Economic and market insight
Review of the week
Review of the week: Biden bows out
After weeks of pressure, President Joe Biden has abandoned his bid for re-election. Will there be a battle for the Democratic nomination at next month’s party convention in Chicago, or will his successor be coronated quickly?
7 mins
Review of the week: Is the door opening to us rate cuts?
Political violence in the US is overshadowing last week’s big moves in the biggest US stocks, and widespread gains for smaller stocks too.
6 mins
Review of the week: Labour waltzes to victory
Sometimes polls are right and sometimes polls are wrong. Last week, we saw classic examples of both.
5 mins
Review of the week: The wave
The right-wing Rassemblement National was the big winner in the first round of French elections, but the most conclusive vote comes this weekend. Before then, the UK votes on its own Parliament.
7 mins
Review of the week: Political football
France goes to the polls for the first round of voting, the two candidates for the White House spar and the Euro knockout phase begins.
6 mins
Review of the week: Getting ahead of the Fed
The US Federal Reserve rows back on the potential for interest rate cuts even as inflation improves. Meanwhile, the French election also reverberates through bond markets.
7 mins
Review of the week: The year of the election heats up
The Year of the Election is already providing warning signs to expect the unexpected. Even when outcomes aren’t a huge surprise, painful (if temporary) pitfalls may lie ahead.
7 mins
Review of the week: The pathetic fallacy
Uncomfortable weather hangs over the UK and its markets as everyone waits for a sign of summer.
7 mins
Review of the week: Snap election, new policies
With the UK heading to the polls sooner than expected, the government announces policies that resonate with older voters. Meanwhile, disappointing inflation may have kiboshed a summer rate cut.
5 mins
Review of the week: Divergence emerges
US economic data is softening, yet there seems a way to go before interest rates start to fall. On this side of the Atlantic it’s the complete opposite.
6 mins
Review of the week: The cycle of hope
A run of weaker data is rekindling expectations of US interest rate cuts. They’re more likely to arrive on the other side of the Atlantic, yet even there risks of overoptimism remain.
5 mins
Review of the week: The Federal Reserve riddle
Fading strength in the labour market and services businesses have increased hopes that interest rates can still be cut this year. Everybody is watching the Fed watch the data.
5 mins
Guess who’s back?
Former President Donald Trump is the odds-on favourite to win the US election in November, despite the Democrats’ decision to bring on a last-minute substitute. Flashbacks to the bad old days of the pandemic help Multi-Asset Fund Manager David Coombs remember the playbook of dealing with him.
5 mins
Record rotations in stocks and English Euros hopes
Multi-asset fund manager David Coombs channels some empathy for Gareth Southgate, as he looks to put together a portfolio that can achieve optimal performance over the long haul, but may look out of touch during periods when market momentum is against you.
6 mins
Things can only get better for UK equities
Labour will form the next government in the UK. While it may take time, new ideas could help solve the nation’s long-standing lack of investment and help boost the stock market from its doldrums, argues Rathbone Income Fund Manager Alan Dobbie.
4 mins
The end of a long winter for UK stocks?
Could fortunes be turning for British stocks, asks Rathbone UK Opportunities Fund Manager Alexandra Jackson. As the UK prepares to vote in the sunshine, investors seem more optimistic than they’ve been for years.
3 mins
An electric future
You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone – or gets super expensive, notes equity investment specialist Michael Cumberlidge. Demands on our electricity grids are going to grow rapidly in coming years, so we need to invest in them now.
5 mins
Can less be more?
Rathbone Income Fund Manager Carl Stick argues that relentlessly busy bees aren’t always as productive as they seem. Might the answer be to do fewer things better?
4 mins
AI: just what the doctor ordered
Since joining our Multi-Asset Team earlier this year as a fixed income analyst, Sally Hoang has really enjoyed the cross-asset lens that’s used when analysing investments. Combined with her background as a pharmacist, it helps her understand the potential for AI in healthcare.
4 mins
Can sustainable bonds offer shelter from the storm?
Sticky inflation and wild swings in rate-cut expectations have tested investors’ mettle over the last few months. Assistant Rathbone Greenbank Global Sustainable Bond Fund Manager Christie Goncalves explains why she believes sustainable bonds could be one corner of the fixed income market offering welcome resilience.
4 mins
Are govvies as exciting as murder in the Mediterranean?
Government bonds have given investors whiplash as their yields bounce around the place like a psychopath in 1950s Italy. Yet multi-asset portfolios fund manager David Coombs explains why he’s holding on tight.
5 mins
Challenger comebacks
Rathbone UK Opportunities Fund equity analyst Robbie Carr marvels at the speed of an FA Cup comeback. It makes him wonder if UK small and mid-sized companies could soon post a rapid recovery of their own.
2 mins
Stopping the Exodus to Uncle Sam
What’s needed to stem the flow of UK companies rushing to list abroad? Head of multi-asset investments David Coombs has some suggestions.
3 mins
Locking in bond income for longer
Bond fund manager Stuart Chilvers explains why lower interest rates won’t sap corporate bonds’ juicy income yields straightaway.
4 mins