News & Insight • Weekly Newsletters

15 May 2026 | William Buckhurst

That Was The Week That Was

MACRO NEWS

Kevin Warsh was confirmed by the Senate as Federal Reserve Chair in a 54-45 vote, taking over from Jerome Powell.

This year started with potential wars in three countries, Venezuela, Greenland and Iran. With the latter still ongoing, US President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping met in Beijing trying to dampen the rhetoric around Taiwan.

US April CPI print showed headline inflation rising in line with expectations - 0.6% over a month and +3.8% annually. A strong PPI inflation print followed which led markets to price a growing chance of Fed rate hikes, (40% chance by year end), pushing US Treasury yields higher. The 10yr yield reached its highest level since last July at 4.47%, while 30yr yields rose to 5.03%.

Following a disappointing showing in the local elections, the pressure on Sir Keir Starmer grew as several leadership candidates such as Andy Burnham, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting put their name forward. Markets reacted to worries that the centre-left party would be heading further left as Sterling fell and yields of Gilts headed higher (prices fell). This will be impacting Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s fiscal headroom.

COMPANY NEWS

Siemens reported mixed quarterly results as orders beat consensus, but automation orders declined 4%. Revenues, industrial profit and margins all missed slightly but the company announced a €6bn buyback.

LVMH is in the sale aisle. It reached an agreement to sell Marc Jacobs to WHP Global and G-III Apparel Group as it looks to concentrate capital on brands such as Louis Vuitton and Dior.

3I Group shares were punished again as their main holding Action looks to be slowing. It also reported NAV of 3,030p, 84.5p dividend and a £750m buyback.

Cisco announced a better-than-expected outlook in their latest print particularly around networking in their data centre division.

Applied Materials delivered a robust print and outlook, with semi systems now expected to grow above 30% in 2026 and should continue into 2027.

Compass Group, the catering experts, announced their revenue came in at $25bn, up 7.2% Underlying profit and free cash flow beat expectations and they raised their growth targets into the future.

Hims & Hers shares fell over 10% after sales results missed expectations and management provided updated full-year guidance with earnings down and sales up compared to the prior outlook.

Full power. American Electric Power added to the theme of surging US power‑demand investment by launching a $2.6bn share sale, pricing stock at a 4% discount. The utility said proceeds will support capital injections into subsidiaries and potential acquisitions. In the same vein Dominion and NextEra announced preliminary talks about a merger to create a $400bn utility giant. This highlights how the sector is repositioning for a structurally more power‑intensive economy as it funds capacity upgrades due to data‑centre build‑outs, electrification, and industrial reshoring. Closer to home, National Grid was in line.

IMI, the fluid and motion control specialists, reported that their performance was ahead of expectations and even with a cyber-attack kept their guidance.  

LEGENDARY ALPHABET TRADES

After about six weeks from the end of the quarter, we get fillings (13Fs) showing what US fund managers got up to.

Pershing Square (Bill Ackman) and Berkshire Hathaway (Greg Abel/Warren Buffett) offered a striking divergence in their latest reports, centred on Alphabet. Bill Ackman fully exited his Alphabet stake — using the rally to reallocate capital toward Microsoft, a move he framed as portfolio rotation rather than a negative view on the company. Berkshire Hathaway went the other way: under Greg Abel’s growing influence, the firm significantly increased its Alphabet holding, lifting it into a core holding. The contrast is clear: Pershing treated Alphabet as a source of liquidity, while Berkshire is positioning it as a long‑term compounder. Incidentally, Alphabet owns 15% of SpaceX and 6% of Anthropic which are both listing soon.

CHINESE TECH

With the leader of the free world in Beijing, our focus also shifted East with reports from the main companies in the Chinese tech sector. They delivered a mixed but telling snapshot of how the sector is navigating a slow domestic recovery, tighter regulation, and a more disciplined approach to investment.

Alibaba posted good numbers, with cloud growth re‑accelerating and international commerce remaining a bright spot, but domestic e‑commerce stayed soft.

Tencent continued its pivot toward profitability, with strong advertising momentum and disciplined cost control offsetting a slower gaming contribution.

Baidu leaned heavily on AI‑cloud and model‑training demand to stabilise revenue, even as its core search business remains under macro pressure.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Minutes from the Fed will be released and closer to home we get UK CPI and euro‑area PMIs will help shape expectations for summer moves by the Bank of England and ECB. Although the former may have to act if the bond market continues to react to the UK political landscape.

Earnings turn toward companies that act as barometers of financial conditions, capital spending and consumer resilience. All eyes will be on Nvidia but there are also prints from Deere and Target that will offer insight into industrial demand and household spending.

THE WEEK IN HISTORY

1971: U.S. President Richard Nixon suspended the dollar’s convertibility into gold for foreign central banks, accelerating the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system and reshaping global monetary governance.

1998: The European Central Bank was founded, consolidating monetary authority for the soon‑to‑launch euro and marking one of the most significant transfers of financial sovereignty in modern history.