What a weekend that was; sun shining, blue skies and even with a crisp feel to proceedings it was a lot better than we’ve been used to so far this year. Naturally, I decided it was a weekend to redecorate and do some housework and ended up spending too much of it indoors! After all, DIY is slightly uncharted territory for me. We’re close to (or in some cases in) uncharted territory here in Europe too. The Stoxx 600 has been up the last 10 weeks and is heading (although early) for its 11th which…

I met an avid reader of the Snapshot today who confirmed what I sort of already knew; it’s the first couple of sentences that make all the difference in the Snapshot. I know I’ve been slacking in that department but It’s hard; I’m getting far more boring as I get older, can’t remember the last time I wasn’t tired and have the social life of mealworm. Either way its always nice to hear it’s a go to – and naturally thanks to everyone here who contributes. A nothing day in Europe so to speak, a to…

I saw on my desktop today that the weather gave the signal of ‘High Pollen’. It didn’t exactly feel like it with my beanie and puffa jacket on this morning but combined with the small window of daylight that now greets us on the way out the office it is a sign that we’re getting close to the promised land of Spring….nothing really beats it in my books. No such spring in the European equity market step as we had a pause and the Stoxx 600 fell 91bps. It was our first pause for a while, so I don’t…

There was a lot of ‘out of office’ replies to yesterday’s Snapshot, no one laughed at my NII is the new AI (admittedly awful) joke and there have been multiple reports of half term being spent up one of the many snow-covered European mountains and I’m only just a little bit jealous of that. Today felt quite half-term-week-esq in plenty of ways too. European Equity markets sort of did what they have been used to doing of late in as such as Banks led the way (and feel unstoppable), Industrials so…

Lots of adulting from me this weekend with the highlight (it’s not really a highlight) getting a bunch of posters and pictures to the framing shop (I found one that wasn’t outrageously expensive too!) Up there with one of the most impossible tasks I’ve had in a while but having stared at me for a number of weeks (months) it was time for action. That sort of feels appropriate to the current situation within markets as having had Trump at the helm for nearly a month, we’re getting to what feels l…

February has already been quite a long month just 3 days in. Trump is really getting going and its fairly tiring trying to keep up with it all. Earnings in Europe once again took the spotlight and outside of that the broader picture feels quite tentative. We’ve had a good start in 2025, consolidating a bit here and trying to find the next catalyst but it seemed the market was quite happy with that backdrop with the Stoxx 600 ending the day at the highs but only +50bps. A big theme that remains…

I have started unsubscribing to the barrage of emails I get every day instead of just deleting them on a daily basis. It can take a little bit longer than the standard delete but after just three days my inbox is cleaner, less noise, less offers from ‘Telegraph Cruise Deals’ (how they got my email I don’t know) and more time for the important stuff! In turn Trump Media’s Truth Social feels like something I might have to sign up to given 2025 feels sure to be dominated (more than ever) by headli…

It’s certainly not my favourite word in the dictionary… I struggle to spell it most of the time. Tarrif’s, Tarriff’s, Tariff’s the name of the game today as Trump delivered what had long been touted as his first moves in that nature against Mexico, Canada and China but it came with significant threats against Europe and, the fact the details of them weren’t known, possibly hurt the most today. Whether these are negotiation chips being played or more long-term tariffs we will only find out in ti…

Tonight is pretty much as close as it gets to Christmas eve for British and French rugby fans as the Six Nations kicks of tomorrow in Paris. As a Scotland supporter it also usually marks the high point of the Six Nations, level on points with our rivals and all to play for over the next 7 weeks. Optimism is sky high and as we know the famous saying goes…. ‘It’s the hope that kills you!’ As I touched on yesterday there is certainly more hope around that Europe could be in for a good year and def…

“We have begun to turn things around” ….That could have been plenty of people on a day like today. Was it ASML’s Christophe Fouquet after their superb orders beat or was it Bernard Arnaud on the call post their disappointing numbers? Well, it was neither actually and in fact Rachel Reeves who was delivering a well-reported speech today on levers of growth the UK has to pull. A 3rd runway at Heathrow, development of the Oxford-Cambridge Corridor to create UK’s Silicon Valley and redevelopment of…