Stock markets largely completed their recovery from the Ukraine-war sell-off last week. However, not all markets are equal,

with the very large companies comprising the S&P 500 stock market index and the FTSE 100 comfortably beating the

performance of their continental European peers, and with smaller and mid-sized companies languishing everywhere. In the

Far East, Japan’s Nikkei index has fared relatively well, and joins the lucky group of blue-chip indices which are down only a few

percentage points for the year to date.

Stocks featured:

Apple, Tesla and Twitter

To find out more about the investment management services offered by Walker Crips, please visit our website:

https://www.walkercrips.co.uk/

This podcast is intended to be Walker Crips Investment Management’s own commentary on markets. It is not investment research and should not be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy, sell or trade in any of the investments, sectors or asset classes mentioned. The value of any investment and the income arising from it is not guaranteed and can fall as well as rise, so that you may not get back the amount you originally invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Movements in exchange rates can have an adverse effect on the value, price or income of any non-sterling denominated investment. Nothing in this podcast constitutes advice to undertake a transaction, and if you require professional advice you should contact your financial adviser or your usual contact at Walker Crips. Walker Crips Investment Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is a member of the London Stock Exchange.

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Stock markets continued to enjoy the post-Ukraine rally last week, with notable enthusiasm for all things American and, especially, American technology stocks. Also coming back into favour are some speculative favourites, including cryptocurrencies. Recent announcements of stock splits by American technology companies have been greeted with extremely outsized responses, despite the fact that they generate zero economic value to shareholders. Alphabet (Google) enjoyed a $130 billion boost to its market value on the day of the announcement, Amazon saw an $80 billion boost for its stock split and, most recently, Tesla an $84 billion boost. Perhaps this simply reflects the fact that American retail buyers still have plenty of firepower, as they have been a constant positive for markets since the start of the year, even continuing to pour money in throughout the Ukraine crisis. The other constant positive has been stock buybacks by American companies, which are running at all-time highs. Unfortunately for investors, while these factors may support valuations for a while, neither of them contributes to economic growth or the enlargement of corporate earnings. At least the earnings expectations for technology companies have ticked up recently while, for the broader US market, they have remained flat over the last six months.

Stocks featured:

Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Ford Motor Company, Nikola Corp, NVIDIA Corporation and Tesla

To find out more about the investment management services offered by Walker Crips, please visit our website:

https://www.walkercrips.co.uk/

This podcast is intended to be Walker Crips Investment Management’s own commentary on markets. It is not investment research and should not be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy, sell or trade in any of the investments, sectors or asset classes mentioned. The value of any investment and the income arising from it is not guaranteed and can fall as well as rise, so that you may not get back the amount you originally invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Movements in exchange rates can have an adverse effect on the value, price or income of any non-sterling denominated investment. Nothing in this podcast constitutes advice to undertake a transaction, and if you require professional advice you should contact your financial adviser or your usual contact at Walker Crips. Walker Crips Investment Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is a member of the London Stock Exchange.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stock markets largely completed their recovery from the trauma induced by the conflict in Ukraine last week, and European markets are back to within 5-6% of their pre-war levels. This amount is approximately equal to a year’s return on an equity index, and seems reasonable given the war’s implications for energy consumption and inflation. US markets leapt ahead last week, especially the technology sector, as investors recovered some of their appetite for growth stocks. This also seems reasonable, given America’s distance from the conflict, its relative self-sufficiency in energy and the enormous increase in wealth its citizens have enjoyed during the pandemic. Private sector output in the US is 3.6% above its pre-pandemic level whereas, in the UK for example, it remains 3.5% below. That does not mean that the US is immune to economic wobbles, just that it will probably remain a relative safe haven when compared with other developed-world countries.

Stocks featured:

Alibaba and Saudi Aramco

To find out more about the investment management services offered by Walker Crips, please visit our website:

https://www.walkercrips.co.uk/

This podcast is intended to be Walker Crips Investment Management’s own commentary on markets. It is not investment research and should not be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy, sell or trade in any of the investments, sectors or asset classes mentioned. The value of any investment and the income arising from it is not guaranteed and can fall as well as rise, so that you may not get back the amount you originally invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Movements in exchange rates can have an adverse effect on the value, price or income of any non-sterling denominated investment. Nothing in this podcast constitutes advice to undertake a transaction, and if you require professional advice you should contact your financial adviser or your usual contact at Walker Crips. Walker Crips Investment Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is a member of the London Stock Exchange.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

European stock markets recovered some poise during the week, rallying off their Ukraine-war lows, and moving more into line with their American peers. As concerns surrounding the conflict receded, however, fear of inflation increased, prompting bond markets to plumb new lows for the year. This latest move can be attributed partly to the war, which has unleashed a spike in commodity prices, and partly to the latest wave of Covid cases in China, which has prompted the authorities to lock down cities and, in one case, an entire province. These lockdowns threaten to exacerbate supply-chain blockages, boosting production-line inflation in China just after it had begun to decline. Ultimately, this could feed through into more persistent consumer price inflation in the western world.

Stocks featured:

Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Merck & Co, Pfizer, Toyota, Tsingshan Holding Group and Wolkswagen

To find out more about the investment management services offered by Walker Crips, please visit our website:

https://www.walkercrips.co.uk/

This podcast is intended to be Walker Crips Investment Management’s own commentary on markets. It is not investment research and should not be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy, sell or trade in any of the investments, sectors or asset classes mentioned. The value of any investment and the income arising from it is not guaranteed and can fall as well as rise, so that you may not get back the amount you originally invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Movements in exchange rates can have an adverse effect on the value, price or income of any non-sterling denominated investment. Nothing in this podcast constitutes advice to undertake a transaction, and if you require professional advice you should contact your financial adviser or your usual contact at Walker Crips. Walker Crips Investment Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is a member of the London Stock Exchange.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stock markets had their worst week since the depths of the pandemic, with European equity indices particularly hard hit. The blue-chip Euro Stoxx 50 index fell over 10% during the week, and entered official bear-market territory (meaning that a decline of at least 20% from peak to trough has now taken place). It is also now below the levels reached during a brief rally in 2015. US equities have been relatively resilient and, despite declining by 3-4%, ended the week above their year-to-date lows. Being more geographically removed, it seems that US equities are less perturbed by the direct consequences of the invasion itself, but are nevertheless responding negatively to the threat of higher near-term inflation.

Stocks featured:

Grab Holdings, Shell and Volkswagen

To find out more about the investment management services offered by Walker Crips, please visit our website:

https://www.walkercrips.co.uk/

This podcast is intended to be Walker Crips Investment Management’s own commentary on markets. It is not investment research and should not be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy, sell or trade in any of the investments, sectors or asset classes mentioned. The value of any investment and the income arising from it is not guaranteed and can fall as well as rise, so that you may not get back the amount you originally invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Movements in exchange rates can have an adverse effect on the value, price or income of any non-sterling denominated investment. Nothing in this podcast constitutes advice to undertake a transaction, and if you require professional advice you should contact your financial adviser or your usual contact at Walker Crips. Walker Crips Investment Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is a member of the London Stock Exchange.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stock markets recovered some poise during the week, but only after having fallen to new lows for the year to date in most regions. The extent of poor performance was roughly proportional to the geographical proximity to Ukraine, with the Euro Stoxx 50 blue-chip index falling 5% early in the week, before recovering to end the week down only 1.5%. The FTSE 100, which had been largely immune to inflation, interest rates or war, suffered its worst day since the start of the pandemic, declining nearly 4%. But it subsequently rallied by nearly the same amount, to end the week down only half a percent. These rallies were all the more remarkable for occurring while the sanctions applied by the West grew to unheard-of proportions, even targeting Russia’s access to the payment system that holds all the world’s banks together. With Russian assets in a Chernobyl-sized meltdown, it’s no wonder Putin was tempted to play the nuclear card, but even this could not derail the rally.

Stocks featured:

Alibaba, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, BlackRock, Blackstone and Vanguard Group

To find out more about the investment management services offered by Walker Crips, please visit our website:

https://www.walkercrips.co.uk/

This podcast is intended to be Walker Crips Investment Management’s own commentary on markets. It is not investment research and should not be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy, sell or trade in any of the investments, sectors or asset classes mentioned. The value of any investment and the income arising from it is not guaranteed and can fall as well as rise, so that you may not get back the amount you originally invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Movements in exchange rates can have an adverse effect on the value, price or income of any non-sterling denominated investment. Nothing in this podcast constitutes advice to undertake a transaction, and if you require professional advice you should contact your financial adviser or your usual contact at Walker Crips. Walker Crips Investment Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is a member of the London Stock Exchange.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The stand-off in Ukraine produced a conventional rush for safe havens last week, with bond markets benefiting across the whole spectrum from the additional demand and stock markets wobbling. Precious metals were among the few positive sectors within equity markets and gold, in particular, is now back to its highs of the past year. Traders’ screens were mostly red, however, with travel and leisure, banks and, surprisingly, oil and gas companies among the biggest losers. It would seem that investor fear trumped the ability of banks and oil companies to escape the ravages of inflation, Covid and war, or that investors were taking profits on the most positive performers in their portfolios for the year to date. 

Stocks featured:

• Meta Platforms
• Shopify
• Paramount Global
• AMC Networks

To find out more about the investment management services offered by Walker Crips, please visit our website:

https://www.walkercrips.co.uk/

This podcast is intended to be Walker Crips Investment Management’s own commentary on markets. It is not investment research and should not be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy, sell or trade in any of the investments, sectors or asset classes mentioned. The value of any investment and the income arising from it is not guaranteed and can fall as well as rise, so that you may not get back the amount you originally invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Movements in exchange rates can have an adverse effect on the value, price or income of any non-sterling denominated investment. Nothing in this podcast constitutes advice to undertake a transaction, and if you require professional advice you should contact your financial adviser or your usual contact at Walker Crips. Walker Crips Investment Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is a member of the London Stock Exchange.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Things were looking up at the beginning of the week, with the previous week’s blockbuster US employment report having given stock markets a confidence boost. By mid-week, with a bounce well and truly underway, it looked like markets might even be making an attempt to reclaim their previous highs. The mood darkened, however, after the US inflation report on Thursday, which showed that inflation had once again outstripped most forecasters’ expectations and was running at its highest level for 40 years. Moreover, the report confirmed that inflation is now spreading from pandemic-affected goods to the broader service economy. Service sector prices had their biggest annual increase in 30 years. As expected, higher house prices are also now feeding into higher rental costs and, as housing is the biggest component of the inflation calculation, its impact is likely to be sustained.

Stocks featured:

• Uber Technologies
• Lyft
• Under Armour
• Walt Disney Co

To find out more about the investment management services offered by Walker Crips, please visit our website:

https://www.walkercrips.co.uk/

This podcast is intended to be Walker Crips Investment Management’s own commentary on markets. It is not investment research and should not be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy, sell or trade in any of the investments, sectors or asset classes mentioned. The value of any investment and the income arising from it is not guaranteed and can fall as well as rise, so that you may not get back the amount you originally invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Movements in exchange rates can have an adverse effect on the value, price or income of any non-sterling denominated investment. Nothing in this podcast constitutes advice to undertake a transaction, and if you require professional advice you should contact your financial adviser or your usual contact at Walker Crips. Walker Crips Investment Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is a member of the London Stock Exchange.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The action switched back from equity to bond markets last week, as a one-two punch of central bank meetings reinforced the hawkish change in monetary policies. This was then followed by a positive shock in key US employment data that sent bond yields spiralling upwards. First up was the Bank of England, which raised rates - as expected - but also tried to send a relatively dovish message, reinforced by the Governor’s plea to markets to “not get carried away”. This messaging strategy didn’t work, mainly because the composition of views and votes on the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee shifted massively towards faster and bigger rate rises. In fact, four of the committee’s nine members had voted for a half-percentage point rate-rise, arguing that it was justified by the acceleration in wages at the turn of the year, and by the recent rise in the public’s inflation expectations. The committee also agreed unanimously to reduce the bank’s holdings of bonds, signifying the change from quantitative easing to quantitative tightening.

Stocks featured:

• Amazon
• Meta Platforms
• Paypal
• Spotify Technology

To find out more about the investment management services offered by Walker Crips, please visit our website:

https://www.walkercrips.co.uk/

This podcast is intended to be Walker Crips Investment Management’s own commentary on markets. It is not investment research and should not be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy, sell or trade in any of the investments, sectors or asset classes mentioned. The value of any investment and the income arising from it is not guaranteed and can fall as well as rise, so that you may not get back the amount you originally invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Movements in exchange rates can have an adverse effect on the value, price or income of any non-sterling denominated investment. Nothing in this podcast constitutes advice to undertake a transaction, and if you require professional advice you should contact your financial adviser or your usual contact at Walker Crips. Walker Crips Investment Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is a member of the London Stock Exchange.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Enthusiasts for buying the dip were finally rewarded this week, as stock markets reclaimed some of their lost ground since the beginning of the year. The bounce was broad-based, with the technology sector, smaller-companies and cryptocurrencies all participating to varying degrees. Markets eventually overcame a wobble caused by the US Federal Reserve’s monthly press conference, at which Chairman Powell talked up the possibility of further interest rate rises and confirmed the central bank’s new-found focus on inflation.

Stocks featured:

Caterpillar, Chevron Corp, GlaxoSmithKline, Shell, Tesla, Unilever and Vodafone

To find out more about the investment management services offered by Walker Crips, please visit our website:

https://www.walkercrips.co.uk/

This podcast is intended to be Walker Crips Investment Management’s own commentary on markets. It is not investment research and should not be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy, sell or trade in any of the investments, sectors or asset classes mentioned. The value of any investment and the income arising from it is not guaranteed and can fall as well as rise, so that you may not get back the amount you originally invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Movements in exchange rates can have an adverse effect on the value, price or income of any non-sterling denominated investment. Nothing in this podcast constitutes advice to undertake a transaction, and if you require professional advice you should contact your financial adviser or your usual contact at Walker Crips. Walker Crips Investment Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is a member of the London Stock Exchange.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.