Everything is relative in this industry and we are still fairly close to recent highs but there was little doubt that at times today felt on the painful side. Oil breaking below not one, but two supports in the last few sessions and an OPEC meeting that didn’t soothe investor’s fears set the tone for a day when Energy names in Europe came under pressure from the outset: BP a 12mo relative low, TotalEnergies right at a big level just a couple but there was nowhere to hide with the sector (SXEP)…

Not much good on TV of late so in the past couple of weeks I’ve started re-watching Suits which depicts the slightly unrealistic and glamourized life of a U.S. law firm. Everyone would rather be a Harvey Specter than a Louis Litt and we all would benefit from Mike Ross’s mind. Either way Harvey doesn’t like to lose and he famously said ‘You don’t go to trial if you’re not going to win”. Scrubbing up on Suits felt like the best prep this weekend as the day’s major news came over the weekend fro…

Following on from the recent low volume, low volatility, grind higher it feels we’re in a low volume, slightly higher vol slide into month end. SX5E tested and headed below the 50d average of 5011 early on and will worry some but really 4884 the big level which has been the bottom end of the recent range. Well shorted name leading the declines today (having led gains yesterday) but there is no let up with the well held Longs under pressure at various times today. Heavy today and for no real obv…

May has been one the most disjointed months in recent memory so it’s only fitting that the last week has a similar feel to the rest of the month. Hard to get a real sense of things as investors and market watchers are in and out, themes are harder to pick up and earnings season on the whole in the rear view mirror – nothing feels that aligned! The major theme being the lack of one but maybe a bit of pain as the day went on today. We’re at or near all-time highs across a raft of key global indi…

If Nvidia’s beat and raise can’t rally the market is it time to buy a few cheap puts?? NVDA +10.4% (precisely what the options market predicted) did its part and European shares tried to rally along most of the day led by Technology (semi’s heavy) and Industrials (sort of like a stand-in as Europe’s “other tech” when Luxury names are out of favour), with Growth outperforming Value by a wide ~1% margin. The UK was the distinct laggard hit in large part by the soggy Utils sector after Rishi Suna…

This market is in need of more cowbell. With excruciatingly low volumes and a VIX that’s now kissed an eleven handle twice this week (double bottom signal?) this market has been described as sleepwalking into its 24th all-time high of the year for the S&P 500… Nobody is really complaining, and we have plenty of interesting news – a CPI that sent yields higher while also reducing the chance of a June BoE rate cut from 50% to a now 20% probability (reading was helped by lower energy prices, but…

If a Snapshot comparing UK midcaps to unloved goats doesn’t get a reply I am not quite sure what will! It was probably a indication of just how quiet things were yesterday and the sad news was there was only a very small pick up today. Another ‘goat’ getting some attention? XP Power (+48%) the next UK midcap which received a proposal from Advanced Energy though unlike yesterday the company have since rejected. Outside of that our early direction was dictated by Asia with the Hang Seng lower wei…

A trip to London Zoo on Saturday for the Morrison household. My first time there and I have to say I was mightily impressed. Avoid the queues, sort the food and plan the route – responsibilities I felt up to. The big names always the focus and we managed to see the lions, tigers and gorillas (with their new baby!). But my daughter was more drawn to the little goats that you could get up close to and pet. Echoes of the market in there as the focus for many remains on the big names with Nvidia re…

We’re fully transatlantic and whilst there was a lot of interesting snippets from a vast number of corporates in Europe this morning, possibly the most interesting snippet came from Walmart (+6%). The excellent Daniella (Buy rated) flagging that on the call they said “consumer conditions have been relatively consistent through the year so far” and further noted this to be the case across income groups, including at the low end. All eyes currently firmly focussed on the consumer and their behavi…

Slightly hurts me to say that the only real buzz around these markets right now seems to be about Meme stocks that are seemingly doubling on a daily basis. I think that shows just how little interest there is right now in the bigger themes as we await important data tomorrow yet are very close to the recent highs. The Stoxx 600 closed the day up small but relatively flat once again and minus some funnies around the PPI traded once again within a tight range which has been 40bps now on the week…