MoneyWeek

There once was an idea floating around that markets move with the moon. It sounds silly, but does stand up to some scrutiny. Research suggests the moon affects how we feel – more negative around a full moon; more positive around a new. We know that p

Everyone is talking about a commodities supercycle, says Ashutosh Pandey in Deutsche Welle. Google Trends reports that searches for the term have hit the highest level in over a decade. Copper prices have soared by 75% over the past year. The red met

The total net worth of US households in the final quarter of last year was $122.9trn, says Justin Lahart in The Wall Street Journal. The figure had climbed from $111.4trn a year before. That’s unusual for a recession: after 2008 US household wealth f

US president Joe Biden is delivering radical change to America, says Irwin Stelzer in The Sunday Times. Once taunted as “sleepy Joe”, Biden has proved vigorous, pushing through a $1.9trn Covid-19 relief bill and preparing an even bigger infrastructur

The European Union’s drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency, said on Tuesday that it was “firmly convinced” that the benefits of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine outweigh the risks, after a string of EU countries temporarily halted use over bloo

Biden’s New Deal: After securing his $1.9trn stimulus package last week, “President Biden is promising $2trn in fresh spending on America’s ailing infrastructure, with plans that will put his administration on a collision course with fiscally conserv

Last week the House of Commons public-accounts committee – the parliamentary body that acts as a public-spending watchdog – issued a damning report into the government’s £37bn, NHS-branded “test and trace” (T&T) system. The report did accept that the

capx.co Not everyone is interested in the “soapier side” of the doings of the royal family, but Meghan and Harry’s interview with US chat-show host Oprah Winfrey, and the feud in the family revealed in it, has an economic angle, says Alys Denby. “L

The traditional argument for investing in emerging markets (EMs) was compelling. Their economies were growing fast from a low base. Growth was initially based on commodities and basic industries but, in time, countries would move up the value chain,

There is good news and bad for self-employed workers whose businesses are still being damaged by the Covid-19 pandemic. On the positive front, Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Budget announced another round of the self-employment income support scheme (SEISS

The desire to bet “has been part of human nature [since] time immemorial”, says Russ Mould of AJ Bell. However, as many people have found out the hard way, one of the iron rules of betting is that while individual punters can do well, for the majorit

Few have shaken-up the music industry quite as effectively as Merck Mercuriadis, says The Guardian. In less than three years, the 57-year-old Canadian behind the Hipgnosis Songs Fund has become “the most disruptive force” in the business. London-list

An extraordinary year is culminating in an unusual individual savings account (Isa) season. Months of lockdown mean many of us have saved more than we would normally manage. Unfortunately interest rates are at record lows, so cash Isas don’t appear e

With the blistering market recovery that followed the initial Covid-19 panic, we might expect stocks and shares individual savings accounts (Isas) to be more popular than ever. After all, any capital gains you make are sheltered from the taxman, alon

For many people, tax breaks on pension savings are more than twice as generous as those on individual savings accounts (Isas). For one thing, you may be able to put double the Isa amount into your pension each tax year. Moreover, with a pension you g

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, people didn’t trust banks. They were only lending to the safest of customers, while plummeting interest rates left savers without a decent return. Then new technology appeared, which “democratised” finan

“Ethical investing” as a term was never going to cut it. Any trend worth its salt in 2021 needs an acronym – just think of all the wasted Twitter characters! But that is what environmental, social and governance (ESG) is. It is ethical investing 2.0,

Since 2012 we have been suggesting a small group of investment trusts for those of you who want to hold a diversified portfolio of funds run by active managers. I promised when we first wrote about it that I would update you on it occasionally (with

Interest rates may be low on traditional savings accounts, but banks are still keen to attract young customers. The best-buy junior individual savings accounts (Jisas) are offering almost the same rates as they were a year ago, whereas adult Isa rate

Greece and Cyprus last week offered British holidaymakers a glint of sunlight at the end of what has been a long and wintery lockdown tunnel. Both countries said they would open up to tourists as soon as possible, which looks to be from mid-May. It’s

Coupland Castle, Wooler, Northumberland. A Grade I-listed, 16th-century castle set in 25 acres of grounds. It has period fireplaces, a library in the Georgian portion of the castle and a crenellated tower with a spiral stone staircase. 11 beds, 5 bat

Mark Mobius Wiley, £18.99 One of the most talked about of economic statistics is the rate of inflation, which measures the speed at which prices are rising. A lot of people are currently concerned that the latest US fiscal stimulus package will be

Jerome Powell, chief of the Federal Reserve, has let the cat out of the bag. US stocks tumbled when he predicted in an interview an increase in consumer prices this summer. The ten-year US government bond yield jumped on the news. So is inflation on

An American football coach once said that “winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing”. But when it comes to true sporting legends, personality matters as well. Stirling Moss, who died last year, may be remembered today as “the greatest Formula On