Best from the East
This week’s market commentary is going to be short and sweet as I have had to send 90% of my staff home due to the snow that has finally decided to settle in Northampton due to the beast from the east weather pattern. We have gone from nothing to a good couple of inches in an hour and as such the safety of my staff over rides anything else. They have also been extremely busy in the past few weeks and worked tirelessly to ensure all clients’ portfolios are rebalanced and managed to try and avoid the volatility so some fun in the snow will be a welcome reward to them all.
As it stands economically in brief we have had good data out of the US so today’s futures look positive and overall data in the global economy remains strong accepting it is not as strong as it was in some areas. The new Fed Reserve Chair in the US (Jerome Powell) caused some volatility yesterday by intimating again that interest rates may have to rise faster than anticipated and that again pushed up 10-year government debt yields in the US. We have also seen the US$ strengthen in the last 24 hours against sterling which is positive for the portfolios. As it stands as long as the us rate rises are as expected and as long as the US$ does not rise significantly then the global growth will remain strong for the coming 3 to 6 months so we are invested in equity and long again as the period of significant volatility seems to have subsided for now.
For more detailed economic data set and data please review the attached document.
Model Portfolios & Indices
The indices over the week were positive and because of repositioning the portfolios they are also all positive over the week. We are expecting the indices and portfolios to drive forward again as data continues to be positive as long as we do not get other significant shocks, accepting the algorithms now seem to have been reset to accept higher bond yields. All in it has been a good week, and we now need March to continue the trend seen in the last week so that the YTD returns turn positive.
As always have a great week and if you need anything give us a ring accepting we are operating on a skeleton staff whilst the beast continues to disrupt the roads and commuter networks.
VBW
Jason Stather-Lodge CFP, MCSI, APFS
CEO & Founder
Chartered & Certified Financial Planner
Chartered Wealth Manager
