Good morning from London where the big stories so far today are about the macro picture – fresh ONS data shows the UK economy contracted by 0.3% in October which was hardly a surprise given where interest rates are.
And they’re expected to stay where they are for at least another month when the Bank announces its decision tomorrow afternoon. The base rate is currently 5.25%.
The other big story this morning comes from Bloomberg who say the Walgreens Boots Alliance is dusting off plans to rid itself of the Boots part, potentially by listing it here in London. Walgreens is currently in cost-cutting mode and has brought in new chief executive Tim Wentworth to attempt to turn around the business. The optimism being generated by the idea of Boots returning to the London Stock Exchange tells you everything you need to know about what kind of year its been here in the capital.
One last thing from the FTSE 100 and Ladbrokes-owner Entain ’s chief executive Jette Nygaard-Andersen has resigned from her position with immediate effect, the betting big cap disclosed on Wednesday. Growth has failed to meet expectations.
Finally in small caps now and oil and gas investing company Reabold Resources have announced they’ll be having a general meeting early next year at which some disgruntled shareholders will be proposing a number of motions hostile to the current management. That current management will be visiting me here at the London studio next week to give me their reaction.