Global News: In the US, share prices are at new highs – promoted by the strengthening economy, consumer confidence, anticipated profits and reduced taxes. US factory orders saw an increase that was slightly higher than expected at 2.7% month-on-month in October; it was expected to gain 2.6%. Overall, orders rose by 1.3% year-on-year, this is…
Global News: The MSCI World Index is just -1.3% from its record high, in dollar terms. It is 19.3% up from its low on 11 February 2016. In the US, Markit Composite Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) is at a healthy 54.9. The growth of durable goods orders was expected to be 1.7% but came in…
Global News: We have seen Mexico’s currency fall sharply since Trump was elected. The euro itself is trading near its lowest level versus the dollar in 13.5 years at $1.063 to the euro (hit $1.60 in 2008 and $1.50 in 2011). The Chinese currency is down -6.4% against the dollar so far in 2016, at…
Global News: In the US, it was thought that the markets would stumble in the event of a Trump victory. In actuality, they have performed relatively well. The stock markets had their best performing week in two years. The S&P 500 Index increased by 3.8%, the Nasdaq rose 3.8%, the smaller-cap Russell 2000 index increased…
Just when we thought it was safe to confirm that things had settled into a “new normal”, it seems perhaps they had not, the “old normal” is back and, to quote a cliché, the only constant is change. For a number of years, we had settled into a rhythm whereby commodity prices were declining, the…
