next. The markets are wobbling and the Dollar strengthening as it is feared the US will have to raise interest rates to support its policies as well as...
Don’t become trapped in limbo with estate planning
One of the more common financial ‘problems’ that we see all too often is the fallout from administering an estate when someone passes away.
That’s not to say there is any strife within the family or a dispute over the estate but simply that the process is excruciatingly slow and really does not need to...