We thought we’d change tack slightly as we approach the end of the year, and this time I am joined by my colleagues Michael Morton and John Foster on the podcast. It is an opportunity to chew the fat on a range of big issues and themes we think investors should be aware of as we approach the seasonal holiday in this market review of 2022.
This year has been an unprecedented and turbulent year in terms of price movements. We discuss some of the major themes that investors have been grappling with, including inflation and how that has affected portfolios. We also discuss the relative success of the oil and gas market, and ask whether the bull run in that sector is likely to continue into 2023.
It is obvious that investment risk appetite is currently being driven by only three or four primary factors. We have already highlighted this in our previous coverage, but the degree of focus on anything coming out from the Fed, or news from China for example, demonstrates how many investors are waiting for a change in the current themes that are keeping them in cash / risk-off assets. As part of this discussion we take a look at defence stocks, and the ethics of buying into companies which are active in the arms sector.
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We also discuss the dynamics of the green energy sector, as it has evolved from a solution to climate change to a more urgently required answer to high oil and gas prices. Should private investors be approaching this sector from a short term perspective, or are these stocks something to hang onto for several years?
In our market review of 2022, we cover the topic of London’s financial markets taking a battering: IPOs have fallen off a cliff, and we talk about the reasons behind this, and why other regional markets – e.g. the Middle East and India – have been doing well. Is the AIM market now too expensive for small IPOs, and do cash shells have a role to play in facilitating future listings? We also chat about the resurgence of the Paris stock exchange and why it is now measuring up against the London stock exchange in terms of value. What can be done by the UK government to enhance the competitiveness of the London market?
We also have a brief discussion on crypto and digital assets. At the time of recording Sam Bankman-Fried had just been arrested and was facing criminal charges in the US. The fall from grace of cryptocurrency exchange FTX seems to have drawn the line on the current iteration of the digital assets boom. What is going to happen now?
- Greencoat Renewables focusing on big tech clean energy
- S&P 500 hanging on by a thread
- Time To Act becomes Aquis’s newest member
We close with some early thoughts on the markets we’ll be watching in 2023, including the gold and silver markets which look like they are starting to warm up as I write this.
We are hoping to make this a more regular feature in the New Year, so please get in touch if you have any requests in terms of guests or indeed topics you’d like our team to discuss.
