The infoshot to help kick-start your week
Government shutdown over as spectre of Epstein returns
On Monday morning, markets woke up to the news that seven Democrats and one Independent had voted to back the latest Republican deal to reopen the US government and end the longest ever US shutdown.
Trump formally signed a bill to end the shutdown on Wednesday. Market reaction was mixed as US equities traded lower over concerns about how long it will take for things to return to normal. The 730,000 government employees who were required to work without pay during the shutdown should be paid within a week and the 40 million Americans who receive Snap benefits will receive the full entitlement for November. National parks and landmarks will reopen at varied times, and it will take some time for airports to go back to normal operations.
Now the government has reopened, Trump faces a vote on the release of the “Epstein files” this week. Following the public disclosure of 20,000 documents, including emails from Epstein’s estate, Trump failed to persuade two Republicans, Lauren Boebert and Nancy Mace, to withdraw their backing for releasing the files related to Epstein’s criminal cases. He also publicly attacked his long-time supporter, Marjorie Taylor Greene calling her a “traitor”. Last night Trump changed his tune and urged Republicans to vote to release the files, writing on Truth Social that he wanted Republicans to “get BACK ON POINT”. If the bill gets through the House, it will have to get through the Senate before being signed off by Trump.
Michael Burry closes Scion Asset Management but tech sell-off continues
Within weeks of his put options on Nvidia and Palantir being revealed via a regulatory filing, Michael Burry has closed his hedge fund Scion Asset Management. In his letter to investors (dated 27 October) Burry said, “My estimation of value in securities is not now, and has not been for some time, in sync with the markets.”
Fears about the valuation of US tech companies still loomed large last week. US markets suffered their worst day in a month on Thursday with the tech-focussed Nasdaq falling 2.3%.
UK unemployment at four-year high and income tax U-turn
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed unemployment in the UK rose from 4.8% to 5% at the end of September. The 5% rate is 0.1% higher than forecasted and the highest rate since January 2021. The rise makes a pre-Christmas interest rate cut more likely when the Bank of England (BoE) meets for its next Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on 18 December.
On Friday, it became clear that Rachel Reeves is set to abandon her plans to raise income tax in next week’s budget. Now that she plans to keep the party’s manifesto pledge not to raise income tax, Reeves is expected to look at freezing tax thresholds and pursuing smaller tax-raising measures like higher levies on gambling. The news led to a sell-off in the bond market with yields on 10-year UK government bonds jumping to 4.575%. The pound was also sold off, falling 0.3% against the dollar as investors piled bets against the currency.
Coming Up:
- UK CPI, Wednesday 19 November 2025 at 07:00
- US unemployment rate, Thursday 20 November 2025 at 13:30
- S&P manufacturing and services PMI, Friday 21 November at 14:45
Notice:
For regulated financial advisers and investment professionals only, Copia does not provide financial advice, and the contents of this document should not be taken as such. The performance of each asset class is represented by certain Exchange Traded Funds available to UK investors and expressed in GBP terms selected by Copia Capital Management to represent that asset class, as reported at previous Thursday 4:30pm UK close. Reference to a particular asset class does not represent a recommendation to seek exposure to that asset class. This information is included for comparison purposes for the period stated but is not an indicator of potential maximum loss for other periods or in the future.
