Making sense of this crazy world
The last update of the year! Christmas started for me on Wednesday when I was compère the wonderful Poole Symphonic for a festive evening of carols and Christmas classics. It was great to see some of you in attendance at the atmospheric St Peter’s Church. What a venue it turned out to be!
As we close our communications for the year, we will hopefully see some sort of peace in the Ukraine region. Apparently, it’s the closest we’ve come to a deal, so fingers crossed. There is no doubt that Europe will have to carry much of the ‘heavy load’ in securing and maintaining stability in the region on the back of America’s reluctance to be so indebted.
After a positive year for equities and bonds, in general, thoughts turn to what lies ahead in 2026. Last week, we touched on inflation as being one of the main potential issues, but we had surprisingly good news this week, with UK inflation falling to 3.2%. UK interest rates were also reduced to 3.75%. We have also seen a similar pattern emerging in the US.
This week’s content:
- Could there be peace in Ukraine?
- 2025 was a year of transformation
- Both UK and US experience inflation and interest rate reductions
- Looking ahead to 2026
- Uplifting festive joy
- In Conclusion
Could there be peace in Ukraine?
Peace is associated with Christmas, and it would be fitting if this were delivered over the festive period.
An article in Bloomberg tells us that the German Chancellor believes German troops could participate in a coalition to secure a demilitarised zone in Ukraine, once a peace deal has been reached. German soldiers would be authorised to “retaliate against corresponding Russian incursions and attacks,” Merz told public broadcaster ZDF. However, he cautioned that “we are not there yet.”
It’s the clearest signal so far that Germany would be willing to play a central role in giving security guarantees to Ukraine after a possible deal. He didn’t give any details on the number of troops he would be prepared to deploy.
This coincides with the US supposedly preparing a fresh round of sanctions on Russia’s energy sector. Clearly, this is designed to place Russia under increasing pressure to engage in some form of peace deal.
Continues…
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