Ian Smith
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iankmsmith.ft.com
Ian Smith
@iankmsmith.ft.com
8.7K followers 2K following 1.6K posts
Senior Markets Correspondent at the Financial Times. Previously insurance, finance, stocks, pensions, you get the idea. This is my real account: I never promote crypto or any other investment

Stories: https://www.ft.com/ian-smith
Contact: [email protected]
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iankmsmith.ft.com
Ian Smith @iankmsmith.ft.com · 18d
2025 IN MARKETS* 📈📉📈🧵

1. People came into the year pretty bullish on US stocks and $ (because Trump)

US stocks soar more than 20% for second year in a row
www.ft.com/content/b413...

Dollar surges against euro and sterling
www.ft.com/content/e572...

*focusing on big markets in US and Europe
US stocks soar more than 20% for second year in a row
Investor excitement over AI helps Big Tech once again drive gains in blue-chip S&P 500
www.ft.com
iankmsmith.ft.com
if you like me you missed this great piece by @barneyjopson.bsky.social
www.ft.com/content/708b...
The secretive powerbroker with a tight grip on corporate Spain
Isidro Fainé runs the Caixa Foundation but the 83-year-old’s age and dominance are causing disquiet
www.ft.com
January 16, 2026 at 2:14 PM
iankmsmith.ft.com
“When people saw there was nothing really spooky in the Budget, they wanted to get on with things"
www.ft.com/content/be22...
UK lenders cut mortgage rates in race for new year buyers
December fall in base rate and relatively benign Budget triggers swath of cheaper deals
www.ft.com
January 16, 2026 at 1:12 PM
iankmsmith.ft.com
Europe getting tougher on the shadow fleet
www.lloydslist.com/LL1156094/Gr...
Growing stateless shadow fleet transits sparks stronger action from Europe
Germany, and its fellow Baltic nations, are using UNCLOS to their advantage and going after the relatively low-hanging fruit that are stateless tankers
www.lloydslist.com
January 16, 2026 at 11:00 AM
iankmsmith.ft.com
The Italian finance sector continues to have the goods
www.ft.com/content/40e3...
Monte dei Paschi chief at odds with billionaire investor over Mediobanca
Rift between Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone and Luigi Lovaglio over Generali stake threatens to unseat CEO
www.ft.com
January 16, 2026 at 10:58 AM
iankmsmith.ft.com
🧨

come work with us
robinwigglesworth.ft.com Robin Wigglesworth @robinwigglesworth.ft.com · 1d
Three dynamite FT reporting jobs have opened up: Here are the links.

— European Business Correspondent: job-boards.eu.greenhouse.io/financialtim...
— Tax Correspondent: job-boards.eu.greenhouse.io/financialtim...
— US Business Correspondent: job-boards.eu.greenhouse.io/financialtim...
January 16, 2026 at 10:55 AM
iankmsmith.ft.com
Kikko Kikkoman, I want to be etc www.ft.com/content/b854...
Sauce of deals? Century-old Japanese brand gets taste for M&A
Kikkoman seeks to capitalise on Japanese cuisine’s popularity abroad amid shrinking population at home
www.ft.com
January 16, 2026 at 10:40 AM
Reposted by Ian Smith
tobyn.bsky.social
My first proper news byline in MainFT 🥳
January 16, 2026 at 8:25 AM
iankmsmith.ft.com
Nice column from Gillian Tett on whether we should be worried about the big worry www.ft.com/content/a609...
Fiscal threats lurk in the undergrowth for Japan
The country is the darling of investors, but that could change
www.ft.com
January 16, 2026 at 9:08 AM
iankmsmith.ft.com
This is great on Iran's Grand Bazaar

(name sounds even better in Farsi: Bazaar-e Bozorg)
www.ft.com/content/3f96...
The historic bazaar where Iran’s protests began
Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, whose shopkeepers helped bring Islamist clerics to power in 1979, once again became a hotspot for anti-regime rallies
www.ft.com
January 15, 2026 at 9:52 AM
Reposted by Ian Smith
financialtimes.com
Trump’s ‘unpredictable’ policies to fuel shift from US, Pimco says ft.trib.al/OhlhrU5
Trump’s ‘unpredictable’ policies to fuel shift from US, Pimco says
Cautious stance comes amid Wall St concerns over president’s attack on the Federal Reserve
ft.trib.al
January 15, 2026 at 5:10 AM
iankmsmith.ft.com
1970s-style debt crisis update –

UK borrowing costs fall to lowest in more than a year
www.ft.com/content/0574...
January 14, 2026 at 3:39 PM
Reposted by Ian Smith
fintwitter.bsky.social
KATAYAMA: HAD DEEP TALKS ON FX WITH BESSENT
January 14, 2026 at 8:37 AM
iankmsmith.ft.com
Central bankers stand up for Powell
www.ft.com/content/48bd...
a group of people are sitting in a field with a horse in the background
ALT: a group of people are sitting in a field with a horse in the background
media.tenor.com
January 13, 2026 at 11:30 AM
iankmsmith.ft.com
Speculation over a snap election has pushed Japanese yen to 19-month low against the dollar, extending a market move that has confounded investors – why is the currency souring even as rates hit decade highs?
www.ft.com/content/54a3...
January 13, 2026 at 9:44 AM
iankmsmith.ft.com
Gold — commonly known as the WTF metal — up today, and dollar weaker, as the White House ratchets up pressure on the Federal Reserve
as.ft.com/r/e6e08184-a...
Gold hits record high on worries over Fed independence
[FREE TO READ] Dollar weakens and Wall Street futures fall after US prosecutors launch criminal investigation into chair Jay Powell
as.ft.com
January 12, 2026 at 9:46 AM
iankmsmith.ft.com
Just a small tussle for the credibility and independence of the world’s most important central bank 🤷🏻‍♂️
January 12, 2026 at 12:51 AM
iankmsmith.ft.com
#TheNightManager a couple of questionable little narrative items but a good ride
January 11, 2026 at 10:16 PM
iankmsmith.ft.com
Halt defence companies’ capital returns, cap credit card rates, go after health insurers over premiums — Truth Socialism
January 11, 2026 at 9:33 PM
Reposted by Ian Smith
domw.bsky.social
I done one of these.

bsky.app/profile/did:...
January 10, 2026 at 11:01 AM
Reposted by Ian Smith
aljazeera.com
Fourth Palestinian baby freezes to death in Gaza since November https://aje.news/1ryphy
Fourth Palestinian baby freezes to death in Gaza since November
January 11, 2026 at 11:30 AM
Reposted by Ian Smith
financialtimes.com
US corporate bond sales hit $95bn in busiest week since Covid pandemic ft.trib.al/TyBtvej
US corporate bond sales hit $95bn in busiest week since Covid pandemic
Companies in new year borrowing rush ahead of expected glut of issuance to fund AI-related spending
ft.trib.al
January 11, 2026 at 6:18 AM
Reposted by Ian Smith
liamthorp.bsky.social
This week an elderly woman died alone on a trolley in a hospital corridor, with desperate, exhausted staff unable to tend to her

This is the reality in our NHS right now and for those on the front line, it’s horrifying
Woman left to die alone on corridor trolley in 'broken' A&E
Staff at a Merseyside hospital told the ECHO that an older woman died without being tended to by exhausted and overrun NHS teams at a hospital experiencing overwhelming demand
www.liverpoolecho.co.uk
January 11, 2026 at 7:45 AM
iankmsmith.ft.com
Thinking of the people of Iran tonight. Heartbreaking reports, after years of deadly and doomed protests, decades under the yoke of their “republic” and the rest of the world has only ever made things worse
January 10, 2026 at 10:23 PM
iankmsmith.ft.com
Hard to think of anything more Palace than winning the FA Cup and then going out to Macclesfield
January 10, 2026 at 7:02 PM
iankmsmith.ft.com
A great dissection from @jsphctrl.ft.com

Can Venezuela settle its debts?
as.ft.com/r/38ee65ef-b...
Can Venezuela settle its debts?
[FREE TO READ] Nicolás Maduro’s removal has opened the door to a huge and complex debt workout
as.ft.com
January 10, 2026 at 2:00 PM