Worldwide Financial Planning

This week the Middle East ceasefire fell apart. Iran attacked tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, the US answered with two days of strikes, and President Trump declared the truce over.

There are two types of investors I worry about - one who thinks they can predict the market and one who knows they cannot, but waits anyway, hoping Donald Trump keeps his mouth shut and his fingers off the phone, so the right time will arrive. Good luck with that.

The US central bank received a boost after Donald Trump lost a case at the US supreme court over his attempt to fire Fed member Lisa Cook. New chair Kevin Warsh has promised fewer hints about the direction of interest rates, but removing the threat of presidential interference will help maintain the Fed’s credibility if it has to talk markets up or down in future.

Good financial planning makes the future self, real. Not vague retirement. Not “later”. A real person, in a real home, with real heating bills, real food costs, real medical needs, real holidays, and a real desire not to ask the children for money!

This week saw the price of oil return to its pre-conflict level as Brent crude hit $72 a barrel. The price is still above the $67 average seen in January and February, reflecting the run-up in the days before fighting began.

Markets fall. Do something. A fund has a poor year. Do something. A technology fund sits at the top of the table. Do something quickly before everyone else notices, even though everyone else has clearly already noticed, hence the table.