Want to stay informed with market insights and investing ideas from Morningstar? Sign up for our weekly Investor Focus newsletter here.
In This Week’s Newsletter
- Which UK Investment Trusts Own Anthropic and OpenAI?
- Tesla Shares Fall as Cybercab Event Disappoints
- Apple Launches Foldable Phone
- Volkswagen Announces Job Cuts as Part of Strategic Reset
- Autumn Budget Preview: Pensions Under Scrutiny
- What Andy Burnham Means for Your ISA
- European Central Bank Raises Interest Rates
It seems not a day goes by without headlines about the threat artificial intelligence poses to humanity. But in the stock market, money managers are getting ready for Anthropic’s IPO. Some investment trusts are already shareholders, and this week, Christian Mayes dug into the data on a big fund manager with a big position in the AI lab. They’ve also taken a stake in Anthropic’s main competitor, OpenAI.
It’s been a busy week for the Magnificent Seven and their shiny new products. Tesla’s Cybercab launch event unsettled investors, while Apple’s USD 2,000 folding iPhone garnered the expected media interest, along with the first proper outing for the company’s new CEO. Not to be outdone, Meta released Muse, a personal AI agent aimed at easing admin loads. Morningstar analyst Malik Ahmed Khan offers his take on the companies’ latest moves.
Closer to home, Volkswagen has announced a new strategic plan which involves job losses and plant closures. European carmakers face common problems: the uncertain path to EV adoption, overcapacity, and reluctant buyers. Morningstar equity analyst Rella Suskin calls the plan a “big step” forward, while Karen Gilchrist looks under the hood of the bellwether German stock.
The UK’s next budget creeps closer. Without any clear policy announcements, we’re in the realm of speculation. Will the state pension triple lock finally get axed? Will the Lifetime ISA, designed to help young people buy their first house, be phased out in favor of a product that boosts the chances of older homeowners? Ollie Smith has looked at pensions and ISAs as part of our Autumn Budget preview coverage, with an analysis of inheritance tax due next.
This week, the European Central Bank increased interest rates for the second time this year, to 2.50%. Financial markets don’t expect the Bank of England, which reveals its next rate decision on Sept. 17, to follow. But they do expect a hike this year. More on that key meeting next week, which comes a day after the August inflation data.
James Gard, Morningstar UK Editor
