News & Views

Happy New Year!

Pete Matthew — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:07:40 +0000

A very happy New Year to all our clients and friends. Let's hope it'll be a less volatile year for the markets and that the recession doesn't bite too deep.

One thing that has come out of all the financial mess recently is, in some quarters at least, a realisation that clarity is important. Like many industries, the financial services industry is famous for its impenetrable language and jargon, which sometimes seems designed to confuse ordinary people.

In honour of this, Lucy Kellaway of the Financial Times has produced her annual Management Twaddle Awards. For our part we hope to be the ones who cut through the smoke and mirrors of the financial services world and tell it how it is. If we can help you to understand your finances and how they fit into the wider world, please contact us here.

Read Lucy Kellaway's excellent column here (opens in a new window)

Justin's View - When Pessimism can be a good Sign!

Simon Richards — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:15:12 +0000

If last year’s predictions were far too optimistic then I suppose we can draw some comfort from the fact that this year’s commentaries seem universally depressing. However, we cannot get away from the fact that the financial news and the background economic environment is bad and likely to get worse before it gets better – well a happy new year to you then!

Merry Christmas!

Pete Matthew — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 16:22:02 +0000

The directors and staff of Jacksons FS would like to wish our clients, partners and friends a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous 2009. Thank you for your trust and instructions this year; we look forward to working with you in the New Year.

Cheers!

Pete, Bob, Roger, Mike, Keith, Simon, Sue, Nicola and Joanne

Justin's View - Nationalisation at Christmas

Simon Richards — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 15:14:59 +0000

Given the desperate state of the UK economy, the Government has decided to introduce some exceptional measures and to extend its nationalisation plans. It has proposed that it needs to have a greater and direct involvement and to take more prescriptive decisions with regard to the potential recovery in the economy. Despite huge amounts of money having been injected into the banks for both capital and lending, it still seems that many are still proving somewhat recalcitrant in passing the money out. With a lower level of lending both corporately and personally, including mortgages, the speed of monetary spending has slowed up dramatically. Therefore something must be done.

Justin's View - What a Silly Measure

Simon Richards — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:59:34 +0000

The FTSE 100 index is generally a rotten measure of investment success. Over the decades it has been made up of a hotch potch of various companies and sectors which have come and gone as regularly as an estuary tide. As it is isn’t weighted, but rather measured by capitalisation, this means that the index is in effect dominated by a few giants which tend to “bully” the index to reflect their valuations, leaving the smaller minnows with little or no influence. Oh and just to be perverse it doesn’t even have 100 companies in it! (Currently 102.)

The State of Play

Simon Richards — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 11:01:53 +0000

It’s been six weeks or so since my last round robin communication, and on one hand, you could say that things have quietened down a bit. Meltdown in the banking sector seems to have been narrowly averted, thanks to billions being pumped into the system by the taxpayer. Now though, all talk is of the recession; just how deep and how long will it be?

Justin's View - After hating the 8 – watch out for the malign 9

Simon Richards — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 17:07:11 +0000

Beware of consensus – it is often an excuse for complacency. However, when looking at 2009 there seems to be a growing consensus that it’s going to be a year of recession – you may have “hated the 8” but now prepare for the “malign 9”.

Justin's View - Some Chipped China?

Simon Richards — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 13:07:08 +0000

We are by now quite used to those more descriptive Chinese expressions and terminology – they often seem to come with references to wildlife and nature as well as often with a more Confucian style. Most recently though, this illustrative style seems to have been replaced with a more blatant and blunt language which reflects the more difficult economic situations that this nation is now facing. The authorities have most recently taken to describing the country’s employment outlook as just “grim” – a very un-oriental description. It seems that urban unemployment has been increasing significantly as demand for exported goods have fallen back, and this now puts the administration into a very awkward situation.

Justin's View - Spend, Spend, Spend - Please!

Simon Richards — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:03:30 +0000

And so the cry goes up – “tax cuts – give them the money and they will spend our way out of this recession”. Oh the power of popular mantra. With all of the forward thinking of an excited Tigger on speed, the politicians of the world seem wide eyed with excitement in the hope that they have found the answer to economic alchemy and the end to our economic recession. All you have to do is give the plebs some of their tax back and they will go out and spend it on shiny trinkets and electronic dobbins, with the result being just enough to spark a national recovery in our economy with greater sales revenue, more sales tax, rising company profits, more employment, and save the Pound. So that’s done then – well maybe not.

Justin's View - Blowing the Tanks

Simon Richards — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:24:39 +0000

It feels a bit like the scene in that iconic German film “Das Boot” when the submarine commander orders all the tanks to be blown in a vain effort to try and stop the damaged U-boat from sinking. One by one all the levers are pulled and one by one their effect is negated by the weight of the sinking vessel. I am sorry if this is a rather negative analogy to the current situation but with each day that goes by, we hear of yet another initiative from one country or another pulling their economic levers to desperately attempt to fortify the failing strength of their economies. In the past week, the Chinese, the Americans and the Australians have all been acting but with seemingly little actual effect on events or sentiment.