Economic and market insight
Review of the week
Review of the week: The price of money
Higher inflation is starting to leak into central bankers’ plans for interest rate hikes and ‘tapering’ of QE. Meanwhile, the UK suffers an energy crisis as the COP26 climate summit approaches.
8 mins
Review of the week: Breathing space
The children have returned to classes and the adults seem to be drifting back to the office. The pandemic still looms large though, affecting travel, spending and taxes.
7 mins
Review of the week: Are labour markets working?
Labour markets are struggling to get to grips with new post-pandemic supply and demand dynamics. Meanwhile, tighter scrutiny is increasing tech companies’ costs of doing business.
4 mins
Review of the week: Red dawn
China reminds everyone that communists like to meddle in markets. Meanwhile earnings are booming in the West as the recovery rolls on despite investor nervousness.
6 mins
Review of the week: Reaching for the heavens
Virgin Galactic pushes the frontiers of tourism yet higher with a successful passenger shuttle flight into the mesosphere. Miles below, COVID-19 continues to spread.
5 mins
Review of the week: Celebrations, American style
US markets make new records just in time for Independence Day. While Americans take a day off, it seems a good time to take a look at a tough corner of the UK labour market.
7 mins
Review of the week: Midsummer mojo?
Stock markets have regained their positive momentum, but don’t expect a balmy and tranquil summer ahead.
4 mins
Review of the week: Federal foresight
The US central bank’s nod to the surging American recovery frightened markets last week. These wobbly moments could become a longer-term fixture of the global recovery.
6 mins
Review of the week: Laborious statistics
Jobs are the key to true recovery and the best clue to the path of longer-term inflation. Meanwhile, the great vaccination rolls on.
7 mins
Review of the week: A changing tune
After an austere run for many years, the mood music for global companies seems to have stepped up a beat. Businesses are splashing the cash and investing for a new future.
5 mins
Review of the week: Making a change
Breaking the inertia of old habits can be revitalising. Brits are up for a change and that could spark a regional economic revival.
5 mins
Review of the week: Stuck in inflation fixation?
Inflation concerns aren’t receding despite policymakers’ best efforts. Expect more inflation scares to trigger further stock and bond market volatility.
6 mins
Can cloud computing withstand the heat?
With inflation as hot as London in July, the technology sector has been buffeted more than most. But equity analyst Ben Derber explains why cloud computing may prove to be especially resilient.
2 mins
Bye Bye Bojo
As the Conservative Party spends the summer trying to find a new leader our head of multi-asset investments David Coombs looks at the potential impact on economic strategy.
4 mins
Silver linings in the cloud?
Structural, long-term investment themes are particularly important at the moment as investors worry about the short-term outlook for many businesses. Equity analyst Ben Derber argues that cloud computing should enjoy a decade-long spending boom as enterprises seek to harness the benefits of this powerful new technology.
4 mins
Strikes are a warning for all
Strikes are synonymous with railway workers these days, but the reasons behind the latest one affect everyone, argues our multi-asset portfolios lead manager, David Coombs. Wages have stagnated for years, yet higher inflation is now making that untenable.
4 mins
Valuation matters
While the drops in the prices of some of the world’s hottest (and most expensive) stocks are eye-watering, Rathbone Income Fund managers Carl Stick and Alan Dobbie argue there’s a reason for the extent of the falls. They ask: did too many investors simply forget that valuation matters.
4 mins
The high cost of low prices
We’ve all got used to cheap flights, meals and clothes, but it was all predicated on low wages in many sectors, argues David Coombs, our head of multi-asset investments.
4 mins
A significant milestone and a turning point?
As the UK gears up for its first-ever Platinum Jubilee, the Rathbone Ethical Bond Fund is celebrating its own historic milestone. Fund Manager Bryn Jones looks at what might lie ahead as bond markets move into a new cycle and the transition towards a greener, more circular economy gains still more momentum.
4 mins
A difficult balancing act
The UN-backed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were created to balance the economic, environmental and social pillars of sustainability. Yet the recent energy and food crises show just how difficult this can be, notes our sustainable multi-asset investment specialist Rahab Paracha.
5 mins
Notes on a nervous planet
Can our overburdened planet keep supporting all the people on it? Bryn Jones, lead manager of our Ethical Bond Fund, thinks the swelling number of people on earth raises the prospect of big shortages of basic necessities. He explains how this impacts his team’s decisions and offers some hope that bond investors can help make a difference.
5 mins
Zombie financing
Charlton Heston and our head of multi-asset investments David Coombs have little in common. But they both hate the walking dead.
4 mins
The buzz on Anthropocene theory
We’re living in an era in which human activity is radically changing the planet, according to a raft of scientific data. Bryn Jones, lead manager of our Ethical Bond Fund, explains how this influences his team’s long-term decisions.
4 mins
In a world of my own
Bear markets are taking their toll. Our head of multi-asset investments, David Coombs, explains how his team are trying to protect portfolios and prepare for a better future.
4 mins