Doom and gloom? The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, (OECD), has warned that the effects of the pandemic will be far reaching and will likely hit the UK harder than other comparable major economies. As the OECD reports of a very slow and difficult recovery for the UK, weRead More →
So, stocks are up and that means all is okay – no I don’t think so. These big stock market bets on economies re-opening quickly and going back to ‘normal’ are likely lulling us in to a false sense of security. We want it to be good again, of courseRead More →
We all know the old adage, ‘sell in May and stay away‘, and there is some truth to it – but not for this May it would appear. Many indices saw good gains. So where now in June? Stocks closed out the month with good gains across the board, buildingRead More →
Tensions between the U.S. and China flared up further again today. China reportedly rejected a U.S. proposal for the Security Council to meet over the issue, whilst U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo declared that Hong Kong is no longer autonomous from Beijing. This morning China is also reported to have approved the controversialRead More →
Too fast too soon? Blind hope or sensible policy? Governments around the world attempt re-opening, but is it too early? Will we be hit with a second wave of the coronavirus? Hope is that the worst of the pandemic is behind us now. How can we know? What does theRead More →
Good news UK and U.S. markets were closed Monday 25th June 2020 – but that didn’t stop European markets roaring ahead yesterday. There are a number of positives for markets to be happy about right now. England is to re-open non-essential shops by mid June. European countries are easing theirRead More →
UK borrowing at record high as virus cost soars Government borrowing surged dramatically to £62 billion in April 2020 according to data released by the Office for National Statistics, was the highest monthly borrowing on record, as a result of substantial government intervention to help ease the coronavirus crisis. TheRead More →
Market jitters On Monday, 18th May 2020 the markets basked in positive news pushing stocks up. Fed chair, Jerome Powell, said he had more ammunition to help the economy recover from its coronavirus hit. Then came more positive news from a U.S. pharmaceutical company, Moderna Inc., saying that their vaccineRead More →
Unemployment claims increased UK unemployment data released at 07:00 BST Tuesday, 19th May 2020 reported a big rise in benefit claims. The benefit claimant count in April 2020 increased by 856,500 to 2.1 million, according to data released from the the Office for National Statistics (ONS). As UK unemployment claims jumped, andRead More →
Vaccine progress As economies struggle to re-open around the globe and as the Fed said that they have more ammunition to fight the virus, came more good news of vaccine progress. Moderna Inc., a U.S. company, announced yesterday that human trials of its coronavirus vaccine showed good progress in allRead More →