‘What about all this in the Middle East?’, I’m often asked in words to that effect, ‘what’s that going to do to my investments? And China? And Trump?’ The interviewee in this article argues that wars and politics will have an increasing impact on markets, and that our big, grown-up western economies are becoming more like those of the so-called emerging markets in this respect. I don’t know. I’m more of the persuasion that, while history does not necessarily repeat itself, it does at least rhyme. There is always stuff going on, and always something to worry about. Pick any given couple of years, and you can find as many reasons to fret as to be cheerful. And if you look at many a chart showing the effects both of wars and other big, world events on stock markets, you’ll see that most, in the scheme of things, become mere blips in the graph pretty quickly. Spread your risk, keep enough in the bank, all the things we advise, and you really will be OK in the end. And if you’re not, then it’s not the end yet.
“Cash ISA allowance could be cut this month”
Our mantra has long been ’straightforward advice that you can understand’. That can mean trying to simplify the many complex products and options with which the world of finance tries to befuddle its target audience.
