The Snapshot doesn’t dwell on the weather too much for obvious reasons but last night was ridiculous – 4 seasons not in a day, but in an hour as I was caught in Hail, sun and then rain on my way home. The one we’re most concerned about is certainly the Winds that have been changing the past few days in Equities and we were certainly a little rocked by the moves after we left for the day. The Stoxx 600 opened down over >1% with a broad based risk off stroke of the brush but never really felt lik…

A bit of a spring cleanout in the Morrison household at the weekend and the outcome was despite the amount of arguments it creates it is a very therapeutic process. It’s an interesting experiment so we created a rule to make things simpler: it didn’t matter about how much it cost, if we hadn’t worn/used in a year and don’t envisage that changing in the next year it was for recycling/charity shop. Fair is Fair. Now I have no experience of investment management but this felt a little bit like Equ…

Another choppy day in European Equity markets without learning a huge amount as the Stoxx 600 fluctuated between small gains and losses but ended lower on the day to the tune of 44bps. A macro sort of day following yesterday’s large moves within the FX and Fixed Income worlds and it still feels like this Equity market is playing second fiddle. There was a small pick up in volumes today but post yesterday’s shifts and today’s ECB meeting you would have probably expected activity to be higher.. T…

A gorgeous day in London today and there was a definite temptation to spend the morning sat outside a coffee shop, reading the paper and watching the world go by – enjoy the simpler things in life – It was that kind of morning. No real reason to log on until 1 and get primed and ready for the CPI print which did indeed go on to dictate the day. March CPI was hot across the board though the breakdown was actually quite muted – Energy up 1.1% on the month vs 2.3% in February; Shelter was still 0…

The perfect storm it seemed today – a very thin Tuesday trading day pre U.S. CPI tomorrow felt on the cards with very little catching the eye overnight but certainly hints that there were a few things happening under the surface. We received a lot of questions and incoming on the fairly aggressive move lower in the European defence space from early in the session. Bear in mind that this sub-sector has been one of, if not the, best sectors in Europe for the past couple of years but the combined…

It’s a very big week and all focus on the U.S. as we get to see how some of the biggest names have faired through the start of the year. All attention on if they live up to high expectations, especially the top names and market leaders but any disappointment could be felt far and wide. Maybe there is a surprise or two to come (there always is after all) but you’ve got to think Scottie Scheffler is a warm favourite for good reason for the Masters which kicks off on Thursday. A Green Jacket the p…

I’ve been warned about the ‘terrible two’s’ for nearly a year but we’re finally there in the Morrison Household. Sleep deprivation, agitated by simple things, not good at sitting still and volatile mood swings – maybe the terrible two’s are a natural step on the path to being a Sales-Trader. This certainly feels a time to snooze that alarm and catch up on a bit of sleep right now as the morning news remains on the light side and a quick peak at the earnings calendar shows that JPM kick us off ‘…

There is definitely still a sense that there are lots of people away from their desks and taking advantage of the shortened week here in Europe. The plus side is it is already Wednesday, it is lighter in the evening, and it’s nearly the weekend but those looking for some direction today were left wondering as the Stoxx 600 ended the day +33bps, recovering a little of yesterday’s loss but without much fanfare. Lots of Fed Speakers this week and maybe the market is waiting to hear more from them…

Unexpected sunshine on Saturday really was the icing on the cake for the Easter weekend… So often in this country it is the other way around! Arguably Q1’s equity performance was a slightly unexpected surprise to the upside and we begin Q2 wondering where things may go. More questions than answers at this stage but that is always the case at the start of something. We all know past performance is no indicator of future performance but those looking for signs of what a +>10% rise for the S&P 500…

Well there we have it Q1 is over and done with and it’s been a very good quarter for Equities. We haven’t had any rate cuts, Oil is back climbing, yields are fairly solid and yet Equities across Europe and the U.S. are at or near all-time highs. Impressive. Italy leads the way thanks to the banks, followed by the Euro Stoxx 50 and the DAX whilst the UK…well we’re lagging behind but still +3% on the year. Easter then a chance to relax, spend some time with Family and importantly regroup before Q…