Inflation, deflation and market views
US inflation figures are higher than hoped (3.1% v 2.9% expected), jolting the market again and pushing Euro:Sterling to the highest since August 2022 and strengthening the Dollar.
Our inflation at 4% was slightly less than expected but we have now entered ‘Recession’ with ‘two quarters of negative growth’ – good in attacking inflation but...
Are you confident about your retirement plan?
A recent study by Standard Life has shown that less than one in 10 of those aged over 65 feel confident about managing their retirement finances.
Retirement is of course an uncertain time for many people, whether financially or simply the trepidation of entering the unknown and perhaps not knowing how you might spend your...
Consumer confidence
‘Consumer Confidence’ has risen for the third month and now at a two-year high, regardless of what negativity you may hear in the media. This seems to be supported by buoyant consumer spending since last autumn as well.
It’s good, as it will reflect in economic output but will too much enthusiasm dampen the Chancellor’s...
Autumn market musings
I am going to be signing-off for a few weeks now for a much-needed proper break, (excluding Christmas) the first since July last year, so am completing an eshot just before I disappear.
Of course I shall be keeping more than a wary eye on things and especially the markets (the joys of global internet...
Market sentiment and what it means
Good afternoon. The horrors from the Middle East have not abated. The whole situation is so sad and it is impossible to predict the outcomes. In ways not seen in past decades and centuries, the inert hatred from certain quarters seems to have also manifested itself across the World, in civilised populations which have...
‘Goldilocks’ economy is proving elusive
July saw a ½% slip in our economy, partly to do with the lack of productivity from strikes and partly the weather affecting things like construction. Sterling has been weak too – partly too as a consequence of the expectation that interest rate rises to stem inflation (which is falling dramatically) have come to...
Better news for the economy?
Well, curious admissions from the IMF and feeding-through to the ONS. Everyone puts such store of value on economic statistics only to find that all the criticisms about our sluggish economy over the last few years were wrong... what is worse, however, is the deluge of commentators sarcastically loving to ‘rubbish’ the efforts of...
Are the ‘magnificent seven’ seriously over-extended?
An ‘emperor’s new clothes’ scenario could be applied to US tech stocks, which have been highlighted before in this column and we still feel could be living in an unreality bubble.
There was a very interesting article by Peter Atwater, an adjunct lecturer in economics at the College of William and Mary, Virginia, in the...
Should you follow the trends?
Well, more encouraging inflation figures from shop price rises buoyed our market after the Bank Holiday. That said, who noticed that up till then, the global markets had retracted by 5% ($3trillion) in the month (the calculated losses from the S&P500, China’s CSI300 and Europe’s Stoxx600).
This was affected by China and its banks’ distress...