News

Market Update 22nd May 2023

News: 22 May 2023

It would be very easy to be very harsh on the water companies. References to prioritising dividends and executive pay over customers come easily. But before we all jump on the privatisation-is-wrong bandwagon, we might also surmise that the state of our water infrastructure might have been even worse under public ownership.

Market Update 15th May 2023

News: 15 May 2023

The markets think it has overdone it and are expecting rate cuts by the year end. The main US equity indices look as if they are holding up pretty well at the moment. There are smoke and mirrors at work here, though.

ChatGPT - Rise of the machines?

News: 26 April 2023

Type ‘can you write me a fairytale that would take me around 5 minutes to read to my children’ into the search bar and within seconds it will write one for you. ‘Design me a meal plan for a vegetarian consuming 2000kcals per day, excluding broccoli’ – it will immediately produce a meal plan right there and then, with no broccoli in sight.

Market Update 24th April 2023

News: 24 April 2023

The structures of the gardens were planted not on the basis of what will happen in the next three months, or year, or even five years. They were planted with an understanding that they could only be properly appreciated by distant generations.

Market Update 17th April 2023

News: 17 April 2023

Anyway, it is arrant nonsense to suggest that a market which has risen 20% is a ‘bull market”, while one that has gained a mere 19.4% is not. It is what I might paraphrase to be gobbledy.

Market Update 11th April 2023

News: 11 April 2023

Othello was done for by the fragility of his outsized ego. Investors, in contrast, tend to be fooled by the false security of the herd. If everyone is doing it, then it must be right, mustn’t it? Well…

Market Update 27th March 2023

News: 27 March 2023

Market Update 20th March 2023

News: 20 March 2023

Hawksmoor Research: Spring Budget Review

News: 20 March 2023

This is the first full budget in 18 months when two chancellors – Nadhim Zahawi and Kwasi Kwarteng came and went. It is worth remembering some of the key decisions were already announced in the Autumn statement – for example benefits and state pensions increasing by 10.1% from April 2023.

Market Update - 13th March 2023

News: 13 March 2023

With that run spiralling out of control and cries for help to shore up the balance sheet falling on deaf ears, SVB quickly became the biggest bank failure since 2008. With Signature Bank, a crypto-focused lender, also going under worries about contagion started to spread.