magazine archive
magazine archive
Editor's View
Hubble bubble? Strategist warns S&P 500 has moved into ‘sell’ territory
Thursday 31 Jul 2025At the beginning of July, strategists at Bank of America, led by Michael Hartnett, suggested if the S&P 500 index traded above 6,300 points this month it would trigger a ‘sell signal’. Though he added the proviso that ‘overbought markets can stay overbought as greed is harder to conquer than...
Inflation is back – what does it mean for markets?
Thursday 24 Jul 2025Inflation has returned as a live topic for markets as consumer price indices creep up on both sides of the Atlantic. The June reading for UK inflation came in at 3.6% against the 3.4% penciled in, while the US number was 2.7% versus the 2.6% anticipated. The latter was only a smidge ahead of the...
Hefty tariffs on EU imports to US might be good news for British businesses
Thursday 17 Jul 2025As we write, the UK has put itself in a pretty rare position by virtue of already having thrashed out a trade agreement with the US. The Trump administration continues to make threats of hefty levies on imports elsewhere, as Ian Conway explains in this week’s News section, with the EU and Mexico...
Will there really be no more rate cuts from the Fed?
Thursday 10 Jul 2025It’s that time of year when those of us who are following the markets day-to-day take stock of the first six months of 2025 and, in turn, look ahead to what we can expect from the remainder of the year. There are plenty of moving parts to consider, one of which is the future trajectory of interest...
S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit new highs after best quarter in more than a year
Thursday 03 Jul 2025Risk assets are back with a bang, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite closing at record highs on Monday (30 June), after a frantic rally off the lows at the start of the second quarter triggered by ‘Liberation Day’. The whole idea of introducing swingeing tariffs was to bring countries to...
Why it’s good news if Assura accepts the offer from its peer rather than private equity
Thursday 26 Jun 2025If you are of the mind, as I am, that the wave of M&A is a long-term negative for the UK market then there was a positive development on 23 June. GP practices landlord Assura (AGR) announced plans to merge with its peer Primary Health Properties (PHP) rather than be taken over by private equity...
Why straight-talking Morgan Sindall is trading at a new record high
Thursday 19 Jun 2025After nearly two decades of interviewing executives from businesses across the market cap scale from minnows to FTSE 100 firms you get a sense when someone is looking to ramp up their prospects beyond any level of credibility to inflate their share price and when someone is prepared to let the...
Taking stock of a tumultuous year so far for the markets
Thursday 12 Jun 2025The difficulty of calling the fortunes of stocks so far in 2025 has been evident in the performance of Shares’ key selections for the year, as we discuss in a feature in this week’s issue. Hands up, we haven’t covered ourselves in glory so far, even though, in our defence, the market environment...
No signs of fear in markets as ‘TACO trade’ leads US stocks back to highs
Thursday 05 Jun 2025Another month, and another change in trade policy from Donald Trump – from this Wednesday (4 June), imports of steel and aluminium are to face 50% tariffs, double the previous levy, after China allegedly violated some deal or other. Yet markets have barely flinched, with the S&P 500, the Nasdaq...
Could European outperformance hit a roadblock and what about the long-term?
Thursday 29 May 2025The debate about whether a period of US exceptionalism is coming to an end and whether European stocks can close the gap on Wall Street continues. We have seen some evidence of such a shift so far in 2025 but, given the scale and protracted nature of European stocks’ underperformance, there could...