Returning themes;   Trump’s dislike of German Cars;  Long wave economic analysis: A new ‘K-spring’ (up cycle) dawning?;  Chinese central bank playing Whack-A-Mole with their economy? Returning themes US industry contrary to the stock market appears to not yet believe in Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda. Soft forward indicators like purchasing manager surveys may all be… Read more »

Return of the ‘old normal’ or calm before the storm?;  Central bank monetary policy: Divergence; Emerging Markets Outperform; Intel bets big on driverless cars Return of the ‘old normal’ or calm before the storm? The first quarter of 2017, therefore, feels like another one of those rare ‘Goldilocks’ periods, when the stock market climate is neither… Read more »

The Chancellor’s spring Budget: still waiting for a cure?;   UK Housing Stable, London Faltering;   Bitcoin more valuable than gold?;   Snap Inc: The hottest IPO turns lukewarm as investors consider the future of advertising;   Does waning Chinese stimulus threaten global growth?;   Prospect Theory: the problem of ‘perceived performance’ The Chancellor’s spring… Read more »

Below are some of the key announcements in the Budget: Self-employed workers will see their Class 4 national insurance contributions (NICs) increase by 1% to 10% in April 2018, with a further percentage point rise to 11% from April 2019. The government had previously announced that Class 2 NICs will be abolished from April 2018. The… Read more »

February 2017 asset class returns;   Sentiment shift or still ‘Trump rally’?;   Europe: Welcome return to broad based growth; UK economy: too reliant on the consumer? February 2017 asset class returns For the moment the jury is out, whether the economic momentum that has built up since April/May last year will overcome political headwinds… Read more »