How low central bank rates boost equities We’re living in a new era of very low central bank rates, so we’d do well to understand how they help boost equities! At face value it’s pretty simple: the central bank lowers interest rates which encourages people and businesses to put money to work in the economy,…
A UK 100 Dividend Bonanza The UK’s UK 100 has had a massive boost into the end of the week, having rallied by nearly 200pts since the Bank of England cut interest rates to record lows and boosted both QE and the funding for lending scheme. The index looks to now be consolidating ahead of…
Macro observations Markets pulling back a little on Monday following a disappointing UK Manufacturing PMI print that has fueled the UK’s Brexit-related growth concerns at a time when markets are increasingly unable to rely on central banks to keep the cogs greased. So far we’ve had notable inaction from the Bank of England, US Fed and Bank of…
I’ve one very good reason why Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England (BoE), shouldn’t cut UK interest rates next week. That’s not to say he shouldn’t do anything at all in terms of additional monetary stimulus. Intervention is very likely to be required in light of Brexit, and we’d be wise to get…
When investing in the stock market, many a smart investor will jump on (or off…) past performance without looking at the future outlook. Those that saw Lloyds Banking Group’s results and went long would’ve suffered. Likewise those that saw Barclays today and sold out of their position off the back of a ‘disappointing’ set of…
Shares in Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) fell by up to 5% on Thursday despite half-year profits doubling on the same period last year. Didn’t investors get the memo?! No, it looks like they got the other one – the ‘3000 more job cuts and 200 more branch closures by end-2017‘ one. Oh, and the ‘FCA investigation into the…