Stock Take Last week, UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt released his inaugural Autumn Statement, which received a very different reaction to the ‘mini-budget’ of his predecessor. While Kwarteng’s Budget in September had offered tax cuts paid for with borrowing, Hunt instead offered a sobering medium-term picture, with an increased tax burden for the population meeting tightened…

Stock Take Last week was very much a tale of two continents, with improving inflation figures in the US contrasting with a drop in UK GDP. Outside of this, arguably the biggest news was the US midterm elections, where a predicted ‘Red Wave’ was expected to see President Joe Biden’s Democrats lose control of both…

Stock Take Not for the first time this year, markets have been dominated by interest rate discussions, with decisions coming from both the UK and the US last week. In the UK, the Bank of England (BoE) raised rates to 3% – a 0.75% increase – as it sought to limit inflation. This is the…

Stock Take “Mistakes were made.” This was Sunak’s summary of Truss’s short tenure as Prime Minister after he succeeded her last week. While he said her aims were noble, he had been elected in part to fix them, as he looks to place economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government’s agenda. We’ll…

Stock Take Jeremy Hunt is a Generation X, so he may remember the early-80s chart hit, “Rip it up and start again”. Last week, he did just that. In normal times, news that a chancellor had binned his prime minister’s economic plan would have stolen the headlines. But as Harold Wilson once quipped, “A week…

Stock Take “The economy, stupid!” So read the sign on the wall of Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign headquarters, reminding his team what mattered most to voters. It worked for him in 1992. In 2022, Liz Truss has been taught a harsh lesson in what happens if you don’t get your messaging right. Another tumultuous week…

Stock Take In 1972, Led Zeppelin recorded ‘The Song Remains the Same’. Fifty years on, market commentators could also be excused for wishing someone would change the music. Once again, inflation and the Federal Reserve dominated the headlines. It was a week of two halves. Global stocks started the week strongly. The MSCI World equity…

Stock Take The fallout from the new UK government’s “Growth Plan” continued last week with the domestic sovereign bond market experiencing unprecedented volatility. The announcement of huge tax cuts alongside the previously announced energy subsidy package – both to be funded through considerable borrowing – spooked financial markets. The result was that government bond yields…

Stock Take On Friday, new UK Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng delivered a series of tax cuts as part what was originally dubbed a ‘mini budget’. The ‘mini’ description ended up being misnomer, as Kwarteng delivered a set of reforms and changes, which have been described as the biggest tax cuts in 50 years and have caused…

Stock Take The people have spoken. Or to be more precise, 0.29% of the population has decided that Liz Truss is to be the new leader of the Conservative Party, and the UK’s next prime minister. After a quick trip to Balmoral tomorrow, she will need to hit the ground running on an unenviable list…