Message from the CEO
'I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.'- Jimmy Dean, 1928 - 2010 A year is a long time...
Read the full note
Trick Question: Yes or No?
It’s the start of a new month so it must be time for one of the world’s top G7 countries to throw the public yet another destabilising and uncertain vote...
Read the full note
The markets aren’t having it
Capital is a coward. At the first sign of trouble (everyone calls it “uncertainty” these days) it bolts for the door. It’s what the majority of the media and politicians...
Read the full note
Trumped!! By the state of Florida!!
The US electorate have spoken and the world is a more volatile place this morning. Is it the dawn of Mad Max.....or simply the dawn of a new era in...
Read the full note Welcome to Florida
“Good morning. I’m Al Gore and I’m the former next President of the United States.” - Al Gore, Tokyo, 2006 As ice-breakers go, I can’t ever think of a better...
Read the full note
Clinton - Off the hook... or is she?
After the dust had settled on the third presidential debate, Hillary Clinton had secured herself a comfortable 8% lead in the polls and global markets broadly relaxed any thoughts about...
Read the full note
Playing the endgame
"The problem with political suicide is that you live to regret it" - Winston Churchill Just as investors of a nervous disposition were gearing up to hedge themselves for a...
Read the full note
Riding high under a clear blue sky
This time last year, the UK’s stock market was at a similar level to today and pretty much where it had been sitting calmly for over a year. International bond...
Read the full note
No time for gambling on red or black
“There is a very easy way to return from a casino with a small fortune: go there with a large one” - Jack Yelton. When Michael Gove, co-convenor of Vote...
Read the full note
Property funds - The gate escape
We received news yesterday of the suspension of trading in the M&G Property and the Standard Life Ignis UK Property funds. The managers of both of these funds have taken...
Read the full note
Osborne sets the record straight…
“I should think it hardly possible to state the opposite of the truth with more precision” – Winston Churchill. They say economists add a decimal point to show they have...
Read the full note
OUT!
“Look, I think it’s entirely sensible for David Cameron to stay on. But as long as he’s gone by 10am, I’m happy.” Nigel Farage 7am, 24th June 2016 “I will...
Read the full note
Echoes of a proper crisis
When I heard on the radio yesterday morning that a “famous currency trader” had warned that if Britain voted to leave the EU, Sterling would suffer a fate even worse...
Read the full note
Blue on blue, red on red and the man on the Clapham omnibus
“Brexit camp in turmoil as leading Tory defects” – Front page headline, The Times, first edition, 20th June 2016. “Brexit camp divided as senior Tory walks out” – Front page...
Read the full note
Playing it safe
It’s often the case that some of the most thought provoking comments come from unexpected sources. It was actually the director of bonds at Rathbones, who also sits on the...
Read the full note
Bremain
The last day of May has usually been a time to sharpen one’s pencil to write a review of whatever what was to blame for the often recurring stock market...
Read the full note
Mixed emotions
In short, there’s a lot going on. From an international perspective, a lot of what’s happened is down to the reversal in the strength of the US dollar resulting from...
Read the full note
Review of the First Quarter 2016
The year started with a number of new statistical records, not least of which was the US stock market suffering its worst start to the year since 2001. Of course,...
Read the full note
When all think alike, no one thinks very much
With 2015-2016 leaving nowhere to hide for fund managers accused of being index trackers, and following on from my recent missive on the failures of index trackers in today’s market...
Read the full note
Universally Challenged - who is smarter?
"[Central Banks] think they are smarter than the market" – Jim Rogers, February 2016. From ZIRP to NIRP – (From zero to negative interest rate policy). It seems scarcely believable...
Read the full note