Louise Minchin, 53, was left questioning her actions after a fan pointed out she may have “jinxed” England’s chances in last night’s Euro 2020. The national team ended up making it to the final after what was a very tense match, but before the semi-finals began, the BBC Breakfast host found something she believed might be a sign we would make it.
With the nation on the edge of their seats ahead of the what would be a hugely successful game, Louise took to Twitter after her stint on the breakfast show had finished.
“Never [noticed] this until today, and never walked underneath it before. @mrdanwalker #signs #EURO2020,” she wrote, alongside a photo of her under a stone wall which had 1966 engraved into it – the most historic date in English football, when the national team took home the World Cup.
So, naturally, it seemed like a good luck sign to Louise.
Sports presenter Sally, who was reporting from the stadium, said: “I have to say, guys, just remember tonight. Because watching last night – gosh the atmosphere was amazing.
“But think about tonight though; England v Denmark, and the only people who are allowed in here are the people who live in this country already.
“So just imagine the support and that wall of noise for England – it’s going to be mad.”
Cutting back to the studio, Louise looked tetchy as she laughed: “It really is!”
BBC Breakfast presenter Dan Walker has shared a series of tweets regarding England’s successful 4-0 lead so far, but admitted he was worried the team may be peaking too early. The ex Football Focus host expressed his concerns in view of his 715,000 followers.
At first, the 44-year-old wrote: “What is going on? Not used to England playing so well in a major tournament.
“This is MADNESS. Lovely madness #ENG #EURO2020.”
Following Jordan Henderson’s goal, Dan followed up his post writing: “This is wonderful!!!
“Anyone else worried that we are peaking too early?”
Refusing to believe it, Strictly Come Dancing star Oti Mabuse replied: “DON’T.”
Thankfully, Dan and England fans didn’t have anything to worry about as the result concluded a clear win for the team.
Ahead of the game, the father-of-three gave fans an insight into his home as he watched the match from home.
The BBC Breakfast star shared a picture of his lit up gazebo which featured multiple sofas and a big screen.
Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A street sign, Wall Street, is seen outside New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, New York
NEW YORK (Reuters) – An historic rally in share prices for smaller U.S. companies has slowed sharply in April after six months of strong gains, leading many investors to worry that the stock market as a whole may have already priced in a strong rebound from the pandemic.
“The easy money has been made for small caps and for the market overall,” said Doug Foreman, chief investment officer of fund manager Kayne Anderson Rudnick, who expects the broad U.S. market will offer “single-digit returns” for the rest of 2021.
“The economic recovery is over in financial markets but not in the real world.”
Over the last year, the 86.7% gain for the index of small-cap stocks has trounced the 48.8% gain for the large-cap , according to Refinitiv data.
But since the start of April, the S&P’s 5.2% gain has been nearly double the Russell 2000’s gain of about 2.3%, and over the last three months the S&P has outperformed with a gain of 8.5% to 5% for the Russell 2000.
The Russell 2000 has stalled even as President Joe Biden’s administration hit its April 19 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa/all-american-adults-to-be-eligible-for-covid-19-vaccine-by-april-19-biden-idUSKBN2BT1IF target date for expanding eligibility for the coronavirus vaccine to all adults, which should help the economy recover after the pandemic. Over the last three weeks, American Airlines (NASDAQ:) and United Airways both announced plans to recall all furloughed pilots and hire new ones as they prepare for a sharp rebound in travel.
Wall Street is also bracing for the Biden administration’s expected proposal to nearly double taxes on capital gains to 39.6% for people earning more than $ 1 million. Small-cap investors could feel pressure to take some profits on the strong rally by selling shares before the tax hike kicks in.
By the time Biden marks his 100th day in office on April 30th, the United States will have administered over 200 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine, a pace far ahead of European countries or Japan.
Slower gains for small caps probably signal that stocks will start to trade closer to fundamentals, with earnings results growing more important and investors less likely to discount a bad quarter, said Michael Wilson, chief U.S. equity strategist and chief investment officer at Morgan Stanley (NYSE:).
“The breakdown of small caps and cyclicals is a potential early warning sign that the actual reopening of the economy will be more difficult than dreaming about it,” he said.
Few expect that the Russell index will fall into a correction – a decline of 10% or more – or a bear market anytime soon. The index posted a 1.8% gain Friday, a sign that investors remain optimistic about the U.S. economy overall.
“We’ve priced in quite a bit of the good news and the reopen already, but we could still see catalysts like M&A deals or higher oil prices that would give small-caps another leg higher,” said Esty Dwek, head of Global Thematics & Macro Research at Natixis Investment Managers.
Investors often look at small cap performance as a measure of the strength of a bull market, said Brain Jacobsen, senior investment strategist at Wells Fargo (NYSE:) Asset Management. A strong outperformance by small caps often signals that the bull market is an early stage, while a strong outperformance by large caps may mean that the bull market is aging and overall returns may be limited, he said.
“The market was demonstrating early cycle behavior with value outperforming growth, small outperforming large. Now it’s shifting more to mid-cycle behavior even though the economy is far from mid-cycle,” he said.
As a result, some small cap fund managers have become more cautious since the start of April.
“We’ve been trimming some of the winners that have had massive moves up and deploying them into some of the more mature larger cap names,” said Lamar Villere, a portfolio manager at Villere & Co.
Among Villere’s few new purchases are shares of ViacomCBS (NASDAQ:) Inc, which dropped more than 27% https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks-media/viacomcbs-discovery-both-fall-27-leading-media-stock-selloff-idUSKBN2BI380 on March 26 after losses at Archegos, a hedge fund run by former Tiger Asia manager Bill Hwang, triggered a fire sale of media stocks.
“There are fewer attractive values to be found in small caps right now,” Villere said.
“Anyway half 12, Steph’s Packed Lunch. I’ll see you there.”
In the next clip, Gemma made an Instagram Boomerang of the door of her dressing room, which had her name on it.
Once inside, the former Strictly Come Dancing contestant explained her dilemma over getting ready to appear on camera.
Looking stylish in a white slogan T-shirt and her hair styled in loose waves, Gemma said: “Because of COVID we have to do our own hair and make-up for the minute.
