Economic and market insight
Review of the week
Review of the week: Gloves off?
US stocks held up well during a wild week of White House adjustments to its tariff policies. US government bonds and the dollar were less fortunate.
6 mins
Review of the week: The emperor's new tariffs
Markets are tumbling fast in response to US tariffs that will upend global trade. Perhaps more dangerous than the policy itself is just how silly it makes the administration look.
9 mins
Review of the week: The language of trade
The US government plans to slap tariffs on virtually all imports to the US as part of ‘Liberation Day’. The details are yet to be revealed, but the most immediate effect is already apparent: higher prices.
1 min
Review of the week: Borrowing rises ahead of UK spring forecast
The government is poised to cut public spending. Will its Spring Forecast also tinker with taxes and borrowing? If so, UK government bonds could bear the brunt.
1 min
Review of the week: Take a breath
American stocks have taken a jolt downward, rattled by an escalating trade war and an unpredictable President. It’s not a time to panic.
1 min
Review of the week: MEGA moves for Europe
American threats to hit Europe with tariffs and abandon NATO may have spurred the EU to loosen the purse strings and invest heavily in infrastructure and its own defence. Continental stocks are rising rapidly in anticipation of a sea change for Europe.
1 min
Review of the week: Is Europe at sea?
Seismic geopolitical changes are wrenching the post-war global order, straining the transatlantic partnership and upending supply chains. Investors are recalculating furiously, putting financial markets in flux as well.
1 min
Review of the week: Big changes, big uncertainty
The anticipation of Trump 2.0 has driven stock market excitement and household confidence in the months since his election. Now he’s in office, is the reality starting to subdue that optimism?
1 min
Review of the week: The ecstasy of gold
Gold hit an all-time high last week, just in time for Valentine’s Day. But it’s not lovers who are doing all the buying.
1 min
Review of the week: All fine bar the tariffs
Despite a whirlwind week of tit-for-tat on trade, borrowing costs have fallen back. Will this boon for investors, households and governments outlast the next inflation print?
1 min
Review of the week: The Trump train rolls on
The White House has issued a flurry of decrees in its first fortnight. While not unexpected, they’re already creating unease in markets and chaos in the government.
1 min
Review of the week: DeepSeek or deep fake?
A Chinese start-up says it created an AI tool at a fraction of the cost that Western rivals paid. It shouldn’t be a fatal blow, but the development should trigger answers to lingering investor concerns on runaway chip buying.
1 min
Clowns and dragons
Fantastical blockbusters like House of the Dragon aren’t for our head of multi-asset investments David Coombs. For him, nothing beats a gritty realistic drama. Besides, you can’t dream up anything crazier than real life in the year 2025.
6 mins
Testing the waters: making a splash in more effective conservation
Water utilities face intense pressure to better conserve this limited resource. Sustainable investment analyst Neil Smith explains how innovative water testing kit helps them reuse water more safely.
4 mins
The silence is deafening
Sharp falls in US stocks seemed to quieten the President a little. Yet, with ‘Liberation Day’ approaching, multi-asset equity analyst Emma Letheren notes that companies’ ability to pass on higher costs is about to be tested.
4 mins
MAGA? The US is already great
Sunny Florida is always going to look better than grey old London in late winter. Yet multi-asset equity analyst Emma Letheren saw a vibrancy there that’s truly foreign to Britain.
3 mins
Taking the brakes off Britain?
After months of keeping their feet firmly on the growth brake, Rathbone Income Fund Manager Alan Dobbie asks whether the government and central bank might simultaneously be nudging towards the accelerator.
4 mins
Skipping a beat
Whether you love Trump or hate him, you can’t argue that he’s giving the world a tremendous shock. Multi-asset portfolios fund manager Will McIntosh-Whyte unpicks the good from the toxic and explains how he’s investing in the relationship.
6 mins
Are you 100% faithful to Net Zero?
Fresh from finishing the latest season of The Traitors, our engagement analyst Jenny Twigg is ready for much more open dialogue with our investments in the year ahead.
3 mins
A massive active risk, passively taken
This week’s AI sell-off will leave many passive investors nursing big losses. Investment specialist Michael Cumberlidge argues shocks like these reinforce the benefits of active management.
4 mins
Sounds of the 70s
The 1970s is a good time to be nostalgic about, says head of multi-asset investments David Coombs. But you don’t want to relive it: the reality wasn’t as fun as the legendary music would have you believe.
4 mins
Waste Not, Want Not
The transformation of landfill gas from climate-impacting pollutant to useful, renewable fuel sounds too good to be true. It’s not an easy path, notes sustainable equity analyst Neil Smith, but one company has found the treasure map.
5 mins
New Year, New Me
There’s nothing more irrational and banal than a new year refresh. But we all instinctively do it, so head of multi-asset investments David Coombs took the time to review the prospects for AI and healthcare.
7 mins
Weathering the stormy gilt market
It’s not just the weather outside that’s wild. Caught in the eye of global bond turbulence, weak gilts are driving UK borrowing costs to precipitous highs. Head of fixed income Bryn Jones explains why he’s warming to higher-yielding UK government bonds as others get cold feet.
6 mins
