Economic and market insight
Review of the week
Review of the week: One-track mind
Inflation is all investors can think about right now, causing stock markets to wobble a bit. More focus should be on the steady march to recovery. There’s fun to be had.
5 mins
Review of the week: Power of positivity
Be the change you want to see in the market. When it comes to economics, sentiment is a heavy influence. That bodes well for the rest of the year.
6 mins
Review of the week: Getting there
An economic upswing is in force in the US and UK, even Europe is getting its act together. A full-blown boom may be on the cards for the rest of 2021, but that doesn’t necessarily mean smooth sailing for stock markets.
5 mins
Review of the week: Earning favour
Company profits are bouncing back fast in 2021, but we are not out of the COVID cavern yet. If the virus remains unchecked in South America and Asia, it may weigh on global growth.
7 mins
Review of the week: Fun, in a coat
The air is cold but the company is warm. England wraps up for the reopening of pubs and restaurants.
4 mins
Review of the week: A chill wind blows
A week of Fed watching cooled the recent rise in US Treasury yields, sending the dollar and sterling lower. Then British flags followed suit.
6 mins
Review of the week: Resurrection
The US economy is rocketing towards recovery, with jobs, confidence and output soaring amid a strong vaccination drive and stimulus. Next on the list, investment in clean energy.
6 mins
Review of the week: The delicate web of trade
The strands of trade connecting markets are as important to our living standards as they are fragile. A stranded ship in the Suez highlights both points at once.
5 mins
Review of the week: Calm in the eye of the storm
As the fight against COVID-19 continues, economies are beginning to reopen. Are we about to experience a typhoon of activity to mirror the huge slumps of 2020?
6 mins
Review of the week: Cheques and balances
The average American family has received $11,400 of government cheques since the pandemic began. That’s a big windfall for people and a difficult economic puzzle for the US Federal Reserve to decipher.
7 mins
Review of the week: America rising
The US is about to turn on the spending taps once again to combat the effects of the pandemic. This time it coincides with the reopening, so expectations for GDP growth are soaring – taking yields with them.
6 mins
Review of the week: Bond vigilantes
When bond markets move, governments and stock markets take note. A swift rise in yields has rattled equities and focused attention on countries’ swollen debt piles.
7 mins
FIT FOR LONGER WORKING LIVES?
As the holiday season winds down and we get back to our desks, we may have mixed feelings about recognising that longer lifespans will probably keep us working for longer. Rathbone Income Fund co-manager Carl Stick looks at some of the innovations that might help us stay in fine fettle.
4 mins
Taxes, beaches and bonds
A flurry of new UK government spending raises concerns that Labour will return to its tax and spend habits. Multi-Asset Portfolios Fund Manager David Coombs mulls whether current trends will put interest rate cuts on pause.
3 mins
Guess who’s back?
Former President Donald Trump is the odds-on favourite to win the US election in November, despite the Democrats’ decision to bring on a last-minute substitute. Flashbacks to the bad old days of the pandemic help Multi-Asset Fund Manager David Coombs remember the playbook of dealing with him.
5 mins
Record rotations in stocks and English Euros hopes
Multi-asset fund manager David Coombs channels some empathy for Gareth Southgate, as he looks to put together a portfolio that can achieve optimal performance over the long haul, but may look out of touch during periods when market momentum is against you.
6 mins
Things can only get better for UK equities
Labour will form the next government in the UK. While it may take time, new ideas could help solve the nation’s long-standing lack of investment and help boost the stock market from its doldrums, argues Rathbone Income Fund Manager Alan Dobbie.
4 mins
The end of a long winter for UK stocks?
Could fortunes be turning for British stocks, asks Rathbone UK Opportunities Fund Manager Alexandra Jackson. As the UK prepares to vote in the sunshine, investors seem more optimistic than they’ve been for years.
3 mins
An electric future
You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone – or gets super expensive, notes equity investment specialist Michael Cumberlidge. Demands on our electricity grids are going to grow rapidly in coming years, so we need to invest in them now.
5 mins
Can less be more?
Rathbone Income Fund Manager Carl Stick argues that relentlessly busy bees aren’t always as productive as they seem. Might the answer be to do fewer things better?
4 mins
AI: just what the doctor ordered
Since joining our Multi-Asset Team earlier this year as a fixed income analyst, Sally Hoang has really enjoyed the cross-asset lens that’s used when analysing investments. Combined with her background as a pharmacist, it helps her understand the potential for AI in healthcare.
4 mins
Can sustainable bonds offer shelter from the storm?
Sticky inflation and wild swings in rate-cut expectations have tested investors’ mettle over the last few months. Assistant Rathbone Greenbank Global Sustainable Bond Fund Manager Christie Goncalves explains why she believes sustainable bonds could be one corner of the fixed income market offering welcome resilience.
4 mins
Are govvies as exciting as murder in the Mediterranean?
Government bonds have given investors whiplash as their yields bounce around the place like a psychopath in 1950s Italy. Yet multi-asset portfolios fund manager David Coombs explains why he’s holding on tight.
5 mins
Challenger comebacks
Rathbone UK Opportunities Fund equity analyst Robbie Carr marvels at the speed of an FA Cup comeback. It makes him wonder if UK small and mid-sized companies could soon post a rapid recovery of their own.
2 mins