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Investment Committee Financial Planning News

  • Tech Surge Despite Fluctuations

    • 20th May 2023
    • Posted by: Celticfp
    • Category: Investment Committee
    No Comments
    In the past week, the financial landscape has continued to fluctuate, yet overall, the stock markets have trended upward. Japan's equity market, in particular, has seen a strong performance with consistent growth. This progression has occurred even in light of less than stellar economic data and currency depreciation. Notably, American stock markets have seen impressive growth, driven largely by significant tech companies. Q1 earnings reports have exceeded expectations, marking a return to projected earnings growth for developed world stocks after a half-year decline. In Europe, cyclical sectors have come out on top while real estate has lagged. The year's latter half has seen an approximate 8% growth rate, although the outlook for 2023 as a whole remains modest at a mere 1% compared to 2022. Rising interest rates continue to impact companies, raising concerns about the European Central Bank's future monetary tightening. In the US, retailers have noted a sustained decrease in expenditure on luxury and other discretionary items. Nonetheless, the pent-up demand for services is still being released, especially for sectors such as travel and entertainment. Interestingly, revenue expectations have been exceeded in both regions. In Europe, although margins remain tight, sales have markedly improved. US corporations have also seen an upturn in both sales and margins, reflecting a more stable economic environment. These observations align with improved global service sector purchasing manager indices (PMIs) and the ongoing discussions around banking stress, shareholder cash return, and artificial intelligence during earnings calls. Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly its use and development in chatbot applications, remains a hot topic in business circles. The industry seems divided in its approach to AI, with service companies seeing it as a threat while others view it as an opportunity for cost-cutting. Yet, only a select few stand to benefit directly from AI – namely, hardware manufacturers at the forefront of fast computing and software tech companies with significant capital to invest in research and development. Understandably, the top performers have been hardware giants like NVIDIA and behemoths like Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet. The NASDAQ 100, which includes many of these winners, has shown an improvement in both earnings forecasts and price-to-earnings multiples. This tech surge, reminiscent of the dotcom bubble's onset, is happening amidst a backdrop of not-so-low and even increasing yields, indicating an element of defensive investing. The US dollar's recent strengthening and the tightening liquidity signalled by the rush for offshore dollars are further indications of a cautious investor sentiment. While the promising earnings results, particularly in the US and Europe, bring a measure of optimism, the enduring financial constraints for many companies and the AI-centric narrowing of profitability breadth temper this outlook. Central banks taking a less hawkish stance would indeed bring a greater sense of optimism

    In the past week, the financial landscape has continued to fluctuate, yet overall, the stock markets have trended upward. Japan’s equity market, in particular, has seen a strong performance

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  • Inflation: Central Banks’ Dilemma

    • 9th May 2023
    • Posted by: Celticfp
    • Category: Investment Committee
    No Comments
    Navigating Inflation: Central Banks Face Delicate Balancing Act

    Following the recent coronation bank holiday, the UK now turns its attention to the Bank of England (BoE), as its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is anticipated to increase rates by 0.25%.

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  • Spring Economic Upswing

    • 24th April 2023
    • Posted by: Celticfp
    • Category: Investment Committee
    No Comments
    Spring Economic Upswing Amid Market Shifts

    A relatively calm week has provided a generally favourable environment for risk assets, with recent data indicating that the economy may be warming up during the Spring months.

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  • Glimmers of Hope

    • 11th April 2023
    • Posted by: Celticfp
    • Category: Investment Committee
    No Comments
    Glimmers of Hope for World Markets

    Is there hope for the global economy after the dark days of winter? As the second quarter commences, it appears that the chances of a worldwide recession have decreased compared to the end of last year.

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  • Rebound from Bank Stress

    • 31st March 2023
    • Posted by: Celticfp
    • Category: Investment Committee
    No Comments
    Banking Stress

    The first quarter of 2023 has come to an end, and despite a rollercoaster ride for investors in March, the month ended on a relatively positive note. For the average UK investor who holds a diversified portfolio…

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  • The Collapse of SVB

    • 13th March 2023
    • Posted by: Celticfp
    • Category: Investment Committee
    No Comments
    SVB Fall

    Over the weekend we saw the escalating news around the recent downfall of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), which has been attributed to the sharp rise in interest rates, an inverted yield curve and quantitative tightening.

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  • Balancing Acts

    • 27th February 2023
    • Posted by: Celticfp
    • Category: Investment Committee
    No Comments
    Financial Markets in Feb

    Last week saw global equity markets give back some of February’s earlier gains. Even so, global equities have made a total return of around 5% in £-sterling terms since the start of the year.

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  • Markets accept enduring inflation

    • 20th February 2023
    • Posted by: Celticfp
    • Category: Investment Committee
    No Comments
    Markets Accept inflation

    After a surprisingly strong start to the year in January, February has brought market consolidation rather than a continued uptrend – despite the FTSE100 finally passing the 8,000 points mark.

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  • A positive start to 2023?

    • 6th January 2023
    • Posted by: Celticfp
    • Category: Investment Committee
    No Comments
    New Year 2023

    “Welcome to 2023” said the note on the restaurant door. The door was shut, the lights were off, and another note explained that rail strikes meant staff and customers were unable to get there.

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  • Volatile year draws to a close

    • 19th December 2022
    • Posted by: Celticfp
    • Category: Investment Committee
    No Comments
    Investment Markets Roundup 2022

    We saw broad and deep losses across asset classes in 2022, as investors feared slowing global growth and priced in sharply tighter monetary policy. Sky-high inflation forced interest rate hikes…

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