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The Bank of England Does Something Only Previously Done in a World War
BUT DON'T PANIC. THIS TIME IS DIFFERENT… On November 2nd the Bank of England did something that it has only ever done before at the beginning of a World War. It doubled the Base Rate. The…
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…
Small is beautiful
It has become commonplace to say that the UK is facing uncertainty: from its borders, to its trading arrangements, to its political make-up, Brexit brings plenty of potential pitfalls. In theory, UK smaller companies should…
Bernanke’s latest monetary policy framework isn’t novel – it’s 90 years old For Professional Investors Only
Recently Ben Bernanke proposed a new framework for inflation targeting and monetary policy setting when interest rates are at the zero-lower bound (ZLB), exploring the idea that the Federal Reserve (Fed) should aim at price-level…
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…
Patience is a virtue…
Though they have enjoyed a strong rebound over the course of 2017, uncertainty continues to dog UK smaller companies as a result of increasingly poor economic data and ongoing – and seemingly futile – Brexit…
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.…
The Bank of England prepares for a historic hike – is it jumping the gun? For Professional Investors Only
November 2, 2017 may go down as a historic day: it could be the first time in 3,773 days that the Bank of England raises the base rate. Of course, this is not the first…
Thoughts Ahead of the ECB
By this time next week, we will know the outcome of the deliberations of the European Central Bank. The majority of forecasters expect an announcement on their QE programme, with a EUR20 billion or EUR30…
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…
Making sense of platforms
The costs of holding and trading investment companies on platforms differ widely. Our new research reveals the full picture. Many investors struggle to choose a platform for their investment company holdings as the pricing structure…
Letter From Japan
GEORGE PALMER HAS RECENTLY TRAVELLED TO JAPAN TO MEET COMPANIES THAT WE OWN AND MANY THAT WE DON'T. Due to some odd airline scheduling it is difficult to sleep on the way to Tokyo which…
The Risk of Doing Nothing
I'm forever blowing bubbles, Pretty bubbles in the air, They fly so high, nearly reach the sky, Then like my dreams they fade and die John Kellette, Jaan Kenbrovin 1918 Hardly a day goes by…
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.…
Actively Riding the Wave of ‘Creative Disruption’ For Professional Investors Only
Inspired by economist Joseph Schumpeter’s concept of “creative destruction”, the unspoken theme of Allianz Global Investors’ most recent Investment Forum seemed to be “creative disruption”. Session topics devoted to three types of disruption – technological,…
“Central Bankers Face a Crisis of Confidence as Models Fail”
The title of this week’s commentary is the title of an FT article published at the end of last week as monetary authorities gather in Washington for the annual meetings of the IMF and World…