Economic and market insight
Review of the week
Review of the week: Painting a picture
The wait for US interest rate cuts is over. Everyone expects the US Federal Reserve to move this week, the question is how far will it go?
1 min
Review of the week: The comfort blanket of lower interest rates
Stocks are down on underwhelming US economic numbers, but the central bank is likely to ride to the rescue.
1 min
Review of the week: Sudden market jolt gives way to tentative calm
Markets started wild as recession fears rose, yet became more orderly as last week progressed. Will the calm remain?
7 mins
Review of the week: A seismograph for US economic tremors
Stock markets around the world are being rocked as investors take fright about whether America is headed for recession in the coming months. Yet why is Japan the epicentre?
8 mins
Review of the week: Time to cut?
After months of waiting, there’s a strong chance that interest rates may fall in the UK this week. Across the Atlantic, the longed-for cuts won’t be till the autumn, if markets are correct.
6 mins
Review of the week: Biden bows out
After weeks of pressure, President Joe Biden has abandoned his bid for re-election. Will there be a battle for the Democratic nomination at next month’s party convention in Chicago, or will his successor be coronated quickly?
7 mins
Review of the week: Is the door opening to us rate cuts?
Political violence in the US is overshadowing last week’s big moves in the biggest US stocks, and widespread gains for smaller stocks too.
6 mins
Review of the week: Labour waltzes to victory
Sometimes polls are right and sometimes polls are wrong. Last week, we saw classic examples of both.
5 mins
Review of the week: The wave
The right-wing Rassemblement National was the big winner in the first round of French elections, but the most conclusive vote comes this weekend. Before then, the UK votes on its own Parliament.
7 mins
Review of the week: Political football
France goes to the polls for the first round of voting, the two candidates for the White House spar and the Euro knockout phase begins.
6 mins
Review of the week: Getting ahead of the Fed
The US Federal Reserve rows back on the potential for interest rate cuts even as inflation improves. Meanwhile, the French election also reverberates through bond markets.
7 mins
Review of the week: The year of the election heats up
The Year of the Election is already providing warning signs to expect the unexpected. Even when outcomes aren’t a huge surprise, painful (if temporary) pitfalls may lie ahead.
7 mins
Nightmare on Tottenham Court Road (Street)
There’s a creaking and a groaning in the night in Swindon. Head of multi-asset investments David Coombs is living with a ghost of retail past that not even store credit can bury.
5 mins
Why the recovery will be green
Rather than being a reason to press pause on the transformation of economies and societies, Rathbone Ethical Bond Fund manager Noelle Cazalis makes the case that COVID-19 could well be a catalyst for growth in sustainable solutions and the bonds that will fund them.
3 mins
Changing the planet
A growing number of people are questioning how their pensions and other savings are invested. Rathbones’ stewardship director Matt Crossman explains why he firmly believes we can make the world a better place through our investments, and how best to do it.
4 mins
A healthy recovery
Stewardship director Matt Crossman makes the case for a healthy and responsible recovery – building back better from COVID-19.
5 mins
Ch…Ch…Changes?
They say a change is as good as a holiday. Yet head of multi-asset investments David Coombs has just come back from a fortnight away and thinks the status quo will suit his investments just fine.
4 mins
Storm in a tech cup
After months cooped up inside, our multi-asset portfolios fund manager Will McIntosh-Whyte headed away for a well-deserved Cornish holiday … where a brace of storms kept him cooped up inside.
3 mins
Destructive capitalism
The pandemic has radically changed how we work. That makes propping up struggling companies a dangerous pastime for the government, argues our head of multi-asset investments David Coombs.
4 mins
Biden his time
Former Vice President Joe Biden – well ahead in the US presidential election polls – is due to announce his running mate next week. Investors will be wary of any nod to the left wing of his party, but our head of asset allocation Ed Smith notes the large hurdles a progressive agenda would face even if Biden wins.
3 mins
The great property shakeout
COVID may be about to rock the property world to its foundations. Such dislocations tend to create opportunities for investors, notes head of multi-asset investments David Coombs, but they don’t come without risk.
5 mins
Where the wind blows
Rathbone Global Sustainability Fund manager David Harrison discusses the rise of renewable energy and how it is making a more sustainable world.
3 mins
Lost in translation
All this time at home has got head of fixed income Bryn Jones thinking back to a trip to Kerala, and how much their native language has in common with our economic recovery. Just don’t ask him to translate your doctor’s orders into German.
3 mins
Style versus substance
The UK is spending billions of pounds to make schools and hospitals more energy efficient. This is great news for people and the environment, yet head of fixed income Bryn Jones reckons we could be bolder – and smarter – in cutting our energy needs even further.
4 mins