William Shatner or Captain Kirk of Star Trek has turned 88 and the UK Parliament were last night looking to him to lead them to boldly go where no man has gone before-i.e. conclusion of Brexit.
Nearer to Planet earth, but only just, was the following exchange in the European Parliament where it was the last full session for the UK marked by our very own Nigel Farage slugging it out with the Belgian ex PM Guy Verhofstadt:
GV: “You remind me of Field Marshall Haig in Blackadder.”
NF: “It was Field Marshall Haig who saved your Belgian town of Ypres from the Germans. He should be a great hero to you.”
Globally Government Bond yields firmed from their recent 15 month lows.
The UK Government faces another Brexit vote tonight. GBP weaker in anticipation of it being voted down and also with it now being 14 days until the NoDeal Brexit date and with the UK Parliament still evenly split.
The US Dollar steadied after three days of small advances. Asian equities all stronger this morning and today being the last day of Q1 will show a rise in the MSCI Asian Index of 8.7%.
Life expectancy, crime, health services, carbon emissions and wellbeing is what makes us happy(apparently). Top English Cities include: Winchester(1) and Epsom and Ewell(10) while in Scotland it’s Stirling(4) and Shetland Islands (10). For Wales it’s Bridgend(6) and Cardiff (8).
Pharrell Williams has fewer home comforts in mind:
Huh, because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I’m happy
Have a great (and happy) weekend!
Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder
Japan Some of the market’s Great Minds spent yesterday afternoon debating whether Japan could get away with raising interest rates at the same time as the Central Banks from the other major markets are starting to cut their interest rates. In short, Japan can and probably will, since its monetary policy has been effectively in […]
Rather you than me, Christine As we and the market alike have been speaking about recently, Eurozone rates are all the rage. As we highlighted yesterday, the path for rate cuts next year has already captivated the market with easing being forecasted as early as Q1 2024. As we approach the Christmas period, we must […]
European Interest Rates More momentum on rate cuts in the Eurozone as expectations grew for cuts starting in March and totalling 140bps in 2024. Equally in the UK cuts of 130bps starting in June are being pencilled in to market calendars. What this means is that GBP/EUR is looking more than especially good value at […]