News

Market Update 18th November 2024

News: 18 November 2024

It’s funny how you can always remember your best teachers. At the age of about 15 one of mine told me that if I can’t recall what happened at a summit or what was agreed in a treaty, where it happened is usually a good indication of who held sway.

Market Update 11th November 2024

News: 11 November 2024

US Election: What does it mean?

News: 06 November 2024

As I write, Donald Trump has been declared the next President of the United States. It even looks like he will win the popular vote. The Republican party also looks to have gained a majority in the Senate (Upper House). The fate of the House of Representatives remains unclear.

Market Update 4th November 2024

News: 04 November 2024

Financial markets are in the midst of a crucial two-week period. In the UK we had the eagerly anticipated budget from the new Labour government, whilst the US had one of the busiest weeks of the Q3 earnings season with 5 of the Magnificent 7 reporting.

Budget Commentary

News: 31 October 2024

Market Update 28th October 2024

News: 28 October 2024

Rachel Reeves is due to announce her first budget on 30 October. It’s very likely the tricks will outweigh the treats.

Labour has said there will be no changes to VAT, income tax or employee national insurance. In politician (a particularly difficult language for non-natives) this means things like Capital Gains and Inheritance tax will very likely be altered.

Market Update 14th October 2024

News: 15 October 2024

Warren Buffett once semi-joked that any company that has an economist has one employee too many. It’s easy to see why. History is littered with examples of them getting things wrong.

Market Update 7th October 2024

News: 07 October 2024

Global trade is always more complex than it seems. Bans or large tariffs on trades may appear significant but there is always a way to get around them. I had a conversation with the fund manager at Havelock recently and we got onto this very topic, specifically titanium trading.

Market Update 30th September 2024

News: 30 September 2024

I have a former employer who once invested £2m of his own money into an investment trust and forgot about it. Admittedly this was March 2020 and quite a lot was going on, but it seems unusual. The reason I remember it very well is the trust had fallen about 20% in the two weeks since we bought it and amongst other things, this meant someone had to go and tell him.

Market Update 23rd September

News: 23 September 2024