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Runaway prices are unlikely but the outlook is uncertain
Last Updated: September 30, 2025
Though May’s inflation-induced spike in market volatility had subsided by June, uncertainty remains: will it be a fleeting inflation spike or are there more profound underlying causes that could make it a lasting trend?
Review of the week: Red dawn
Last Updated: September 30, 2025
China reminds everyone that communists like to meddle in markets. Meanwhile earnings are booming in the West as the recovery rolls on despite investor nervousness.
Review of the week: Are labour markets working?
Last Updated: September 30, 2025
Labour markets are struggling to get to grips with new post-pandemic supply and demand dynamics. Meanwhile, tighter scrutiny is increasing tech companies’ costs of doing business.
Why stewardship matters
Last Updated: September 30, 2025
Unchecked decisions at high levels were at the heart of the global financial crisis. Today, a decade later, there is a far sharper focus on how organisations are governed, with institutional investors expected to take a much more robust stance in calling to account the companies whose shares they own. As a leading asset manager, Rathbones takes its stewardship responsibilities seriously.
Review of the week: Breathing space
Last Updated: September 30, 2025
The children have returned to classes and the adults seem to be drifting back to the office. The pandemic still looms large though, affecting travel, spending and taxes.
Review of the week: Evergrande, nevermore?
Last Updated: September 30, 2025
China’s largest property developer is all but bust, throwing the market into disarray. Back in the UK, skyrocketing gas prices have the government scrambling to shore up energy retailers.
Review of the week: The price of money
Last Updated: September 30, 2025
Higher inflation is starting to leak into central bankers’ plans for interest rate hikes and ‘tapering’ of QE. Meanwhile, the UK suffers an energy crisis as the COP26 climate summit approaches.
Review of the week: Furlough’s end
Last Updated: September 30, 2025
Arguably the greatest welfare programme in UK history has come to an end. That should bring clarity to labour markets and free up workers for more resilient businesses.
Supermarket sweep
Last Updated: September 30, 2025
In the inaugural episode of The Sharpe End, David, Will and Craig discuss the private equity battle for Morrisons and the broader picture for UK retail. Also, how might the UK’s inflationary future differ from the rest of the world, and what does Cristiano Ronaldo know about Coca-Cola’s water business?
Office politics
Last Updated: September 30, 2025
In the second episode of The Sharpe End, David, Will and Craig discuss the rationale behind China’s intervention in technology and education markets, along with the potential for contagion into other sectors. Also, has UK commercial property hit its bottom? And should they worry about the recent jump in Dexcom’s share price?
Wheel of fortune
Last Updated: September 30, 2025
On this month’s episode of The Sharpe End, David, Will, and Craig ask whether investors are getting too excited about dubious subscription business models, and whether investors are looking critically enough at these ‘flywheels’ of growth. Should they instead spin the wheel and investigate some of those pure Covid reopening plays? Speaking of wheels, they also look at how the shift from exercise bikes to a set of real wheels helps Shimano.
Review of the week: Bonds go bananas
Last Updated: September 30, 2025
Bondholders sell government debt aggressively as inflation concerns mount, but are investors overpaying for inflation protection?