Macro observations USD strengthening off back of good US macro-data ECB to update markets on its policy stance this week (Thurs) – markets expectant of more negative rates / reassuring rhetoric (‘whatever it takes…’) rather than an all-out expansion of QE Note continued divergence between Eurozone and US central banks (US standing pat, E/Zone easing) Key…

Now we’re out the other side of the traditional half hour’s toing and froing that markets always do when non-farm payrolls comes out, let’s talk about what it all means. I for one am a little tired of all the whooping and hollering concerning this flagship data print and, to us, it means very little….

“Be Fearful When Others Are Greedy and Greedy When Others Are Fearful” – Warren Buffett. Probably my favourite financial maxim. It often seems counterintuitive but actually constitutes good advice. When the UK 100 Index recently fell to 5,500 my phone wasn’t exactly ringing off of the hook, yet it has done this week with the…

Good news for those interested in the UK banks, and Lloyds (LLOY) in particular. The high-street bank recently confirmed an enticing 0.5p special dividend for shareholders, taking their yield to a solid 4% amid its continued post-crisis turnaround. Yet even more exciting is the recent market rally seeing the shares recover to the government’s 73.6p…

Barclays shares are having a shocker of a day – down over 10% which now puts them around 2011 lows. The reasons, they say: FY adjusted pre-tax profit -2%, quarterly profits -50%, £1.4bn in additional provisions for PPI, dividend slashed and a muted outlook for investment ban king division in Q1 2016. It’s the latter that’s…

London Stock Exchange shares have taken another leg up to make fresh all-time highs based on potential competing bids for its operations. Intercontinental Exchange (ICE: owner of 23 exchanges across the US, Canada and Europe, incl. NYSE and London’s LIFFE futures) could be mulling swooping in with a more interesting and rival bid to the…