2023 in review
How many days before/after ‘The Big Day’ is it appropriate to wish someone a Happy Christmas? This article has the misfortune of being both too early and too late. It’s being written on 21 December, but will be published on 28 - such is the way with publishing deadlines around the festive season. Regardless, I hope you are all having a wonderful time celebrating.
Something I am already celebrating at the time of writing is the solstice. We’ve finally made it the shortest day of the year. Where I am writing from, the sun ‘rose’ (if it’s there behind the clouds) at 08:06 and will have set by 15.54. Bleak. But today marks a very welcome turning point. Spirits will soon be lifted by Christmas and New Year and then we’ll be back on the road to longer days.
This restrained optimism is being reflected in the markets as we close out 2023. Last week (or two weeks ago by the time you read this), the chairman of the Federal Reserve suggested that there might be as many as four interest rate cuts in the US in 2024, perhaps signalling the end of a very challenging economic period which has been felt...