The pound struggled in the end of trade last week, with growing Brexit uncertainty weighing heavily on the currency. Sterling looks to be struggling again at the start of this week as GBP/USD tumbles to $1.3419, GBP/CAD nosediving to C$1.7271, while GBP/AUD and GBP/NZD have both slipped AU$1.7850 and NZ$1.9470 respectively. Only GBP/EUR appears to be holding this morning as it stabilises at €1.1442.
Looking ahead the pound may enter into a holding pattern today as markets await the release of the latest UK inflation figures on Wednesday.

This overview is extracted from the 2017 Economic Survey of Portugal. The Survey is published by the Economic and Development Review Committee (EDRC) of the OECD, which is charged with the examination of the economic situation of member countries.

Portugal’s economy has gone through a gradual recovery from a deep recession. A wide-ranging structural reform agenda has supported thisrecovery and the ongoing reduction of imbalances built up in the past. Stronger investment, skills, and productivity will increasingly be the basis for sustainable income gains.

What does the Portuguese tax landscape look like in 2018?

Extreme investor optimism has been dealt a blow. But growth is still strong, inflation is still low, and our investment partners believe the equity-market correction is likely to be short-lived.

Investor sentiment had been extremely optimistic in recent months and markets overbought, but that is no longer the case. After last Thursday’s near-4% decline, the S&P 500 is now officially in correction territory, being down by more than 10% from its record high reached on 26 January. However, in the midst of this kind of market turbulence, it is particularly important to take a step back and consider the broader economic backdrop – growth is still strong and inflation is still low.

January is a good time to reflect on the previous 12 months and look ahead to what the coming year may bring. This should always include a review of your financial planning to ensure it is up-to-date and on track to protect your family’s long-term wealth.

Fund manager Neil Woodford has warned stock markets around the world are in a "bubble," citing bitcoin, ETFs, and yields on European junk bonds as "red lights."

Woodford made his name as a money manager by avoiding bank shares before the 2007 financial crash and by avoiding the tech sector before the tech sector's dotcom crash in 2001.

The first EU Blacklist finally revealed

The EU has put 17 jurisdictions on a blacklist: American Samoa, Bahrain, Barbados, Grenada, Guam, South Korea, Macau, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Namibia, Palau, Panama, St Lucia, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates. However, when contrasting the revelations in the Paradise and Panama Papers about international tax schemes, exposing some of the intricate ways that the world's wealthy use to evade tax through offshore havens, it quickly becomes apparent that the EU has chosen to target countries with little economic or political weight.

Part nº3: Advantages of a Delaware LLC - the final part in a series providing an in-depth analysis of Delaware LLCs, by Dennis Swing Greene.