Is France Becoming Europe’s Biggest Market Risk?

🏆 Vote for The Art of Investing in the FinFluencer Awards! The Art of Investing has been nominated in the Best Economist Influencer category at the FinFluencer Awards. With voting coming to a close, this is your last chance to support the show! Vote here: https://www.finfluencer.digital/awards/uk/vote 🏏 The Art of Investing LIVE at Lord’s Cricket Ground If you’ve registered to join us at Lord’s on 13th October, please check your inbox and confirm your attendance so we can finalise numbers for the evening. If you signed up but haven’t received an email, please get in touch with the team. 📈 Download the full Portfolio Performance Slides View the portfolio breakdown here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jSWtCEqs6zmgt5wx046VMySX2lECS214/view 📧 Get in touch: [email protected] 📱 Behind the scenes: @_theartofinvesting on TikTok 🎧 Listen on: Apple, Spotify, YouTube This week on The Art of Investing, it’s a special episode dedicated to your questions. With the team preparing for their first live show at Lord’s Cricket Ground, Rich McDonald, Mark 'Spice' Holden and Chris 'CJ' Fellingham turn their attention to some of the biggest investing questions sent in by listeners. First up, CJ takes us to France, where political uncertainty and rising borrowing costs are putting pressure on European bond markets. Could the European Central Bank eventually be forced to intervene, and what does it all mean for European equities? Then it’s over to Spice for a deep dive into Nike. After another profit warning, the team explain trough earnings, price-to-earnings ratios and the difficult art of spotting a corporate turnaround. They also explore the opposite problem: what happens when investors are paying for earnings that might already be at their peak? The team also tackle a question about individual UK gilts versus gilt ETFs, exploring the differences in maturity, price movements, transaction costs and tax treatment. And finally, the team lift the lid on the model portfolio, explaining how its weightings work, why they don’t automatically rebalance every position and how the performance figures are calculated. This Week’s Highlights: 🇫🇷 Is France Becoming Europe’s Biggest Bond Market Problem? CJ explores France’s debt troubles, rising bond yields and whether the ECB might need to intervene. 👟 Nike: Is the Worst Finally Over? After another profit warning, Spice explains trough earnings, potential turnarounds and why value investing is harder than it looks. 📊 Trough Earnings vs Peak Earnings Why might a stock trading on 25 times earnings be cheaper than one on seven times? The team examine P/E ratios, AI stocks and the risks of peak profits. 💰 Individual Gilts vs Bond ETFs CJ explains the differences in maturity, costs and tax treatment when investing in UK government bonds. 📈 Record Highs, Rising Yields and Weak Jobs Data US equities continue climbing despite higher borrowing costs and a slowing jobs market. Meanwhile, Japan and emerging markets lead the portfolio. Portfolio Snapshot – Week 60: 📊 Weekly portfolio performance: +0.6% 📈 Total return since inception: +25.5% 📅 2026 year-to-date return: +13.0% Top Performers: 📈 iShares Nikkei 225 ETF: +3.5% 📈 iShares Core MSCI EM IMI ETC: +3.1% 📈 Invesco EQQQ Nasdaq 100 UCITS ETF: +1.7% Underperformers: 📉 BlackRock World Mining Trust PLC: -1.9% 📉 Vanguard FTSE 250: -1.8% 📉 Invesco Stoxx Euro 600 UCITS ETF GBP: -1.1% 📉 iShares Core FTSE 100 ETF: -1.0% Disclaimer: This podcast is provided for educational and informational purposes only. The content presented is not intended as personal investment advice or a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any particular securities or investments. All discussions regarding the model portfolio are illustrative and for educational purposes. Your capital is at risk. The value of shares, ETFs and ETCs can fall as well as rise, which could mean getting back less than you originally put in.