FTSE100 Archives - Philip J Milton & Company Plc

Trump tariffs – don’t panic

This is not long after my last missive but clearly President Trump’s tariffs are creating temporary havoc. However, it is very disconcerting and especially when a whole year’s ‘normal’ returns for investors can be wiped out in just a day’s movement on a market. No-one alive has faced tariff announcements of this nature. The last...

New Year greetings and 2024 review

Happy New Year to you all. I hope that you have had a restful, positive and reflective Christmas break. Let’s see what the New Year will bring to us all. Some of the themes remain the same and I want to share optimism going forwards but cannot avoid the inevitable warnings about certain excesses...

UK shares, Budget and what’s next?

Good news in that the Bill about Investment Trust charges’ reporting is very much back on parliamentary agenda. Readers might recall the Election stymied the last attempt. Success would be a very useful outcome for holders of these investment vehicles and see reductions in discounts to asset values as well as open new investment...

General Election issues for the markets?

A General Election looms! So the Dow Jones has pushed higher again, breaching 40,000 and almost double its March 2020 pandemic low. At the depth of the financial crisis in 2009, it was 7,062. Still, you know my sentiments in the short-term here... what possibly could go wrong over there? The UK has been pushing...

Markets rebound despite Middle East troubles

The markets are hoping that Middle-Eastern concerns have not escalated and after initial worries, markets have rebounded and the oil price slipped-back again. Let us be hopeful that is a permanent state of affairs though the Israel Hostage and Palestine situation does not go away. The UK and the US have approved further sums for...

Economic ups and downs

Just as we think things have brightened, out comes the inflation figure at 4% versus the expected 3.9%. That was blamed on tobacco and alcohol – the latter also as duty rose on wine last autumn, based on alcohol strengths. It is as if the government doesn’t realise that increasing taxes on products increases inflation......

Financial predictions for 2024?

Ominous Bitcoin So the SEC has approved 11 ETFs which invest in Bitcoin. First of all, don’t worry – we shan’t be buying them. Bitcoin is not an ‘asset’ and has nebulous, proven legitimate value and use. This ‘development’ is added to the latest speculative explosion about ‘AI’ (which of course has myriad applications and...

Good news to start 2024

A welcome piece of good news on the last trading day of 2023 – Lonfin, a long-term holding of ours (albeit small overall), has announced that its key connected party, Western Selection, is making a significant cash repayment to shareholders, including Lonfin. This is our 16th piece of positive corporate news in 2023 affecting closed-ended...

Inflation drops more than expected for New Year

Inflation has fallen more sharply and sooner than expected, as 2023 gives way to 2024. It fell to 3.9% in the year to November, dropping more than anticipated from 4.9% in October, according to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Consumer prices index (CPI) inflation has now fallen by nearly 7%, having...

Encouraging end to a volatile 2023

Well, a nice Christmas Present of buoyant markets and some grand increases for several of our core holdings. Indeed, even today at the time of writing, of the FTSE350, of the major movers upwards to greet the morning, we have 11 of the strongest 12 – that must be a record for us... there...

Trump tariffs – don’t panic

New Year greetings and 2024 review

UK shares, Budget and what’s next?

General Election issues for the markets?

Markets rebound despite Middle East troubles

Economic ups and downs

Financial predictions for 2024?

Good news to start 2024

Inflation drops more than expected for New Year

Encouraging end to a volatile 2023

Risk Warning

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Philip J Milton & Company Plc

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