Economic and market insight
Review of the week
Review of the week: Here we go again
England will soon plunge back into lockdown. It shouldn’t be as economically painful as the first time around, says chief investment officer Julian Chillingworth. But it won’t be good.
8 mins
Review of the week: The spooky season
Halloween is stuffed full of potential frights this year and a bit light on the fun. Chief investment officer Julian Chillingworth tiptoes around Brexit, US elections and earnings season.
6 mins
Review of the week: Sliced and diced
We all try to structure our financial affairs as efficiently as possible, so we have more money to do what we want with our lives. Yet sometimes our financial affairs start to affect the structure of our lives and our communities, notes chief investment officer Julian Chillingworth.
8 mins
Review of the week: Predicting the unpredictable
Biden has taken the edge in the polls but previous experience begs the question: do polls really matter? Our chief investment officer, Julian Chillingworth, mulls the possible outcomes of the US election and the effectiveness of the UK government’s spending packages.
6 mins
Review of the week: Computer says no
The government started the fourth quarter with the political equivalent of a kitchen-sinking. Best to focus your attention elsewhere, argues chief investment officer Julian Chillingworth, like better-than expected economic data and the potential for monetary stimulus.
5 mins
Review of the week: Time flies
There’s so much going on that it can seem like nothing in isolation makes any difference. That’s not true, argues chief investment officer Julian Chillingworth. Every decision matters.
6 mins
Review of the week: Post-holiday blues
As winter approaches, the news looks glum. Yet we should take heart from our ability to adapt, argues chief investment officer Julian Chillingworth.
7 mins
Review of the week: Balancing act
The infectiousness of COVID-19 means economic growth is often bundled with new cases. Governments, people and businesses have to make hard choices, argues chief investment officer Julian Chillingworth, and the conundrum isn’t going away soon.
6 mins
Review of the week: Otherwise fine
As summer winds down and the pandemic persists, governments are finding it hard to taper their support measures. Chief investment officer Julian Chillingworth is chipper enough, albeit with an umbrella under his arm.
7 mins
Review of the week: White House rescue
Congress failed to seal a benefit extension for unemployed Americans or figure out how to support cash-strapped states as the summer recess looms. It fell to the President to come up with a contested stopgap.
7 mins
Review of the week: Control the message
Corporate results fared well during lockdowns, yet they are still well below pre-pandemic levels. Chief investment officer Julian Chillingworth examines why gold has hit record highs and why ‘riskier’ banks have done better than vanilla ones.
7 mins
Review of the week: Foxes and storks
Investors have piled into gold as the reality of US-China diplomacy starts to resemble Aesop’s fabled fox and stork. Chief investment officer Julian Chillingworth also ponders whether US tech shares are priced for perfection as he looks ahead to some big earnings results this week.
5 mins
Summer days
It’s been a hot and sleepy summer punctuated by a few small scares, notes chief investment officer Julian Chillingworth. With a bit of luck, the trade-related worries should fade away over the rest of the year.
3 mins
Vive le domestique
Tour de France glory for a Welshman gets head of multi-asset investments David Coombs pining for what could have been and also reminds him to be grateful for team players.
3 mins
Tariff tangle
Trade threats and tech troubles have made investors nervous, but economies around the world remain healthy and relatively vibrant. Our chief investment officer, Julian Chillingworth, says markets are likely to remain rocky, but that should provide opportunities.
4 mins
Common wealth
Could a rejuvenated commonwealth be the basis for a wider post-Brexit trading bloc? It would need strong, far-sighted leaders to bring it about, argues head of multi-asset investments David Coombs.
3 mins
Disentangling the social media spider web
As social media giants are increasingly forced to reveal how they are using people’s private data, users may start to have second thoughts about the benefits of an interconnected world, argues our head of multi-asset investments, David Coombs.
3 mins
Me, myself and iPhone...
Obliging people’s vanity is a good investment strategy argues multi-asset assistant fund manager Will McIntosh-Whyte. But beware of fickle fashion.
4 mins
Murder in the middle
Be unassailable in what you do or be the cheapest in the joint, because if you’re neither you’re nothing, warns David Coombs, our head of multi-asset investments.
3 mins
Putting up with some insurance
You never buy insurance hoping you’ll be able to claim on it, but you buy it all the same argues our head of multi-asset investments David Coombs.
3 mins
The other ‘Beast from the East’
With cold winds blowing in from the Arctic, and Brussels too, our head of multi-asset investments David Coombs notes that visibility on the UK outlook is getting worse.
2 mins
Volatility revisited
After a rocky start markets have since settled, but possibly not for long. Our chief investment officer, Julian Chillingworth, looks ahead.
4 mins
What will the year of the dog bring?
As China celebrates the coming of the Year of the Dog, our head of asset allocation research Edward Smith explains why the pace of growth in China matters for investors everywhere. Happily, we don’t expect any nasty bites.
4 mins
When inflation gets personal
Fears of inflation have spooked markets, but should you be worried? Rathbones have created a personal inflation calculator to help you see how your personal experience compares with the headlines.
2 mins