“Shocking”, “Truly awful”, “Worst it’s been in a long time”. Nope – not recent feedback on my sales trading but comments I got today on business levels. It’s safe to say it’s quiet out there. Most desks down to bank holiday levels of cover with schools out and it’s still not clear what the catalyst […]

Memorial Day yesterday in the U.S the traditional curtain raiser on the summer holidays and we can now officially get the linen shirts out til Labor Day (6th September). I don’t mind a linen shirt to be honest, they hide a multitude of sins vs some of the other more “honest” fits out there and […]

I never liked football anyway. Always been more of a cricket man to be honest. Let’s move on shall we? Markets another slow bump and grind sideways and up (Stoxx 600 +0.25%) but within it yet more bullish data points that support the moves. The most significant being the largest stock in Europe making another new relative high – LVMH +1% today and +27% ytd and it still feels as though people aren’t quite at the right weighting there.

“You have to feel this is their year. Is this their moment? Beckham into Sheringham … and Solskjaer has won it! Manchester United have reached the Promised Land! Ole Solskjaer! The two substitutes have scored the two goals in stoppage time, and the Treble looms large.”  On this day twenty two years (and what feels like a lifetime) ago I was on Las Ramblas in Barcelona about to go and witness one of the greatest moments in football history.

One of those Tuesdays that feels like a Monday after the false start yesterday – volumes on the S&P the lowest we’ve seen year to date so not just the European holidays to blame for the stasis. We remain very close to kicking on but essentially the bump and grind sideways continues (Stoxx 600 +0.03%).

Well that was a day to forget but it might be a week to remember. Pentecost/Whit Monday meant a lot of markets across Europe either officially closed (Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Austria) or open-but-we’re-not-really-here (basically everywhere apart from the UK which has a bank holiday of its own next Monday). Interestingly in France, Pentecost Monday only became a work day for many workers in 2005. T

We all work in an exciting and dynamic industry where tectonic shifts are peppered with flurries of thematic activity. That’s an important thing to remember when you find yourself in periods such as these where both buy and sellside firms are searching for the next big catalyst. Don’t get me wrong, the inflation debate rages on with eyes looking to which central bank will be first to show their hand in the next upward rate cycle.

It’s alright. We can stop panicking. The anxious wait is over. The “will they, wont they” fretting can come to an end. It’s been a long seven months but the Redburn Snacks Cupboard has been restocked. And not only that – they’re only #BuildingBackBetter. BBQ Beef Hula Hoops an absolutely stellar addition to the line up. Normality returning and anyone who has ventured back into their office this last couple of weeks will attest to busier streets and even the occasional queue for things.

Well well well – that’s a bit more like it. Finally something to actually write about! Bitcoin cratering -30% at one point the obvious place to start but I’m sure you’ll have seen plenty on that so lets look elsewhere for some interesting trends in EU equities that have emerged in the shakeout of the last 24 hours (Stoxx 600 -1.51% – all sectors down on the day). Banks the last major theme that we spotted and that worked well but we’re now very close to the 100 resistance level and it may well be time to look elsewhere for trends.

When the BBC runs one of its main stories as being the “shortage of 99 flakes hitting the UK” and it turns out that there actually isn’t a shortage and that the “surge in demand” isn’t expected to last you can tell it’s a slow news day. The awful scenes in Gaza and Israel aside this was another dot ball of a day as all the sectors that did well yesterday gave a bit back and all the sectors that wobbled yesterday regained their composure.