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
Mopping up the greenwash
Working the doom-scrolling nightshift sends Rahab Paracha deep into the metaphorical forest on the problem of ‘greenwashing’. Our sustainable multi-asset investment specialist looks at the regulator’s proposed new rules to stamp the practice out among fund managers.
5 mins
The Abominable Bond Men
The UK government has shattered against a new generation of bond vigilantes. Halloween came early this year, notes multi-asset fund manager Will McIntosh-Whyte.
4 mins
Schrödinger's assets
Property funds are stinging investors once again because of a run of redemptions. Senior multi-asset investment specialist Craig Brown notes their net asset values are in a happy superposition right up till the point they get measured.
5 mins
Being green is in fashion
Fashion companies are falling over themselves to show they are improving their questionable sustainability credentials. Yet some of their marketing has got ahead of realities of the shop floor, notes sustainable multi-asset investment specialist Rahab Paracha.
5 mins
How to lose friends and alienate people
The UK government has given a textbook example of how not to deliver a message. Our multi-asset portfolios fund manager David Coombs picks over the wreckage and finds coherence, but poor execution.
5 mins
How many possible futures are you prepared for?
The world has fundamentally changed, argues Rathbone Income Fund co-manager Carl Stick. Higher interest rates and higher inflation mean that cash earned today rather than tomorrow has become much more valuable.
4 mins
Treat yourself
London has been extremely busy in a sun-drenched summer, yet a difficult winter looms. Sustainable multi-asset investment specialist Rahab Paracha asks whether luxury brands are a counterintuitive way to invest defensively in a recession.
4 mins
Reasons to be cheerful
With a tough winter approaching, our head of multi-asset investments David Coombs has dusted off the barbell. All the exercise has made him chirpier than usual.
4 mins
Tomorrow Never Knows
After a hard day’s night investing clients’ cash, our head of multi-asset investments David Coombs has neglected his own savings. Yet given the Bank of England’s tough stance, are there now savings rates worth shouting about?
3 mins
My Generation (Z)
If you have to ask what’s going on, you’re too old. Lucky for you, our sustainable multi-asset investment specialist Rahab Paracha is (almost) young enough to get down with the kids.
5 mins
Snubscriptions
With inflation running hot, senior multi-asset investment specialist Craig Brown takes stock of his forgotten subscriptions.
4 mins
Peak inflation?
As our head of multi-asset investments David Coombs balks at the cost of a couple of cups of coffee, he explains why he thinks inflation may be getting close to peaking.
3 mins