Latest articles by Merryn Somerset Webb
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MoneyWeek’s investment trust portfolio – should we keep the Law Debenture trust?
Tips The MoneyWeek’s investment trust portfolio has been performing well. But one trust – Law Debenture – has performed particularly poorly. Merryn Somerset Webb asks if we should hang on to it.
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UK stocks will bounce back – make sure your portfolio is adequately positioned
Opinion UK stocks are more unloved than they’ve ever been. When they recover – and they will – they will move quickly so you need to have positioned your portfolio accordingly. Merryn Somerset Webb explains what to buy.
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Prepare yourself for negative interest rates
Editor's letter There is a lot of talk about negative interest rates coming to the UK. They're a terrible idea, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
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Are we really in a stockmarket bubble?
Opinion The rise of “cash shell” companies, sky-high valuations – everything seems to point to a stockmarket bubble. But all may not quite be as it appears, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
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How the stamp duty holiday is pushing up house prices
Opinion Stamp duty is an awful tax and should be replaced by something better. But its temporary removal is driving up house prices, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
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Why things are a little different for investors these days
Editor's letter The demise of stockmarkets in favour of private equity; the rise of passive investing; the hit everyone's taking from Covid – strange times indeed for investors, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
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Why the FCA should sit back and do nothing for now
Opinion The Financial Conduct Authority has asked for ideas on how to improve the consumer investment market. But perhaps the best thing to do right now would be nothing, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
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Are we losing the moral high ground on Covid?
Editor's letter Not only must we never see more than five other people at the same time, we must report those who do to the police, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
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Why China appeals to good investors
Opinion China is one of the few places left to good investors hoping to make a decent return, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
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Why you should stuff your end-of-pandemic portfolio with Chinese stocks
Opinion For an end-of-pandemic portfolio, you need assets that can cope with today’s volatility. And that, says Merryn Somerset Webb, means Chinese stocks.
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Raising taxes may not be as effective as you might think
Editor's letter This is likely to be huge pressure for big tax rises to deal with our post-Covid debt. But history shows people will find a way to pay less one way or another, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
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Dealing with the debt: big tax rises are not the answer right now
Opinion Tax rises can’t do much to reduce the two-trillion-pound hole in our public finances. And the economy is too fragile for a tax grab now anyway. So where is the money going to come from? asks Merryn Somerset Webb.
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Warren Buffett's new interest in Japan
Editor's letter Warren Buffett has bought into all five of Japan’s major trading companies at a cost of around $6bn. This makes sense, says Merryn Somerset Webb. Japan looks pretty cheap
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Ordinary investors are missing out as private equity takes over
Opinion Companies are turning their backs on public stockmarkets and raising more and more money from private equity. Merryn Somerset Webb explains why this is a problem for ordinary investors – and perhaps for capitalism itself.
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Europe’s magic works better in the dark
Opinion Europe’s latest fiscal intervention looks like the kind of muddle-through that makes a United States of Europe more likely, says Merryn Somerset Webb. But only if you don’t look too closely.
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Should you take advantage of the UK’s new breed of domestic holidaymakers?
Advice With Britons choosing to holiday in the UK this year, the owners of the country’s holiday cottages are cleaning up. Should you buy in, too? Merryn? Somerset Webb looks at the pros and cons.
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We're all going to have to be a lot more flexible
Editor's letter As the world gets older, we'll all have to retire later and finance it for longer. That's going to take a major rethink about an awful lot of things, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
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Listed companies are dying out, and that could have serious consequences
Opinion Private equity is taking over from public stockmarkets as the biggest provider of capital to companies. That’s bad for investors and bad for society as a whole, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
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Gold proves its worth
Editor's letter The pandemic has been good for gold. And, while you must keep holding gold (inflation is coming), you must not ignore the return of our old lives, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
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Income investors: here’s what to do as dividends shrink
Advice Dividends may never die, but they are certainly shrinking. And may not return to the levels we saw in the past. Merryn Somerset Webb explains what income investors should do.
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Should capital gains tax be higher or lower?
Editor's letter Capital gains tax is up for review. There are plenty of long-term arguments to be had about this. But in the short term, Merryn Somerset Webb has a few ideas for the government should it want a little cash inflow.
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How to have a low-tax retirement in the sun
News Greece is to offer a ten-year tax incentive to foreign pensioners. That’s a pretty good offer, says Merryn Somerset Webb. But it might not last.
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Prepare yourself for a rise in capital gains tax
Opinion With the UK desperate to raise more money to cover the massive rise in public spending, squeezing more revenue out of capital gains tax looks like an obvious thing to do.
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MMT: a fig leaf for central-bank money printing
Editor's letter Like or not (and we don't much like it), modern monetary theory is on the way.
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