Maybe the most positive thing to take from today was that despite Fresenius Medical (-17%), Fresenius (-8%), LVMH (-6%), Richemont (-4%) all down fairly hard and a bunch of warnings across the UK (Travis Perkins, Page group, Forterra) we still managed to eke out a gain with the Stoxx 600 closing up 15bps. “Where would we be without Novo Nordisk?” a client asked me today and the answer undoubtedly is lower! It was arguably a bit of a nothing day all things considered with Fed minutes this eveni…

A week in France away from the screens a lovely break but I still managed to provide some humour for my family as I asked where the village of ‘Rappel’ actually was whilst driving along the French countryside and seeing multiple signs for it – clearly a little reminder that my limited French was indeed very limited. Today’s Equity rally took inspiration from a pop in Treasuries that have been battered of late once they reopened in Asian trading following some fairly dovish comments yesterday fr…

Those of us that commute into London via rail have by now got used to train strikes, & those of us early birds travelling in at stupid-o-clock know the day after a train strike (today for instance) is impacted too. Luckily for me, coming in from Shenfield I rely heavily on the Elizabeth Line (Crossrail) which was described by the manufacturer of its rolling stock as a line that will “transform London”. Well, that manufacturer is none other than Alstom, and the only transforming they’ve done tod…

“It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life for me… and I’m feelin’ good…” The dulcet tones of Nina Simone were running through my head this morning as we headed into Q4 with a US gov’t shut down averted, China ‘official’ PMI data Saturday morning beating cons, and signs of early qtr confidence… BUT… and there is a but! The congratulatory applauding by US politicians for staying up late on Saturday to get a deal over the line only kicks the can further down the road, with far right Republ…

It seems there has been a dramatic step up in the trade wars between China and the U.S. this week as it has been reported that China is requesting back all their Panda’s from U.S. zoos and by next year there will be none left. I can’t help but imagine some sort of Madagascar remake in years to come to feature the Panda’s plotting their path back to China. If that isn’t a political play I don’t know what is. Aside from Panda diplomacy which we now have to navigate China are now on holiday for Go…

My day was saved by our analyst Ashton who came back from the AG Barr meeting post their pretty good numbers laden with gifts from the motherland. AG Barr are (in my opinion) most famous for creating Irn-Bru (out of Girders) though what was presented to me was their rival to Red Bull – PWR-BRU. Lacking a little bit of energy I put it to the test and its fair to say its got a bit of a kick to it but I guess that is the intention. The Snapshot could largely mirror yesterdays with Equities falling…

It’s a bonanza few weeks in the sporting world and many will have written off the European Ladies having been down 4-0 after the first session of the Solheim Cup but when the lone Spaniard in Europe’s team on home soil, Carlota Ciganda stepped up to drain her birdie putt on 17 the Solheim Cup was retained. Amazing scenes on the south coast of Spain. Putting together a round of golf is a tricky task and when things go against you it can turn fairly quickly. That is a bit like Equity markets at t…

“So far this year, despite pressures on the cost of living, consumer demand appears to have defied gravity!” Not from the BOE statement today but from Next. Alongside a very good trading update their statement was full of important snippets on the economy. They are finding it easier to recruit, the softening labour market may dampen growth in consumer demand and cost of good price inflation is easing. Defying gravity for now then but possibly some early warning signs for next year. Next year th…

The Snapshot has been fairly downbeat of late and I am aware of that. There haven’t been too many reasons to rejoice or celebrate and they still aren’t queuing up but it was a lovely start to the day to see UK inflation come in not just below expectations but below the previous reading. Despite higher petrol prices CPI fell from 6.8% in July to 6.7% in August and core CPI (ex-food and energy) was down significantly to 6.2% (cons 6.8%) after 6.9% in July. All supportive signs and traders cut pro…

Autumn is here – not because of the date, or the weather but because the Pumpkin Spiced Latte is back on the menu at Pret. “A warming, seasonal treat” they say and I have to agree. As mentioned before there isn’t a huge amount of this season that fills the Equity markets with warmth so maybe that’s where we’ll have to get our fix until October (hopefully anyway). European markets once again struggled and although the overall performance was better than yesterday it felt stuck in 2nd gear for mo…