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It was Harold Wilson who famously said that “a week is a long time in politics”. This seems very relevant in the current times as the fallout from the mini/maxi budget continues. Having received a bemused reaction from most corners of the political spectrum when announced, the government this week revealed the rollback of the…
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Financial Planning for Young Adults You may have only just started to make waves in your chosen career path or be on the cusp of building substantial savings to be looking into buying your first home, and feel like investing in your future is a daunting process. Alongside this, you may feel like approaching a…
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Britain’s new Prime Minister Liz Truss and her new Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, have confirmed measures aimed at easing the ‘cost of living crisis’ as part of the planned fiscal event or “mini-budget” held on Friday 23 September. One of these measures is the reversal of the planned increase in UK corporate tax from 19% to…
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Although a much more expansive fiscal policy was well flagged by Liz Truss during the Tory leadership roadshow, it appears that most market participants were still surprised by the scale of the moves announced in Kwasi Kwarteng’s ‘budget that wasn’t a budget’ last Friday, with UK Gilts and the domestic currency coming under significant pressure…
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VCT’s (Venture Capital Trusts) are investment companies that are listed on the London Stock Exchange and set up to invest in small unquoted, entrepreneurial businesses in the UK to help them grow. There can be a higher risk to invest in small companies, so to encourage support for these businesses the Government offers generous tax…
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Investors looking for signs of a ‘Fed pivot’ were left disappointed following Chair Powell’s speech at the annual Jackson Hole symposium last week. Hopes that the pace of monetary policy tightening would be slowed or even paused were dashed as he held firm and reiterated his “unconditional” commitment to bring down inflation. Stocks sold off…
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This week, investor thoughts were centred around what would be discussed and announced at a conference based in the unlikely location of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Set in an idyllic mountain resort, the annual event (first held in 1981) sees the world’s top central bankers, finance ministers, and academics discuss the challenges for the global economy…
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On Wednesday, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced that Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) rose by 10.1% in July 2022, up from 9.4% in June. The latest increase in the CPI rate was driven by energy and fuel prices, as well as food prices which rose by a 20-year high rate of 12.7%. The ONS…
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US stocks and government bonds rallied sharply on Wednesday after July inflation data came in at 8.5%, lower than the forecasted 8.7% following a sharp decrease in fuel prices. This eased investor concern that the Fed will again raise rates by 0.75% at the next meeting in September. The world’s largest economy posted inflation of…
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Weekly Market Update- Week Ending 23/09/2022
It’s been a tough week for financial markets as central banks around the globe continued to raise interest rates in the face of persistently high inflation. It wasn’t the increase, per se, which dented sentiment, it was more the signalling that investors should expect moves of a similar size in the meetings to come. Given…
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