Last Updated: September 30, 2025

It’s been a red hot week. Temperatures soared around the globe, sparking forest fires in the Arctic Circle and Brits to long for winter.
Red hot US GDP growth rocketed to an annualised 4.1% in the second quarter (it’s running at 2.8% for the past 12 months).

Last Updated: September 30, 2025

American company earnings grew 20% in the second quarter, relative to a year ago, and profit margins are at record levels.

Last Updated: September 30, 2025

The beautiful thing about the World Cup is how it reminds you that we are all of us alike.

Last Updated: September 30, 2025

Brexiteer-in-chief David Davis has resigned in protest of the soft Brexit strategy revealed by the Prime Minister at the weekend.

Last Updated: September 30, 2025

There’s nothing like an off-site to get everyone back on the same page.
The warring UK Cabinet is meeting this Friday at the Prime Minister’s country house, Chequers, in the Chiltern Hills. Theresa May’s top ministers have been at loggerheads since her election – we all know how divisive Brexit can be. However, things have got a bit out of hand over the past few weeks. Cabinet members have gone increasingly rogue without censure, exposing just how fragile the Prime Minister is.

Last Updated: September 30, 2025

For months the US and China have been trading angry words about tariffs, but for the most part the spat has seemed simply that: words and unlikely to come to anything lasting.

Last Updated: September 30, 2025

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? When the European Central Bank (ECB) finally bit the bullet and called time on its asset purchase programme last week, its hawkish announcement passed almost unheard by the markets. The euro did fall 1% against the dollar, presumably on concerns that the eurozone economy might still need the life support. But there was a negligible decline in bund yields, while most major European equity markets rallied in response to the announcement.

Last Updated: September 30, 2025

A slew of important Brexit votes on Tuesday and Wednesday will be a litmus test for Theresa May’s leadership.

Last Updated: September 30, 2025

The Italian political crisis turned out to be a storm in an espresso cup.
Damaging policies dreamed up by the right-wing/left-wing coalition sent Italian debt yields upward at a gallop. Then the President vetoed prospective Cabinet members and yields really took off. The two-year government bond got as high as 2.70% last week; it was -0.25% just three weeks ago. This morning, that had calmed right down to about 0.72%.

Last Updated: September 30, 2025

Rathbone Unit Trust Management (Rathbones) confirms its intention to launch four offshore funds, offering Europe-based investors access to its UK funds for the first time.

Last Updated: September 30, 2025

This week will be dominated by three major central bank meetings, and investors asking if the US Federal Reserve will hike rates, if the ECB will end QE and if there will be any action at all from the Bank of Japan?

Last Updated: September 30, 2025

We think it’s prudent to discuss the possible escalation of a global trade war and any impact it might have on our portfolio. Recent volatile market movements highlighted just how sensitive the market has become to protectionist rhetoric, certainly in the short term.