Podcast appearances and mentions of victoria scholar

The UK Investor Magazine was delighted to welcome Victoria Scholar, Head of Investment at interactive investor, for a deep dive into a selection of UK and US equities.We discuss:BP (LON:BP)Shell (LON:SHEL)Persimmon (LON:PSN)Metro Bank (LON:MTRO)Tesco (LON:TSCO)Nike (NYSE:NKE)Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX)We frame the conversation in the context of current macro themes and the human tragedy unfolding in the Middle East.We look at oil prices and how the conflict could spark a super cycle in fossil fuels. Victoria provides insight into the thinking in the underlying commodity markets and compares this to the motivations of equity investors.Victoria explains the cyclicality and defensive nature of a number of stocks and finishes with a look at Netflix's upcoming results. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We speak to Victoria Scholar, head of Investment at Interactive Investor

Victoria Scholar, UK-based markets analyst, assesses the significance of the latest Bank of England interest rate increase to 5.25%.

Welcome to this brand-new investing podcast from the London South East. My name is Peter Higgins, you can find me on Twitter @conkers3 and I will be your host for this series of Investing Matters podcasts. What can you expect from the Investing Matters podcasts? A great question. You will find long form interviews with noteworthy veterans and experts from the investment and fund management industry. During these interviews each interviewee will share and impart their knowledge, learning and insights on what aspects of Investing truly matters to them and what in their view should matter to investors. We hope this knowledge exchange benefits all and enables all those accessing and listening to these podcasts to achieve even greater investing success. With that in mind, welcome to episode forty-three with Victoria Scholar, the double award-winning Head of Investment at Interactive Investor – the UK's second largest direct to consumer investment platform. She has a wide-ranging broadcast remit discussing the daily business news agenda, investment strategy and asset allocation, collective investments and direct shares, as well as macro-economics and markets. Previously Victoria was a financial journalist with IG Group and presented the business news at the IGTV broadcast channel. She has a background as a producer for Bloomberg and broadcast journalist for CNBC and BBC and is in demand as a financial and markets commentator for major TV networks in the UK and across the world with regards to business, finance and economics. Victoria started her career on the trading floor in the square mile at the investment bank Nomura. She holds a degree in Economics from University of Bristol and a broadcast journalism masters' degree from City University, London. She is also an award-winning technical analyst, having received the Bronwen Wood prize in her Society of Technical Analysis Diploma. This year Victoria also you won the coveted CityAM Analyst of the Year award, the Judges said Victoria, “offers a plain English approach to financial news, translating complex City moves for a wider audience”. In this Investing Matters interview, Victoria gives an overview of Interactive Investor, catalyst for the UK economy, Interest rates, Inflation, Tools used by the Bank of England, Risks, China's growth outlook, Secondary effects, Food inflation, Competition within the retail sector, Bank sector risks and opportunities, the Jurassic Park index, UK listings, regular investing, Forex, geopolitical risks, the benefits of long-term investing, why a well-diversified portfolio is key, managing your emotions, importance of investing psychology and much more. We hope you enjoy this podcast, and we look forward to hearing your feedback. Please subscribe to this podcast on your platform of choice and follow the @InvMattPodcast on Twitter.

Victoria Scholar, Head of Investment at Interactive Investor discusses why bond yields have just risen above levels last seen during Truss's mini budget crisis and also covers the CBI and KPMG both no longer expecting the UK economy to fall into a recession this year, Frasers Group buying a strategic stake in AO World & Waitrose is cutting prices on over 200 products.

Victoria Scholar, Head of Investment at Interactive Investor discusses Apple's Vision Pro AR headset, UK retail sales, Mortgage rates, Saudi's oil production cut, AB Foods #ABF, Unilever #ULVR, Diageo #DGE & cyber attacks at British Airways, BBC & Boots.

Victoria Scholar, Head of Investment at Interactive Investor discusses, IMF upgrading UK growth outlook, UK PMI figures, Rightmove House Price Index, Public sector net borrowing, Kantar grocery inflation figures, Ryanair's strong annual results & the government selling shares in NatWest Group #NWG (formerly RBS).  

Ian King's speaking to Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer about his vision for reforming planning laws; there's also Brian Gilvary, the chairman of Ineos Energy; Inmarsat's Chief Executive, Rajeev Suri; JD's chief executive Regis Schultz; Sage's CEO Steve Hare; GXO Logistics' chief investment officer Mark Manduca; and analysis of the markets with Victoria Scholar from Interactive Investor.

On the 17th episode of The Finimize Podcast, Eddie chats with Victoria Scholar, Head of Investments at ii, the UK's number 1 flat fee investment platform. Her role involves keeping across all major market moves to provide interesting market insight for our customers and for the press, covering US and UK equities, commodities, forex, macro data, central banks and cryptocurrencies. I do regular broadcast slots on TV and radio for LBC, Sky, BBC, Times Radio, Al Jazeera and others.In the conversation they discuss Victoria's global macro outlook, analyze the state of the UK and more.I hope you enjoy the episode.Partner with us: https://business.finimize.com/Subscribe To Finimize Newsletter: https://finimize.com/

Analysis from Victoria Scholar, Head of Investment with Interactive Investor.

Victoria Scholar of Interactive Investor looks at some of the recent indicators giving a guide to the state of the UK economy, including the Halifax house price index and the RICS's house price balance. She also looks at the recent retail sales numbers and KPMG's jobs market report. But the big driver of the market this week has been the hawkish testimony to Congress of Fed Chairman Jay Powell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Google is laying off 12,000 workers, or about 6% of its workforce, becoming the latest tech company to trim staff as the economic boom that the industry rode during the COVID-19 pandemic ebbs. Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who also leads its parent company Alphabet, informed staff at the Silicon Valley giant about the cuts in an email that was also posted on the company's news blog. It is the company's biggest-ever round of layoffs and adds to tens of thousands of other job losses recently announced by Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook parent Meta and other tech companies as they tighten their belts amid a darkening outlook for the industry. Just last month, there have been at least 48,000 job cuts announced by major companies in the sector. “Over the past two years we've seen periods of dramatic growth,” Pichai wrote. “To match and fuel that growth, we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today.” He said the layoffs reflect a “rigorous review” carried out by Google of its operations. The jobs being eliminated “cut across Alphabet, product areas, functions, levels and regions,” Pichai said. He said he was “deeply sorry” for the layoffs. Regulatory filings illustrate how Google's workforce swelled during the pandemic, ballooning to nearly 187,000 people by late last year from 119,000 at the end of 2019. Pichai said that Google, founded nearly a quarter of a century ago, was “bound to go through difficult economic cycles.” “These are important moments to sharpen our focus, re-engineer our cost base, and direct our talent and capital to our highest priorities,” he wrote. He called out the company's investments in artificial intelligence as an area of opportunity. There will be job cuts in the U.S. and in other unspecified countries, according to Pichai's letter. Tech companies that “not long ago were the darlings of the stock market” have been forced to freeze hiring and cut jobs in preparation for an economic downturn, said a note from Victoria Scholar, an analyst with U.K.-based Interactive Investor. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

When world-renowned economist Ha-Joon Chang first arrived in Britain in the 1980s he recoiled in horror at how dull and dreary British food was at that time. But it was not just the food that caused him to despair: it was mainstream economic thinking too. Neoclassical liberalism was, and still is, the only item he found on Britain's menu of economic ideas. Rethinking that menu is the theme of his new book, Edible Economics: A Hungry Economist Explains the World. Through a series of culinary anecdotes Chang explains that just as a rich and varied diet nourishes the body, moving beyond the narrow confines of neoclassical economics can help to build a better and fairer world. Speaking with Chang for this episode is Victoria Scholar, Head of Investment at Interactive Investor. ... Did you know that Intelligence Squared offers way more than podcasts? We've just launched a new online streaming platform Intelligence Squared+ and we'd love you to give it a go.  It's packed with more than 20 years' worth of video debates and conversations on the world's hottest topics. Tune in to live events, ask your questions or watch back on-demand totally ad-free with hours of discussion to dive into for just £14.99 a month. Visit intelligencesquaredplus.com to start watching today.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Energy giants are reaping the benefits of high energy prices. Shell followed ExxonMobil in doubling its annual profit for 2022 to nearly $40 billion, the highest in its 115-year history. It's sparked outrage among climate activists and those calling for higher taxes as households struggle with high energy bills. Also on the show: Victoria Scholar, Head of Investment at Interactive Investor, breaks down the latest interest rate hikes from the Bank of England and the Central Bank.  

Russia's war on Ukraine, Liz Truss's mini budget and soaring inflation have all hammered the UK in recent months. But as the country begins a new year with a new Prime Minister – how much drama and uncertainty should we expect in 2023? In this episode we bring together an expert panel to debate and discuss the big questions facing the British economy. Will inflation be brought under control? Can the country cope without closer ties to the EU? And how prepared is Europe for more geopolitical tension with Russia and China? Our chair Manveen Rana is joined by Jonathan Portes, economist and Professor of Economics and Public Policy at King's College, London; Victoria Scholar, Head of Investment at Interactive Investor, and Gerard Lyons, Chief Economic Strategist at the wealth manager Netwealth. ... Did you know that Intelligence Squared offers way more than podcasts? We've just launched a new online streaming platform Intelligence Squared+ and we'd love you to give it a go.  It's packed with more than 20 years' worth of video debates and conversations on the world's hottest topics. Tune in to live events, ask your questions or watch back on-demand totally ad-free with hours of discussion to dive into for just £14.99 a month. Visit intelligencesquaredplus.com to start watching today.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Victoria Scholar rounds up a day of business with her analysis of Black Friday and China's slowing economy. Our On This Day feature looks at 1970's attempted coup in Japan. We preview Monocle's 2023 edition of ‘The Forecast' and whether New York is a failing metropolis. Plus: John van Wyhe joins us to explain why a Charles Darwin document is the rarest manuscript to be auctioned off; we learn why the Finnish sauna can boost mental health and hear how “bin chickens” learnt to wash poisonous cane toads.

The International Monetary Fund is about to downgrade its global economic growth forecast for the fourth time this year only. As anticipated by the fund's managing director Kristalina Georgieva last week, the organization will downgrade its growth forecast for 2022 and 2023, blaming the combined effect of lingering COVID disruptions, Russia's attack on Ukraine, and climate disasters. For more on global economy, we were joined by Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor. #GlobalEconomy #IMF #GrowthForecast

Oil prices are rising as the world's top producers of the commodity prepare to announce a deep cut in production. Investors will be closely watching the meeting of the multinational oil cartel OPEC+, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia. Many expect the alliance to announce that they're slashing their output by at least a million barrels a day. We spoke to Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor in London. #OilPrices #OPEC #OilSupply

Oil prices are climbing to start the week, as investors wait for the latest word on supply levels from the world's top producers. The international crude benchmark Brent is up 2% to trade at around $95 a barrel. Energy markets are also in turmoil following Russia's decision to keep its natural gas pipeline to Germany closed indefinitely. Berlin has announced a $65B bailout plan to help Europe's largest economy cope with its worsening energy crunch. For more on energy market, we were joined by Victoria Scholar, investment head of Interactive Investor in London. #OPEC #Energy #Oil

There are plenty of reports to suggest that Brexit is having a chilling effect on Britain's exporters and that debt levels are set to soar for the UK government just as it gets a new prime minister. To unpack some of those issues was Victoria Scholar, Head of investment at an Interactive Investor who spoke to Joe this morning.

The Bank of England announced its biggest interest rate increase in 27 years on Thursday as it forecast that the war in Ukraine would fuel further inflation and tip the U.K. economy into a prolonged recession. Soaring natural gas prices are likely to drive consumer price inflation to 13.3% in October, from 9.4% in June, the bank said. That will push Britain into recession later this year, with economic output declining each quarter from the fourth quarter of 2022 through the fourth quarter of 2023, bank forecasts show. Those pressures persuaded the bank's Monetary Policy Committee to boost its key interest rate by 0.5 percentage points, the biggest of six consecutive increases since December. The rate now stands at 1.75%, the highest since the depths of the global financial crisis in late 2008. Gov. Andrew Bailey defended the move, which will increase borrowing costs for consumers, saying the bank has a duty to control price increases that disproportionately affect the poorest in society. “I recognize the significant impact this will have and how difficult the cost of living challenge will continue to be for many people in the United Kingdom,'' Bailey said at a news conference. “Inflation hits the least well-off hardest. But if we don't act against inflation becoming persistent, the consequences later will be worse.” Central banks worldwide are struggling to balance efforts to control inflation while minimizing the fallout for economies that were just beginning to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. Higher interest rates increase borrowing costs for businesses and consumers, which tends to reduce spending and ease rising prices. But such moves also slow economic growth. The inflation picture has worsened in recent months as Russia cut natural gas shipments to Europe in retaliation for the west's support of Ukraine. That has triggered unprecedented increases in energy prices worldwide. The Bank of England estimates that gas and electricity bills will eat up an additional 3.5% of household incomes in the period from 2021-2023. That's five times more than the increase British households experienced during the energy crisis of the 1970s. Although it was the first major central bank to start raising rates in December, the Bank of England has faced criticism in recent months as its peers began to move more aggressively. The U.S. Federal Reserve increased its key rate by three-quarters of a point in each of the past two months to a range of 2.25% to 2.5%. The U.S. economy shrank for a second straight quarter in the April through June period, raising fears that the nation may be approaching a recession. The European Central Bank last month approved a larger-than-expected half-point increase as it targeted persistently high inflation. Recession is also a growing concern in Europe, where falling gas supplies may force factories to reduce operations this winter. Victoria Scholar, head of investment at interactive investor, said the Bank of England approved a big increase because it didn't want to fall behind the curve. The real risk is “stagflation,” a prolonged period of economic stagnation combined with rapidly rising prices that can be very difficult to get out of, she said. “It's very much doom and gloom from the Bank of England, and not least the fact that it's decided to carry out this almost double rate hike,” Scholar said. The central bank's actions have become an issue in the contest to replace Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who will step down next month. Supporters of Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, the leading candidate to succeed Johnson, said Thursday she would revisit the question of whether the bank should remain independent. The Bank of England has been independent of government control since 1997. The last time the U.K. increased interest rates by 0.5 percentage points was in December 1994, when rate decisions were still made by the government's treasury chief in consultation with the central bank governor. Bailey declined to respond to questions about the bank's independence, saying he hopes to work closely with whoever becomes prime minister. The current landscape is especially complicated for central bank policy makers because many of the factors driving inflation are determined by international events beyond their control. A first wave of inflation was triggered by international supply bottlenecks and increased demand for energy as the coronavirus pandemic began to ease last year. That was followed quickly by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which triggered sharp increases in food and energy prices. Those pressures are expected to dissipate over time, and there are signs that prices for some goods are beginning to fall, the Bank of England said. But inflation is now becoming embedded in the U.K. economy, with business owners raising prices and workers demanding wage increases to protect their living standards. That is what the central bank is targeting with Thursday's rate increase. Inflation is expected to slow to 9.5% in the third quarter of 2023 and drop in line with the 2% target a year later, the central bank forecast. But Bailey said the uncertainty about these forecasts is “exceptionally large” because there is no way to predict what will happen with energy prices. “The committee will be particularly alert to any indications of more persistent inflationary pressures and will, if necessary, act forcefully in response.” - by Danica Kirka, APSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi is due to face lawmakers today and tell them whether or not he will stay on as Prime Minister. This is likely to create significant market volatility in Europe, just ahead of a crucial meeting of the European Central Bank tomorrow. Last week, Italy's President Sergio Mattarella rejected Draghi's resignation and asked him to conduct further parliamentary negotiations. For more on Italy, we had Victoria Scholar, who is the head of investment at Interactive Investor in London. #Italy #MarioDraghi #ItalianEconomy

China's industrial profit fell sharply in April, shrinking 8.5% from a year earlier. That is the worst drop since March 2020 and comes as high raw material prices and supply chain chaos squeeze margins and disrupt factor activity. Despite this, stocks are bouncing in Asia this morning. Hong Kong's Hang Seng is up 2.3%, as Alibaba's shares alone surged 13%. Chinese Shanghai Composite is also higher this morning, following an unprecedented nationwide meeting via teleconference held by Chinese authorities in a bid to bolster an economy battered by Covid. For more on the story, we spoke to Victoria Scholar, who is head of investments at Interactive Investor in London. #China #ChinaIndustry #ChinaEconomy

Today Andy Silvester talks to Victoria Scholar, Head of Investment at Interactive Investor. They go through Rishi Sunak's unveiling of a windfall tax today, the Fed's plans to hike rates by 50 basis points in June and July, Elon Musk's painfully slow acquisition of Twitter, and JD Sports founder and CEO Peter Cowgill's shock departure from the firm. And in other business news: Ted Baker appears to be edging closer to a private equity takeover, transport group FirstGroup is considering a £1.2bn takeover bid from I Squared, and Nadine Dorries has launched a charter review of the BBC. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Billions of dollars in wealth have evaporated, following one of the worst days for stock markets since early in the pandemic. The sell-off started on Wall Street, where the blue chip Dow Jones index fell 3.57% or more than 1,100 points. Shares on the NASDAQ and S&P 500 indices were also down 4%. The declines were triggered by fears over slowing global economic growth, coupled with the rapid rise in consumer prices. Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor in London, joined us for more. #GlobalStocks #MarketTurmoil #InflationFears

Global equity markets continue to fall as investors fear rising prices may knock the wind out of consumer spending and job creation. The fresh round of selling began in the US after the Bureau of Statistics reported inflation at 8.3% for April. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 3% and the S&P 500 closed at its lowest level for the year. It is now down 17% since the start of the year. But the worst carnage is being felt by investors in the cryptocurrency markets. The price of Bitcoin is down nearly 9% while Ethereum has plunged by 13%. For more on the markets, we spoke Victoria Scholar, who is the investment head at Interactive Investor. #UnitedStates #Inflation #Cryptocurrencies

Today Andy Silvester talks to Victoria Scholar, Head of Investment at Interactive Investor. They go through the rebound by European markets today after yesterday's sell-off, the US dollar's 20-year high, McColl's purchase by Morrisons, and Heathrow's strong results. Andy also talks to City A.M. reporter Charlie Conchie -- they unpick the Queen's Speech, going through energy and financial services bills. And in the news: Tesco chairman John Allan has called for a windfall tax, and Unite the Union's bid to become recognised as the official union at the FCA has been rejected. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today Andy Silvester hosts Victoria Scholar, Head of Investment at Interactive Investor. They go through Q1 results, where there's been unexpected negative GDP growth in the US, strong results for Standard Chartered, and a mixed bag for Barclays and Meta; and talk China's firm zero-Covid stance and its potential inability to backtrack. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Natural gas and oil prices rise after Russia halts some shipments of natural gas to the European Union. International crude benchmark Brent is up 0.7%, and is trading at around 105$ a barrel. The cost of natural gas is also 1% higher. Meanwhile, the possibility of fresh stimulus in China is also fueling the rally in energy markets. Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor in London, joined us for more. #EnergyPrices #Russia #China

Electric car maker Tesla has reported better-than-expected earnings for the first three months of the year. That's as the company successfully navigated supply chain issues that have slammed the brakes on the rest of the auto industry. The world's most valuable EV firm says profits reached $3.7B or three times higher year-on-year. Victoria Scholar joined us from London. She is head of investment at Interactive Investor. #Tesla #ElectricVehicles #AutoIndustry

Straight from Benzinga newsdesk, hosts Brent Slava and Steve Krause bring you the market news and stocks to watch.Steve and Brent focus on:TWTR - Board meeting starts at 10am to discuss offer!CFRA: Musk's offer "should be viewed as enticing to shareholders (near our $55 target) and will be difficult to reject. If rejected, we fear Musk could walk away .. which would likely drive shares considerably lowerWedbush "Now ultimately we believe this soap opera will end with Musk owning Twitter after this aggressive hostile takeover of the company"Head Of Investment At UK-Based Interactive Investor, Victoria Scholar, Says Market Is Pricing In Higher Likelihood Twitter Rejects Deal From Elon MuskLightshed's Rich Greenfield "Part of this is, is he even serious, like is this a game? Is he simply having fun and sort of just making a point about free speech and sort of trying to hold management's feet to the fire? Or does he actually want to own and control Twitter and run it?" More importantly, does Musk even know what he wants? Greenfield noted that based on Musk's recent activity on Twitter, his actual intentions are rather unclear. Recent activity includes a poll suggesting the company's headquarters be converted to a homeless shelter, an ask about whether or not Twitter is "dying," and a proposal to remove the "w" from "Twitter."LI - other Chinese ev: NIO XPEVSFET - other cyber names CYRN DTST IRNT CISO KD SNNVC - BCRX is the classic bird/swine flu playKLDO - being discussed similarly as VERUYou can follow Elon's Twitter Account here Today's 5 Stock Ideas: TWTR LI SFET NNVC KLDO Twitter (TWTR) - Shares were up ~6% near the $49 level following news Elon Musk made an offer to buy all of the company at $54.20 per share in cash. Analysts were mixed on the news; a Wedbush analyst, Dan Ives, was optimistic the offer would be accepted while another analyst voiced concern about Elon Musk walking away from the company if his offer was rejected.Li Auto (LI) - A potential sympathy play following a report the CEO of peer in the Chinese electric vehicle space, XPeng (XPEV), warned all Chinese vehicle factories may have to stop production in May if supply chain disruption continues.Safe-T Group (SFET) - A play on cybersecurity. Stocks in the group were on watch Wednesday following reports U.S. officials said advanced hackers have shown the ability to hijack multiple industrial control systems.NanoViricides (NNVC) - A play on current fears related to bird flu contagion.Kaleido Biosciences (KLDO) - One of Thursday morning's biggest winners. The company is a low-float penny-stock play. Shares closed up 75% on Wednesday and were up another 30% Thursday morning.Hosts:Steve Krause Reach out to Steve at stevekrause@benzinga.comSr. Reporter Benzinga NewsdeskBrent Slava Reach out to Brent at brent@benzinga.comSr. Reporter, Head of Benzinga Newsdeskpro.benzinga.comFree 2-week trial, no credit card requiredUse coupon code YOUTUBE20 to get 20% offDisclaimer: All of the information, material, and/or content contained in this program is for informational purposes only. Investing in stocks, options, and futures is risky and not suitable for all investors. Please consult your own independent financial adviser before making any investment decisionsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Today Andy Silvester talks to Victoria Scholar, Head of Investment at Interactive Investor. They go through some of the week's economics data on GDP, unemployment, retail sales, and talk trading updates. They discuss the latest from ASOS, Deliveroo, and EasyJet: ASOS is facing a raft of headwinds, as investors lose confidence in the online retailer; Deliveroo has recorded an uptick in orders compared to the same time last year; and EasyJet has been struggling to get staff in. Andy also goes through the news -- the UK's accounting watchdog has ordered an investigation into Deloitte's auditing of Go-Ahead Group; businesses have unleashed a wave of job cuts to avoid being hit by the National Insurance hike; and an Extinction Rebellion (XR) protest has caused the shutdown of Lloyd's of London's HQ. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today Andy Silvester chats to Interactive Investor's Victoria Scholar. They go through Barclays' rough start to the week after an unknown investor sold over £900m worth of shares in the bank following its $15bn securities blunder; Waitrose's legal row with ASDA, and consumers turning to discount retailers amid the cost-of-living crisis; and Tesla's stock split. Andy also goes through the headlines -- consumer credit borrowing is at its fastest annual pace in two years, and P&O Ferries have stated that they can't rehire the 800 workers they fired without risking "financial collapse". See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today Andy Silvester chats to Victoria Scholar, Head of Investment at Interactive Investor, about China's tech sector being hit by significant stock market sell-offs yesterday and today; European equities down, with companies having exposure to China seemingly taking more of a hit; oil prices hitting a two-week low; and lacklustre labour participation in the UK job market. Andy also goes through the news: HSBC will be shutting down 69 branches; Bentley has doubled its 2021 profit; and Volkswagen's boss has warned of production shortages. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Presented by Adam Maguire with guest Victoria Scholar, Head of Investments at Interactive Investor in London.

In this episode Andy Silvester chats to Victoria Scholar, Head of Investment at Interactive Investor, about a somewhat more muted market reaction than expected to Russia's troop movements in Ukraine. They also discuss gas prices increasing and what role the Russia-Ukraine conflict will play for central banks as they deal with inflation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oil prices continue to surge as Russia escalates tensions with Ukraine. Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, says the geopolitical volatility and limited supplies mean oil prices will continue to rise and are likely to pass well beyond the symbolic $100 per barrel level. 

Singaporean ride-hailing app Grab fell flat in its market debut on Wall Street. Its stock price swung from an impressive gain to an alarming loss in the span of one trading session. The price see-sawed over concerns about the company's ability to turn a profit. That's something it's never done, despite having a dominant position in Southeast Asia, a market with hundreds of millions of potential customers. Victoria Scholar is the head of investment at Interactive Investor in London. She tells us about Grab's path to profitability. #Grab #RideHailing #GrabIPO

Video conferencing platform Zoom was one of the biggest winners of the past year and a half, with users around the world relying on its services throughout lockdowns. But with restrictions easing, investors are starting to sour on the platform. Zoom shares have fallen by more than a quarter since the start of the year. And the company says growth in the coming months would continue slowing down as schools and offices re-open, and people start traveling again for meetings and family gatherings. Interactive Investor head of investment Victoria Scholar joined TRT World's Newshours to discuss Zoom's prospects. #Zoom #VideoConferencing #Skype #MicrosoftTeams

Asian markets have rallied on news that China Evergrande narrowly avoided defaulting on its debt thanks to a last-minute payment. State media says the property giant wired the 83-and-a-half million dollars in interest owed to creditors. It was due last month, but the company was given a 30-day grace period, which was set to expire this weekend. Evergrande shares surged more than 4 percent, helping Hong Kong's broader Hang Seng index rise 4-tenths of a percent. Japanese and South Korean indices are also in green. Investors got an added boost from Beijing, which hinted it may start easing its crackdown on the e-commerce industry. One of the main targets of China's year-long campaign has been tech conglomerate Alibaba. Owned by billionaire Jack Ma, the company runs payments giant Alipay. Its shares rose more than 6 percent, while rival Tencent, which owns the multi-purpose Chinese app We-Chat, climbed 2 percent. For more, we spoke to Victoria Scholar. She's the head of investment at Interactive Investor in London. #AsianMarkets #BondPayments #Debt #ChinaEvergrande

US earnings season is drawing to a close with 87% of S&P 500 companies beating expectations in the best quarter for earnings growth in over a decade, according to Refinitiv. In this week’s episode, IGTV’s Victoria Scholar speaks to Ben Gutteridge, director of Model Portfolios at Invesco, about what we learned from US earnings season and what lies ahead for US equities. Gutteridge says it has been a ‘spectacular’ quarter for earnings, partly due to base effects, but also thanks to vaccination efforts, alongside monetary and fiscal stimulus programmes. However, he says there is still a lot of uncertainty in the consumer sectors, including travel and leisure. In terms of investors’ concerns over inflation, Gutteridge is relatively optimistic, believing that inflation is most likely to be transient.  Any opinion, news, research, analysis, or other information does not constitute investment or trading advice. Follow us on Twitter @IGcom

In this week’s episode of IG’s Trading the Markets podcast, IGTV’s Victoria Scholar speaks to Daniel Lacalle, chief economist at Tressis, about the post-pandemic recovery for the US economy, monetary and fiscal policy, and the potential economic risks ahead. Lacalle says there is “too much complacency” towards the inflation risks, which could lead to a similar situation to Japan’s ‘lost decade’. He says there is no evidence that inflation is transitory and while the US economy is likely to recover quickly, there are serious stagflation risks in 2022 and 2023. He says the Federal Reserve System (Fed) and the European Central Bank are entirely oriented to markets and market prices, and he believes the Fed should have already tapered bond purchases and started to increase interest rates. Any opinion, news, research, analysis, or other information does not constitute investment or trading advice. Follow us on Twitter @IGcom

In this episode Phil Toews, CEO at Toews Asset Management, speaks to IGTV’s Victoria Scholar about how to be invested if the market continues to move higher while remaining vigilant to the risk of a correction. Toews says he still thinks the bull market could run for a while longer but if the ‘bubble pops’ he thinks tech stocks will lead the leg lower. Any opinion, news, research, analysis, or other information does not constitute investment or trading advice. Follow us on Twitter @IGcom