There is just nowhere else to start today than the red headline that flashed through early this morning – “Euro Stoxx 50 hits 5,000 points for first time in 24 years’. I may be revealing a bit too much but the last time it was here I was probably somewhere collecting Pokémon cards. In Europe we’ve been hearing (and if honest getting a lit bit bored/envious) of all the chatter re how well the Mag 7, Nasdaq and S&P 500 have done but a quick look at the YTD index performance will show the Euro Sto…

It’s been a while since I have done one of these so please forgive any tardiness on my behalf. A few weeks away from the screens always tends to sooth the soul and give a fresh perspective and I’ve been impressed with what Equities have managed to do. We approach a big expiry on Friday which could open the door to some more volatile moves next week especially with a number of Central Banks updating us (BoJ, Fed, BOE) 3 days on the trot but for now we are grinding higher, with the odd pull back…

Two days in these markets is a long time and it feels a lot longer ago than Tuesday that investors were looking at an Equity market in a bit of a fall and judging whether inflation was on the rise. Yields were rallying, cyclicals getting smacked and today we recovered all of the losses suffered from that day and more as we rallied back with the Stoxx 600, Euro Stoxx, Euro Stoxx 50, CAC, DAX, FTSE MIB and KFX all making 12mo highs at some stage today in the process. Things felt quite squeezy fro…

“One bad day doesn’t make a trend” chimed Ben Denney as we picked up the pieces from yesterday’s fairly lively session but the overall theme for this week remains in Europe – low volumes. It’s very hard to judge what the true market reaction to the various moving parts this week would have been when volumes in Europe have dropped significantly from last week and the rest of the year. Yesterday’s c90% down day in the U.S. was followed by a c75% up day so clearly there is still a lot of chopping…

Shove Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday or Pancake day – whatever you call it…. it’s today. A healthy debate on the desk on the topic of Sweet or Savoury though I was very much shot down with my Savoury call. I’ll always leave enough batter for a little lemon & sugar/Nutella chaser and that takes a bit of nous but it has to be ham and cheese crepes for dinner. Flipping a real skill and there is every chance mine ends up flat on the floor. Europe has been flipping between gains on losses on an al…

It was a case of close but no cigar for the Scottish and Welsh rugby union teams this weekend and for the San Francisco 49ers who came so close to the Super Bowl last night. The ‘Swift-Effect’ likely brought the Super Bowl to more living rooms than ever before and the tense nature of an overtime win maybe just what the NFL wanted. A few tired people to start the day, mixed with an array of regional holidays for China, Korea and Japan amongst others, a lack of reporting names on a Monday (which…

It’s getting a little tricky to comment on a stagnant European equity market so just as well I’m heading to dinner tonight in Soho for the first time in a very long time. The leg feels just about up to venture to the west end but it has been a while….I think I can remember how to do this but I’m going to have to scrub up on some table chat on the way over! Rule number one has to be don’t mention Central banks because no one needs any more chatter on them. Lots of noise but none of it really mov…

Another day in Europe without a major move as broader indices feel almost stuck, right up near the highs from the past number of years but with enough bad corporate earnings to offset the good and a market still weighing up a macro environment which is very much paused pending further news. I guess that could come in a couple of forms with a lot of data due in the coming weeks that will give a picture of economic health closer to home, Chinese new year approaching and Regional U.S. banks starti…

‘60 minutes’ on CBS has been around since 1968, a colleague said to me it is an institution within American households and given that tenure it has been through its fair share of economic cycles. Powell featured in April 2021 in the aftermath of covid and said the “economy’s about to start growing much more quickly and job creation coming in much more quickly” which in theory is still going on today. Last night he used the interview to push back once again on the March cut by the Fed and note t…

Christmas eve for a Rugby fan with the Six Nations kicking off tomorrow eve and it’s quite nice to have something other to talk about than when the Fed are going to cut rates. It slightly pains me to say it as a Scotsman but I don’t think we stand much of a chance with some very safe, cagey selections for the first game away in Cardiff. A fairly cagey Powell stood up last night, pushed back against March bets and pushed the timing of the QT taper debate back a little further. Our view is that w…