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Our Base Case Scenario
Our base case scenario remains unchanged. We think that the post Global Financial Crisis economic recovery is now in the late cycle stage. The US is the most mature, and naturally the Federal Reserve is…
Week in review: electric nightmares?
Global equity markets failed to light up this week as investors reacted to mixed economic data and corporate earnings news. At first, positive corporate trading reports were thin on the ground, and included a disappointing…
Still swimming in calm seas?
Alex Scott, Deputy Chief Investment Officer, Seven Investment Management Markets are maintaining the state of dead calm that we wrote about last month. The clock ticks on, with little sign of equity volatility. The tally…
Credit Market Wobbles Setup Potential Equity Market Test
After over a year without a more than 3% correction in the S&P 500, surely it is a matter of time before something wobbles and equity markets react. To be fair, the market has had…
Week in Review: “And now there came an Amazon …”
So ends one version of the Iliad, as the Amazon queen Penthesilea arrives to do battle with the Greeks. The Amazons of ancient myth were fearsome female warriors from Scythia. The modern incarnation is an e-commerce…
Foreword from Annabel-Brodie Smith
I’m thrilled that we have a new contributor to Compass this month, namely Ian Cowie. Ian is one of the most experienced investment journalists and has been an investor and supporter of investment companies for…
Why the interest in cryptocurrencies?
By Ben Kumar, Investment Manager When something is being touted as a new asset class, multi-asset managers should pay attention, and there is a real buzz going on about cryptocurrencies at the moment. Since April…
Week in Review: take a hike
The Bank of England increased interest rates for the first time in a decade in an effort to ward off inflation pressures. Its Monetary Policy Committee voted seven to two in favour of raising the…
A Patchy Dollar Breakout
For the time being, we are struggling to find much to say about equity markets. Generically, they just go up. They go up when bond yields decline; they go up when bond yields rise. They…
Week in review: Tech stock shock on ‘Super Thursday’
“Big Tech” continues to smash analysts’ forecasts. Shares in Alphabet – Google’s parent company – Amazon, Microsoft and Twitter all moved sharply higher on Thursday. The S&P 500 technology index has now gained more than…
A state of dead calm
Alex Scott, Deputy Chief Investment Officer, Seven Investment Management As we write, stockmarkets are in the midst of an eerie calm. It’s worth understanding the historical context of just how extraordinary today’s conditions really are.…
Week in Review: Damage from Catalonia?
In a mixed week for the world’s stock markets, European shares fell sharply on Thursday as the Spanish government indicated that it would seek to invoke Article 155 of the Spanish constitution and suspend Catalonia’s…
Where’s the clever money going? October 2017
Sterling movements continue to drive returns for UK investors. Since our last posting towards the end of September, the FTSE 100 has moved steadily upward, remaining above 7500 since 10 October and closing at a…
A love of acronyms
by Ben Kumar, Investment Manager, Seven Investment Management Ideas are dangerous things. Acronyms are worse. Acronyms distil complex ideas into something easy to remember. If they get really popular, however, the acronym becomes the idea.…
Week in Review: Chips with that?
Korea has rarely been far from the headlines recently, given the North’s nuclear tests and missile launches. But the Korean Peninsula offers chips as well as fission. With microchip sales soaring, South Korean shares have…
Big Picture Thoughts as we Head into Q4
Throughout most of the third quarter, it feels like we have been almost obsessively focused on calling a turn higher in both developed market bond yields and the US Dollar. After what feels like forever,…
Week in review: Manchester May-day
British Prime Minister Theresa May used her keynote speech to deliver a powerful message to the Conservative Party’s annual conference in Manchester this week. That message? “Bui_ding a c__ntry tha_ _orks _or ___ryon_”.* Mrs May’s…
A Synchronised Global Economic Upswing
All major economies are growing for first time since 2007 Amid the gloom and doom that characterises a lot of commentary about our world today, we think it worth noting that the global economy, by…