The World In A Week – On, and On and On…
October 28, 2019
Brexit shenanigans dominated the headlines last week as the UK’s departure from the EU drags on, and on, and on. While Prime Minister Johnson eventually reached a majority agreement, it failed to go…
The World In A Week – Nine Lives
October 21, 2019
Another week where politics dominated the markets. It started with news that the US and China had reached a ‘phase one’ trade agreement, which boils down to being a truce. For the time being the US…
The World In A Week – Inching Towards A Deal
October 14, 2019
It was a rather lively week in financial markets, from the perspective of a UK-based investor. Sterling strengthened considerably against all major currencies, as markets anticipated a break-through…
The World In A Week – Elephant In The Room
October 7, 2019
Last week, ISM data was released, this is a measure of new orders, production, employment, supplier deliveries and inventories; in essence, a measure of productivity. The key number to be cognisant…
The World In A Week – Getting Our Priorities Straight
September 30, 2019
The UK Supreme Court ruled that the prorogation of Parliament by Boris Johnson was unlawful, which resulted in a swift restarting of Parliament last week. It would appear the battling forces within…
The World In A Week – Judgement Day
September 23, 2019
Geopolitical tensions escalated last week following the attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil production facilities. It has been estimated that the attack destroyed c.50% of Saudi production, although there…
The World In A Week – Beneath The Surface
September 16, 2019
On the surface, last week appeared quite sedate in markets as global equities, measured by MSCI ACWI rose +0.16% in GBP terms. This was led by UK and Japanese Equities, while the US markets sold off…
The World In A Week – Back To School
September 9, 2019
While the country waved the next generation off to start a new school year, the same old issues still loitered in the global playground. The tedious game of moans between the US and China continues…
The World In A Week – Prorogue
September 2, 2019
You may think that the title of this week’s ‘World in a Week’ relates to the protagonist of a play, disappointingly this is not the case. Prorogue is the technical terminology for the discontinuation…
The World In A Week – The G7, and other Sticky Wickets
August 27, 2019
Market volatility continued for the week ending 23rd August 2019, with global equities down -1.6% in GBP terms as measured by MSCI ACWI – this was primarily driven by ongoing concerns regarding the…
The World In A Week – Rebel Without A Cause
August 19, 2019
The US and China are both playing hardball, with neither wishing to lose face, but so far, there is no winning, only losing. On a topic that we have written extensively about in the past, trade wars…