Oil firms have a hill to climb to justify a voice at climate summits steve sedgwick Perfect may be the enemy of the good, but oil giants need to earn their place at Cop, writes Steve Sedgwick.
Is Angela Merkel to blame for Europe’s woes? Sakrileg: the German word for sacrilege – that is, the violation or misuse of what is regarded as sacred. And yes, I’m about to go there by asking if the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, been a disaster for Europe. I’ve been wondering if Merkel’s prolonged tenure at the Federal Chancellery has been extending the region’s [...]
London mayor Sadiq Khan’s green war on diesel cars finally hits home Sad news in my household: Moonie is not long for this world. The time is fast approaching when I must put her out of her misery, despite the fact that she seems pretty robust regardless of her ageing years. Like Boxer in “Animal Farm,” I will soon load her up into her metaphorical horse box, send [...]
There’s a dead simple reason for these record market highs March 7, 2017 As equity markets continue their extraordinary and interminable upward trajectory, it was wonderful last week to see the ever modest leader of the free world taking time off from bashing journalists, among others, to take some well-earned credit for stocks putting on $3.2 trillion in value. Given the fact that both the Dow and the [...]
After Trump and Brexit, populism should take centre at Davos January 10, 2017 Responsive and Responsible Leadership: that’s the theme of this year’s World Economic Forum meeting in Davos next week. Amid all the political carnage of 2016, this actually seems to be quite a timely headline. Especially when compared with some of the spectacularly missed opportunities to put the biggest global issues at the heart of the Alpine [...]
Clinton good, Trump bad: Market reaction to changing odds is too simplistic November 7, 2016 Thank goodness Britain is a nation of geniuses (or should that be genii?). Not even six months after the UK got to grips with the minutiae of EU rule-making and its enormous, surreptitiously dastardly implications for our country, we have all suddenly become experts in British Constitutional Law. We have had a lot of assistance [...]
Opec is like a latter-day Ratpack act: It doesn’t need new material to move the market September 20, 2016 How many stories are there in town at the moment? What are the current obsessions for traders who, now that September is here, are routinely swinging the equity market over one per cent on a daily basis? To my mind, after a seemingly endless succession of sessions in July and August without a one per cent [...]
Opec cuts: No line in the sand for oil – CNBC Comment November 24, 2014 Not that I’m trying to do myself out of a job, but I’m a tad amazed by the furore building up about this Thursday’s Opec meeting in Vienna. I haven’t been to all the previous 165 gatherings, but I’ve been to most of the last 25 or so, and all of a sudden it’s become [...]
Europe won’t gain from the oil price slump – CNBC Comment October 6, 2014 Forget QE, surely the precipitous oil price decline in the last couple of weeks will finally give the down-trodden European economy the big boost it needs. After three years of prices north of $100 a barrel, surely a big cut in Europe’s energy bill will provide a stimulus effect that Mario Draghi could only dream [...]
Why France could be the euro’s weakest link – CNBC Comment August 25, 2014 In a world where we are sold pups on a daily basis by both policymakers and the market snake-oil salesmen, yesterday’s Bank Holiday trading on the Continent was a great example of how we continue to lap up the nonsense we are fed. There I was, one of the few people in the Square Mile [...]
