I said we were now on the countdown to Christmas and I had my first Mince Pie of the year today (M&S and only bite size) though nothing really to celebrate apart from maybe the fact that snow hit London. A few European investors probably wanting to close their Mince Pies (eyes for those not acquainted with Cockney rhyming slang) as the Stoxx 600 hit a 3mo low (intraday) on a day when things felt particularly shaky at times though managed to bounce a little late in the day. Though the Ukraine c…

I attended the Kings Road Christmas light turn on at the weekend which really was quite lovely (well apart from coinciding with the England vs South Africa Rugby match). Amongst the mulled wine, Children’s Choirs and Christmas carols it provided a clear and obvious reminder that we’re fast approaching Christmas! The European Equity complex today very much feels in the thick of quite a bleak mid-winter as volumes saw a significant drop with a lack of catalysts and a few things on the horizon lik…

As a Scot I’m a big fan of the word ‘Dreich’ – lots of translations but I like to think of it as damp, dark and dreary….all reasons really not to go outside! I found out today that Germany have their own word – Dunkelflaute – not quite dreich, but a term used in the energy industry to describe a period of consecutive days where minimal energy can be generated by renewable energy sources, such as solar or wind. Dunkelflaute (Dun-kel-flout-eh) has caused Gas prices in Europe to hit YTD highs toda…

When Butter Thefts in Russia is one of the leading stories in the FT you know it isn’t going to a memorable day and that proved to be the case. Veterans day in the U.S. and still lots of unknowns surrounding Trump policy and the political landscape in the Europe giving enough excuses to do…very little. But with all that in mind could today go down as the best ‘absolutely nothing happened at all’ day in Europe? The Stoxx 600 managed to close +1.13% without any obvious reason why; a catch up from…

The “Budget consequences for CPI to evolve over time” said Andrew Bailey but it does feel like that is quite a big unknown and on everyone’s mind as the BoE cut rates by 25bps as expected with an 8-1 vote. Catherine Mann, the only dissenter, who voted to hold rates, did so partly on the cost (National Insurance) and demand (increased public spending) effects of the Budget. She isn’t the only one who’s keeping a close eye on the fallout as UK Corporations continue to voice concern – Sainsbury’s…

The wait is over, Donald Trump will be back in office in January and the Republicans have made dramatic and significant progress across all areas of U.S politics as evidenced by the voting in the last 24 hours. In the small New Hampshire town of Dixville Notch the 3 – 3 vote split between Trump and Harris amongst the 6 strong voters was really as tight as this battle would get! An electoral vote confirmed in the early hours and a popular vote, a victory in the Senate and the House all looking p…

I had to look up what a K-Shaped recovery was today, having seen and heard it grow in dialogues over the past few weeks. For those that don’t know It’s a recovery that diverges like the arms of the letter ‘K’ with some parts of the economy doing better, and others struggling. That makes sense and feels very apt right now when looking at the U.S but here in the UK it does feel like we’d bite arms off for a ‘K’! The Stoxx 600 dipped again, ending the day -1.2% for its second day in a row with a m…

“Give children stickers not sweets on Halloween” dentists are pleading in the lead up to Halloween to avoid tooth decay. It’s a lovely idea in theory, it really is, but as we are new neighbourhood, who seemingly take Halloween quite seriously….I don’t want to be the new guys on the block who give out stickers – Maoam’s and Harribo’s at the ready (minus a few quality control tests). Trick or Treat on people’s minds as we awaited the potentially scary and spooky UK budget announcement. Less trick…

“Fizz the season to visit the Greggs Champagne Bar” instantly caught my eye this week. Fenwick Newcastle the location where you can get a Steak Bake with Peppercorn Aioli and a glass of Bollinger rosé brut which – I’ll take their word for it – are a match made in heaven. The latest PR experiment/innovative idea from Greggs goes to stand out from the crowd whilst insisting that they launched a Vegan Sausage roll, they’re not trying to be Apple. Standing out from the crowd can be a good thing a…

Dear oh dear, is it only Wednesday? The macro painting a similar picture to what we have been used to this week: U.S. (and UK) yields climbing, a decent Dollar bid once again (mainly at the expense of the Yen which has now weakened c9% since the middle of September) and the main difference some decent pull backs in Golf and Silver but they were certainly due one. It’s half term, and there was a raft of earnings to digest which always tends to suck some life out of the market and whilst the vol…