Companies are doing better than expected – but for how long?

Markets have wobbled as Europe goes back into lockdown and the US holds off on further stimulus. But companies in the UK are reporting better than expected results. John Stepek explains what's going on, and how to navigate the stormy investment waters.

Lloyds Bank branch
Lloyds is among the businesses doing better than expected
(Image credit: © Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Markets had a very wobbly day yesterday – investors suddenly seem to have woken up to a few things.

One – there won’t be a new American stimulus package before the US election. Two – the election result might take a while to resolve, which would delay stimulus further. Three – meanwhile we’ve got full-on lockdown part II sweeping across Europe. No wonder we’re feeling a bit gloomy.

Subscribe to MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/mw70aro6gl1676370748.jpg

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up
Explore More
John Stepek

John Stepek is a senior reporter at Bloomberg News and a former editor of MoneyWeek magazine. He graduated from Strathclyde University with a degree in psychology in 1996 and has always been fascinated by the gap between the way the market works in theory and the way it works in practice, and by how our deep-rooted instincts work against our best interests as investors.

He started out in journalism by writing articles about the specific business challenges facing family firms. In 2003, he took a job on the finance desk of Teletext, where he spent two years covering the markets and breaking financial news.

His work has been published in Families in Business, Shares magazine, Spear's Magazine, The Sunday Times, and The Spectator among others. He has also appeared as an expert commentator on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, BBC Radio Scotland, Newsnight, Daily Politics and Bloomberg. His first book, on contrarian investing, The Sceptical Investor, was released in March 2019. You can follow John on Twitter at @john_stepek.