Markets have generally traded within narrow ranges. On the one hand, the reopening of economies has provided added impetus to artificially subdued economic growth. On the other, rising inflation poses the question of what central banks are going to do about it. In the US, inflation is now running at 5.4% while in the UK…
Are we there yet? Those familiar with transporting children on long journeys will instantly recognise the question. But from an economic perspective, how close to ‘there’ are we in terms of returning to normality after Covid-19 laid waste? Sometimes, it seems very close indeed but then at others …. it seems to slip further away…
The Nobel Memorial Prize winning economist Milton Friedman noted that “only the government can take perfectly good paper and perfectly good ink and render the combination completely useless”. He was, of course, referring to the dangers of inflation, once governments lose control of it. Inflation is a problem that hasn’t troubled the scorer for years…
Equity markets have retained their poise. Lockdowns are, for the most part, being relaxed and while normality still looks a long way off, the move towards it is undeniable. In the UK, the economy is forecast to attain its pre pandemic peak by the middle of next year, aided greatly by forced saving delivering a…
Markets have remained strong, buoyed by vaccine programmes and potential paths out of lockdown assuming greater visibility. Having said that, with various geographical areas moving at different speeds and talk of third waves, there’s obviously a long way to go before anything resembling normality can resume. Economically, inflation and economic growth dominate discussion. Globally, growth…
World markets have, belatedly, started to consider the return of that mythical beast, inflation. Long considered extinct by many, it’s a species whose DNA looks eminently capable of resurrection in the ubiquitous economic laboratory experiments now being undertaken by just about every government and central bank. Stock markets are directly affected by bond markets because…
Equity markets remain perky, the result of global, wall to wall economic stimulus. This largesse now resembles a teenage party that’s out of control at the point when the parents return home. However, instead of calling a halt, they fetch another crate from the garage and join in. In the US, President Biden’s pandemic relief…
Global markets surged after the Democrats secured the U.S. Senate. With both houses now under their control, investors reacted in Pavlovian fashion, anticipating greater monetary stimulus alongside a more expansive fiscal agenda. We’ve said it before (and many times before that) but how more expansive can any of this get? Sovereign borrowing is close to…
Readers of a certain age will probably recognise the title as a play on the chorus of Crosby, Stills & Nash’s 1969 hippy anthem, ‘Marrakesh Express’. ESG, on the other hand, is a little less long in the tooth. It stands for Environmental, Social and Governance and is an investment trend fast approaching the mainstream.…
Well, we have a deal with the EU. Proof, if it were needed, that whatever one might negotiate, a conclusion will only result once one side makes it clear the timescale for negotiation is not indefinite. A combination of several Covid-19 vaccines, the EU deal and promises of continued global economic stimulus have encouraged equity…