European update – US/Iran, oil, gold, bitcoin

Safety First

European stock markets are deep in negative territory at the start of the week and things are unlikely to improve any time soon.

Source – Thomson Reuters Eikon

I’ve spent months looking forward to the day when I’d be able to talk about something other than the US-China trade war and Brexit, unfortunately I now find myself looking back fondly on the excitement of a Trump trade remark or a day of debates, amendments and voting in Westminster. This is not what anyone wants to see.

The escalation in the middle east was both unexpected and unwelcome. Investors are now fully in defensive mode, hoping for the best but fearing the worst. Safe havens are naturally performing solidly while stocks and other risky assets take a pummeling.

Unfortunately, the rhetoric from all sides appears to be heating up rather than cooling and retaliation looks almost inevitable. The Iraqi Parliament’s decision to remove foreign troops clearly shows its…