In This Week’s Newsletter:
Elon Musk was back in the headlines this week—for three reasons simultaneously. The first UK trial of Musk’s Neuralink brain chip was reportedly a success; Musk’s SpaceX is reportedly weighing a merger with Tesla TSLA; and, in the markets, Tesla itself reported fourth quarter earnings late Wednesday. For the Morningstar takes on both the potential merger and the earnings news, read equity analyst Seth Goldstein’s insight at the bottom of this newsletter. Closer to home, find out which UK investment trusts have late-stage private markets exposure to SpaceX by reading Sunniva Kolostyak’s analysis below.
The Bank of England will announce its first Monetary Policy Committee rates decision of 2026 next Thursday, and markets still anticipate a rate hold ahead of a possible two further cuts later in the year. Not everyone agrees, though. Ariel Bezalel and Harry Richards, co-managers of the £1.3 billion Jupiter Strategic Bond fund, think the Bank could repeat its 2025 playbook with as many as four cuts this year. That would put the base rate at 2.75% by January next year, nearly half its 5% peak in 2025. Our full preview of next week’s decision will hit the website Monday, so look out for that. We also have an outlook on house prices for 2026, which also depend on what the Bank of England does next.
Last week we compiled a list of top FTSE 100 dividend paying stocks, ahead of the first earnings season of the year. This week, we bring you news that nine of the largest 100 European companies by market capitalization are due to pay a dividend in February. To find out which ones are rated 4 stars by Morningstar, read Fernando Luque’s article in this newsletter.
Ollie Smith, Senior Editor
The author or authors do not own shares in any securities mentioned in this article. Find out about
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