Daily Brief – Oil and Inflation

Oil and Inflation

Up over 2% yesterday on the hopes of an elusive peace deal seemingly slipping away once again and further tensions and hostilities in the Gulf, oil has had a topsy turvy time having fallen sharply by over 5% at the beginning of the week. The continuing near USD 100 price for Brent Crude means that Central Banks are increasingly under pressure to move away from their earlier assurances in March that this was simply a blip and to recognise that as time has passed the inflationary implications have become effects and that means that they are becoming more hawkish.

Brent USD 96.07.

EU Rental Yields

For those interested in creating an EU rental portfolio, the yields on offer in the EU are worth a look. The top cities that offer a 7% yield are Rome, Dublin, Naples, Barcelona, Riga, and Turin. Jyvaskyla in Finland offers 8% as does Cork and Palermo. But the outright winner is Catania, also in Sicily which offers 9.17% on average with studio accommodation going as high as 12%. OK, it is in the shadow of the continuously rumbling if not erupting Mount Etna but for those not overly risk averse, it is worthy of investigation. Almost as good is studio accommodation in Sicily’s capital, Palermo which yields 11%.

EUR/USD 1.1607.

EU-US Trade Deal

All that is required now is for the EU Parliament to agree on backing the deal and approve it. While from the outside it would seem obvious that those MEPs should approve it and move on, that assumes that they and their constituent countries can hold their noses and collectively ignore the sleights, insults and sneering that they have endured from POTUS in the past 11 months. Expect some lively debate – as a minimum.

GBP/USD 1.3388.

Naked club wielding man

Those readers who hail from or know Dorset will immediately recognise the description as being that of the 55 metre Cerne Abbas Man, the ancient chalk figure carved in a hill near Cerne Abbas. CAM is about to receive 20 tons of fresh chalk as his outline has become less distinct against the hillside. Likely to have been carved between 700 AD and 1100 AD the distinctive figure sports a club and is said to represent Hercules. What is not in doubt is both the size and the erect state of his manhood which is coyly described in guidebooks as a fertility symbol.

GBP/EUR 1.1530.

Truckin’

This day in 1971 in what was one of the least surprising news items ever in retrospect at least was the announcement that 36 Grateful Dead fans were treated for hallucinations having attended a gig at San Francisco’s Winterland performed by the trippiest of 1970’s Californian rock bands. The problem reportedly at least was that they had all unwittingly drunk some spiked apple juice which was very likely the least powerful of the chemical and vegetal mindbenders on offer.

Truckin’, got my chips cashed in
Keep truckin’, like the do-dah man
Together, more or less in line
Just keep truckin’ on

Arrows of neon and flashing marquees out on Main Street
Chicago, New York, Detroit and it’s all on the same street
Your typical city involved in a typical daydream
Hang it up and see what tomorrow brings

Dallas, got a soft machine
Houston, too close to New Orleans
New York got the ways and means
But just won’t let you be

Most of the cats that you meet on the street speak of true love
Most of the time, they’re sittin’ and cryin’ at home
One of these days they know they better be goin’
Out of the door and down to the street all alone

Truckin’, like the do-dah man
Once told me, “You’ve got to play your hand”
Sometimes the cards ain’t worth a dime
If you don’t lay ’em down

Sometimes the light’s all shinin’ on me
Other times, I can barely see
Lately, it occurs to me
What a long, strange trip it’s been

Have a Great Weekend!

Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder

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