Andy Willson

As UK boxing is thrown into uproar as to whether Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn will still go ahead this Saturday despite the latter failing a drugs test, I’m hit with mixed feelings. Firstly, being a Shenfield/Brentwood resident I can’t help feel some dented pride given promoter Eddie Hearn, keen for the bout to go ahead regardless, is a local lad and an alumni of my son & daughters former school, as well as Conor’s supercar of the moment with plate ‘KO 13ENN’ (it is Essex after all) being a regular sight in the neighbourhood.

The cost of living crisis is very real for all of us, with present tongue in cheek discussions centring on how long one can wait before turning the heating on. The ultimate brag has gone from the amount of toilet rolls you had during covid, to a more sobering whether you have fixed your energy bills or mortgage rate today. For the less fortunate masses, we have to look for other ways to keep warm, so when I saw hooded blanket company Oodie offering up to 50% off some bundles, I had a lightbulb moment as a consumer, although it demonstrated the struggles firms benefitting from gains in energy prices face too.

The sheer number of central bank meetings this week, particularly today (15 in last 24hrs!) got us here at the Daily Snapshot thinking as to which collective noun we’d use for central bankers? Of course, the obvious answer would be dictated by their bias. So the doves would be ‘a dole’ or ‘a bevy’, for bears it would be ‘a sloth’, & bulls ‘a herd’ or ‘a mob’. I’m going to steer clear of ‘a shrewdness’ (of apes) as it doesn’t seem apt given heightened expectations of a recession. So given most have been hawks we’ll settle on ‘a kettle’ or ‘a boil’ and commentary has certainly got the FX & bond mkts hot & bothered today.

Equity markets can be complex at times, and gains can occur for what morally seems the wrong reasons. Like today for example, where EU wide indices opened lower, and it took a ratchetting up of rhetoric from Russia’s Putin to get mkts motoring. Of course, Aerospace co’s benefit on the fear of military action, whilst the obvious spike in Oil helped Energy co’s lift too. Then there was a sigh of relief when the Times reported Liz Truss is to cut stamp duty on house purchases, sending anything from housebuilders themselves, to DIY & hard good related co’s such as Howden Joinery to bounce. This alongside tax & NI cuts will put money back in the pockets of the masses, in turn fuelling, you guessed it, exactly what we are trying to tackle…inflation.

Something caught my eye today that a colleague sent over, and it appears to be going somewhat viral (I feel I can use the term ‘viral’ again now as Pres. Biden declares covid pandemic is over).  It is the new football kit for Edinburgh based amateur Scottish side Newcraighall Leith Victoria, based upon a pint of beer. “Who & why?” I hear you shout, but they are important enough to have snaffled a sponsorship with Tennent’s, which explains the design. To offer something for non-beer drinkers there is a ‘Dark Fruit’ Strongbow inspired away kit, whilst the teetotallers, or presumably those under age can choose the 3rd kit, randomly based on PacMan.

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