Making money: what the experts think
● Commodity slump
Look on the bright side, said Tom Howard and Mehreen Khan in The Times, at least the growing possibility of a global recession has helped trim soaraway commodities prices. The price of Brent crude fell by 8% in a day on Tuesday, taking it below the $105/ barrel mark. Meanwhile, copper has fallen to an 18-month low of around $7,766 a tonne and prices of aluminium, zinc and tin have also fallen. The moves downward are bad news for the FTSE 100, which is heavily weighted towards energy and resource stocks, and has hitherto held its own this year compared with indices elsewhere. Moreover, it seems that nothing can tame the price of the commodity still causing most concern – natural gas – as Russia chokes Europe’s supplies in retaliation for sanctions. “Geopolitical tensions are not about to abate and are likely to push prices up further, increasing inflationary pressures,” said Daniela Ordonez of Oxford Economics.“The prospect of gas rationing is a clear risk.”
● Oil spoils
The price of Brent is now down by more than $20/barrel since early June, when global central bank monetary tightening began ratcheting up in earnest, said Justin Jacobs in the FT. But some analysts, including Amrita Sen of Energy Aspects, expect prices to rebound as supplies remain tight. This week’s sell-off, she said, was “a broader risk-off move, rather than being rooted in fundamentals… Recessionary fears are there, but the [oil] demand numbers are still strong.” Politicians are certainly taking no chances. US President Joe Biden and the PM, Boris Johnson, have increased calls on the Opec+ alliance of oil producers to increase supply.
● Crypto registration
Crypto winter may be upon us, but punters might still be tempted to shell out on “the ultimate crypto-themed number plate”, said Emilia Shovelin on ThisisMoney. “1 BTC” (one bitcoin) is up for grabs for £325,000 on the Regtransfers website. If sold at that price, it would be the 15th most expensive private plate ever. “If history is anything to go by, it might not be the daftest investment opportunity.” For example, the registration plate “F 1” was sold in 2008 for £440,00 to the automotive designer Afzal Kahn – who is now believed to have placed a £10m price tag on it.