Eclipses and hot things

No end of excitement this week as we’ve seen a solar eclipse, lower inflation

in the US, the defeat of Count Binface and the publication of July’s best-selling funds lists.

On Wednesday night, I took the kids to the beach for what had been trailed breathlessly on Radio 4 as a near spiritual experience. In fact, I sat grumpily on the beach with a colander, looking like a hot Saucepan Man, as my teens squabbled and my son looked at the Arsenal line-up on his phone instead.

Better news on Thursday, in the shape of the US inflation numbers, which were a little lower at 3.4%. The stock market liked this news. The S&P 500

closed at a record high yesterday, which (trivia fans, sit up) was the index’s 27th record close of 2026.

Most analysts expect the S&P 500 to grind a bit higher this year, supported by strong company earnings and AI-driven growth (although NB readers, analysts get it wrong on occasion!) However, right now, there is a tone of cautious optimism for the rest of the year, despite the almost febrile markets. JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley think the S&P 500 will get to 8,000 by Christmas (from 7,800 today). Citi have 8,100 in their sights.

What’s hot?

This week, we have published the best-selling funds, Investment Trusts and Exchange Traded Funds in July. Those wanting to capture easy access to the S&P 500 in one simple trade could look at Vanguard’s S&P 500 ETF, which has been a perennial bestseller in 2025 and 2026.

For those who want to spread the love around a little more, Fidelity Index World fund is still up there, holding about 1,500 companies from 23 countries in one basket.

And as for Investment Trusts it’s Scottish Mortgage (tech, future, volatile), Polar Capital Technology (105 tech companies in it), City of London (solid, income, old school) and Janus Henderson Far East Income (9.5% income).

If we extend our gaze from products to sectors, the best-performing sector in the three months to July wasn’t tech. Any guesses?

Financial stocks collectively returned 12% in the 3 months to July compared to a collection of global shares, which made a little over 5%. Technology is pretty volatile and actually finance, healthcare and defence were the sexy picks in the summer of 2026. Look out for the full piece we’ll be releasing on Sunday with all the details.

Too hot to handle?

If you’re finding it hard to plan your money and starting to read some headlines which are second guessing the first Burnham Budget, financial advice is always worth thinking about.

For balance, I think there is a lot we can do on our own these days. Particularly those still working and just trying to save a bit into ISAs and chip some money into a pension. It gets a lot harder the closer to retirement you get, or indeed for those planning their estate and inheritance.

Our newly updated Advice Hub has lots of tips and ideas, including what you might pay, the help you can expect to get, and how to find a reputable adviser. Traditional financial advice is still very much for those with around £100,000 in assets or more. We’re busy researching lower cost digital advice options out there, which are more suitable for those with smaller amounts and will bring you more on this from September.

Phew. That’s it from me for August. I have a little 2-week blog respite coming up and will be back in September. My final top tip for parental sanity – don’t leave buying school shoes till September 1st! Do it this week and you will momentarily feel as though you’re winning in life.

Enjoy the rest of the summer!

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