Well, it’s felt like a slow week.. not quite as slow as this not-so-hot pursuit in South Carolina, where police ‘chased’ a tractor down a highway for over an hour at a snail’s pace. Still, it’s been a sluggish few days and I, for one, am very glad tomorrow is Friday! Today brought more of the same: a dull session with a defensive tape, and European stocks remaining lower for the session. Tariff noise continued, tainting sentiment once again and the latest here is that Trump plans to send letter…

“If you want something done right, do it yourself” did spring to mind when reading that some poor couple in London were forced to ‘steal back’ their own car (armed with just an Apple AirTag), after police told them they were too busy to investigate the issue. An obscure headline – definitely concerning, and you can probably tell that the fact I came across it means that it was another slow news day behind the screens. Spotlight was firmly on the second day of US-China trade talks, which turned…

Hurling is one of Ireland’s national sports – fast, fierce, firmly embedded in Irish culture and definitely not for the faint-hearted (not sure I’d want to be the keeper in this situation). Amateur at its core, with nothing but county pride on the line and over the weekend we were gifted to one of the most thrilling games I’ve seen recent times as Cork took on reigning champions Limerick in the Muster final. The game had it all, ending with extra time and a dramatic penalty shootout which had t…

Given that we’ve just come through the sunniest spring since 1910 (midweek charts), it did feel like the weather was due a turn, and a healthy dose of rain this morning served as a reminder as just how fickle British sun can be. Probably not as fickle as markets though as those bursts of volatility and excitement we saw not so long ago were starting to feel like a distant memory as the first half of today’s session was another snoozefest with brutal volumes and not much going on. We grinded hig…

Today is National Cognac Day, and to be honest I could have done with a few earlier to liven up the first half of today’s session which felt like it went by rather slowly amid low volumes and very little excitement. We opened higher, and held on to gains in Europe as sentiment remained upbeat after to a trio of tailwinds which saw nearly all European indices end the day higher and the Dax reach new all-time highs. Firstly, Germany approved a €46 billion fiscal stimulus package, including tax br…

Some pretty insane footage out of Sicily in the last 24 hours as Mount Etna erupted for the first time in four years, making me feel like I had missed a close call somewhat having hiking part of the mountain just last week! Happy to hear that no one has been injured and definitely counting my lucky stars but probably not as lucky as this chap who has somehow won the lottery for the 4th time! Rambling aside, we slipped from early highs this morning in what was a risk-off tape for the first half…

Chaotic footage over the weekend from Gloucestershire as the annual cheese-rolling race took place and this is really quite the spectacle – competitors hurling themselves down a near-vertical slope in pursuit of an 8lb wheel of double Gloucester cheese which supposedly can reach speeds of up to 70mph! I’ve rarely been one to pass on a good piece of cheese and do enjoy the old adrenaline kick, but safe to say this is one event I’m happy to sit on the sidelines for and it did feel like plenty rem…

Despite all the AI hype which has consumed our lives over the past few years, I was surprised to see that only one in five Americans actually enjoy or use AI in their daily lives, placing them at the bottom of global rankings, compared to roughly one in two in in India and just over one in three in China. I did think these numbers would be higher but again what do I know. This did, however, seem like a fitting place to start today’s Snapshot, given that one of the day’s two main stories came fr…

Good holidays are built on minimal transit… wise words I probably should have heeded over an extended bank holiday break which involved a whirlwind of trains, planes, and ferries. Most of which was in the Mediterranean, with not a single opportunity missed to enjoy a lager so no complaints here… but a very chaotic few days were put down which definitely left me a little worse for wear today and running fumes somewhat. It didn’t feel like this mattered a huge amount though, with markets slow, vo…

I looked my 8-year-old square in the eyes and told him he’d lose screen time, and we’d return the skateboard if he didn’t (fill in the blank really) clean his room or whatever super important task he was ignoring me on. A couple shirts maybe were put away, toys reformed in a separate similar pile but chalk up the lesson as a complete nothing done and my guy perhaps discovering new ways to teach me ‘the dad who cried wolf’ at some point.. Now, as the equity markets regain their footing fuelled…