The EU’s announcement that it expects an additional £1.7 billion from the UK is both reasonable on a pan-European level, but unreasonable in the context of the UK. Crucially, it acts as a poignant reminder as to why the UK
Tuesday 1st July, US domestic car sales forecast at 5.6 million year on year: Although this represents a recovery from lows of around 3 million in 2008/9, this still appears to be part of a trend that is some way
Tuesday June 24th, US consumer confidence expected to rise (to 83.5 from 83) Although confidence is expected to pick up, it should come as no surprise that US consumers are still less chirpy than they were before the crash of
This week we can look forward to a decrease in UK earnings, a forecast increase in Eurozone industrial production and a rise in Spanish CPI inflation. Tuesday 10th June, Italian GDP for Q1 forecast at -0.1 percent and -0.5 percent
Why did the European Central Bank cut rates and introduce a negative overnight deposit rate which will essentially charge European Banks for the privilege of avoiding risk and depositing cash with the European Central Bank? This is best explained through
Bank of England lending has slipped back, UK house prices are growing, Eurozone GDP could be revised down further, the European Central Bank will decide on interest rates and the US will release its latest employment figures. Mon 2nd June,
Following last week’s local elections, 32 local councils were left with no one party able to control the council. Of these, a fifth (seven councils in total*) would have a working majority if UKIP and Conservatives were able to come
The US housing market is cooling, Eurozone banks are reducing lending and India’s new Prime Minister will learn the full scale of the challenge before him. Tuesday 27th May, US CaseShiller Home Prices (forecast rise of 11.8 percent) Although the
The FTSE 100 was down on Monday morning following a big selloff in AstraZeneca after the AstraZeneca board opted to reject an offer from Pfizer worth £55 a share. Given the shares traded at £37 a share prior to the
The recent furore over the prospective takeover of AstraZeneca by US pharmaceutical conglomerate, Pfizer, for approximately $100 billion was to be expected. Having initially, and rightly, proclaimed the proposed takeover as a vote of confidence in the UK as a
In our weekly preview of the financial markets we look at US home sales, the growth of the EU money supply, Eurozone inflation and unemployment, and rising UK house prices. Monday 28th April, US Pending home sales forecast to rise
Former Bank of England Governor, Mervyn King, was yesterday awarded the UK’s highest honour in his appointment to the Order of the Garter. The honour, which is given annually on St.George’s day, sees Sir Mervyn join only 22 other Knights
We are likely to see economic data to take a backseat if the Ukrainian situation takes a turn for the worst, with European markets wobbling in morning trading (the FTSE 250 down 1.6 percent at noon GMT). With a Monday
Last week saw another European Central Bank interest rate meeting in which the ECB chose to remain active in the face of inflation declining to its lowest level in 5 years. Only five years ago, the Eurozone was in the
Another week in which European inflation data dominated the headlines, following an unexpected slip by Spain in to deflation (down 0.2 percent), saw pressure mount on the ECB to undertake some kind of intervention- and fast- to avoid the region
Last week proved to be interesting for the UK, with a big shake up of the savings and pensions industry in George Osborne’s budget meaning pensioners would no longer essentially be forced to take out annuities on retirement and could
The budget today is presented against a backdrop where the UK still is among the worst performers in terms of productivity in the G7 along with a terrible trade deficit that remains unchanged from when the coalition took charge. Furthermore,
Another week, and another raft of data that will attempt to give some direction to these otherwise directionless markets. Over in the UK, the FTSE 100 has been ‘range bound’ (meaning it struggled to get any real momentum behind it).
An interesting week last week saw February non-farm payrolls beat expectations, potentially suggesting that the US recovery is on a firm footing in the medium term. Similar to the UK, however, we saw that the unemployment rate actually went up
With much of the news flow likely to be dictated by events as they unfold in the Ukraine, the markets are most likely going to be highly volatile and responsive to every new major development. This has already been evidenced
Last week’s economic data confirmed an emerging trend, with inflation in the developed world consistently falling. Meanwhile, US Housing Starts fell off rather sharply. While the powers that be were keen to peddle the idea that it was down to
At a glance, Facebook’s swoop to purchase WhatsApp for $19 billion appears eye watering, even if much of it is in stock (or funny money). The cash being paid still amounts to $4 billion, which eclipses Google’s $1.6 billion takeover
As had been predicted, the UK Consumer Price Index (CPI) declined once again — this time to 1.9 percent, down from 2.03 percent. The likelihood of CPI falling short of the two percent forecasts was something I alluded to in my
