French inflation unexpectedly slowed to 5.9% (for the last twelve months) in December 2022. Inflation stood at 5.6% in September and 6.2% for both October and November. The slowdown in the French inflation rate is mostly due to a decline in energy prices, and to a lesser extent, in services. The drop in energy prices […]
German CPI slows down to 9.6%
Following Spain’s report that inflation slowed down, Germany just announced something similar. German inflation slowed more than expected in December (EU Harmonized -1.2% MoM vs -0.8% exp). This would be the biggest MoM drop since January 2015. Bloomberg noted that the decline in the main rate masked an increase in food costs across Germany at […]
2023 is the real test year for European monetary policy.
ECB rate rises are about to get real. Says the ECB. The Governing Council of the ECB decided on December 15, 2022, to raise the three key ECB interest rates by 50 basis points and expect to raise such rates further based on a substantial upward revision of the inflation outlook. Following its decision, the […]
And the English Investor is back!
Let’s not pretend otherwise. The blog has been awfully quiet for over a year and a half. Way too quiet. It’s entirely my fault. I had to deal with some personal issues and I only had so much bandwidth at a time. First, I had to deal with the fallout of my personal life. Then, […]
How to maximize your Council Tax refund
I recently moved out of my old apartment located in the City of London. I am now based in Westminster. As a result, I now have to pay my council tax to Westminster City Council. Virtually all councils will offer various means and methods of payments to settle your council tax bill. Monthly direct debit […]
Is the bond market predicting a recession?
As some of you know, I’m a high-yield bond lawyer. What this means is that I take care of the legal documentation in the context of offerings of sub-investment grade debt (i.e. “junk bonds”). This does not mean I’m an expert at timing bond investments. However, I’m definitely closer to this particular market and I […]