Today the FTSE 100 touched the level it was at before Lehman Brothers collapsed in October 2008, the markets tanked, and we all checked our cupboards for cans of baked beans.
But more interesting is that of the major developed markets, the UK has risen the most since then. The U.S. and the Japanese markets are still more than 10% below their pre-Lehman crash levels.
A pretty good predictor of strong stock market returns is the US Treasury yield curve. And right now this signal is bleeping a strong ‘buy’ signal, if you’re not too scared of bear markets to listen.
A yield curve plots the interest rates (yields) on short, medium and long-term interest rates over a particular time period.
With government bonds, the yield curve typically charts the yields on very short-term securities that will mature in a matter of months, through medium term bonds, up to 30-year long bonds.
Due to the time value of money, longer-term bonds normally pay higher interest rates than short maturities, so the curve usually (but not always!) slopes gently upwards as you go further out in time.
Sometimes, however, the yield curve steepens.
My regular roundup of the week’s blog and financial site links.
I don’t know exactly what I think about feminism, and in particular demands that more should be done to promote equality of outcomes for men and women in career and pay.
I say ‘outcomes’ because that is different from ‘opportunity’.
To me it’s very clear that a woman who wants to achieve something professionally, who has all the talent and drive of her male equivalent – and who will put the same hours in – should meet no prejudice.
But that is not the same it should be made easier for her then for a man.
Note: Today is the last day to buy from Amazon
I hope you’ve all remembered the research from last year about how expensive gifts are a waste of money:
Academics at the Stanford Graduate School of Business recently discovered that:
- Most gift givers assume an expensive present is better appreciated…
- …yet gift receivers don’t appreciate expensive presents much more
This backs up what I’ve long noticed – expensive gifts aren’t much better received than cheaper ones, and if anything they make the recipient feel slightly awkward, unless it is an excellent gift in its own right.
By far the best presents – short of unmarked cash neatly packed into a lightweight briefcase – are gifts based on an experience that you shared with whoever is getting the gift, which you spring on them later in the year.
I don’t mean you need to steal the towels from the hotel you enjoyed a naughty weekend away at, or to keep some of your romantic meal in a frozen doggy bag for Christmas.
