Share Sounds

This is the Weeks Update - our catch-up with Share Radio's economic commentator Professor John Weeks. Inaugurations mark new chapters in American politics. When a would-be president steps up to take the Oath of Office, the entire country is meant to step up with them. Wounds of the campaign season should be healed, while attention turns to the road ahead. It's perhaps unprecedented though, for a ceremony to be shadowed by fears that the road may have been chosen by a foreign power. Donald Trump begins his presidency amidst allegations from all of America's intelligence agencies of Russian electoral inference. And yet it was only last week that Trump budged on continued scepticism of the US intelligence community's conclusions. Should the intelligence community - both in the US and here in the UK - be nervous about the new President's arrival? And what exactly does Russia want? As well as Professor Weeks, Share Radio's Simon Rose was joined by Sir David Omand, a former head of GCHQ, now visiting professor at King's College, London and a former UK Intelligence and Security Coordinator.

Share Radio's Simon Rose brings you Market Wrap, a roundup of what's been happening in the bourses and businesses of Britain and the world. To help contextualise the day's events, Simon was joined by Chris Bailey, the founder of Financial Orbit - they tackled Snapchat's British-based international hub, the FTSE's continued record breaking, and a very Morrisons Christmas.

VW executives knew about emissions cheating two months before the scandal broke, but chose not to tell US regulators, according to court papers. The bosses involved include Oliver Schmidt, who was in charge of VW's US environmental regulatory compliance office from 2012 until March 2015, and will appear in court on Monday. Meanwhile here in the UK, thousands of people owning VWs have expressed an interest in suing the car maker. Two law firms, are applying for a group litigation order, which could see owners being awarded several thousands pounds if judges decide their cars "weren't fit for sale." Share Radio's James Brydges has been speaking to David Bailey, Professor of Industry at Aston Business school.

What does the year hold for the relationship between President and Federal Reserve in the US? They're arguably two of the biggest names that can influence the US -- and indeed global -- economy. Matt Cox has been looking into North America, and discussing the Fed and Trump with Professor Peter Rupert of Department of Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Former Senior Economic Advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank.

David Talbot of FTI Consulting joins Simon to talk about the biggest political headlines of the day. This week, they discussed: Corbyn's Brexit comments, the NHS crisis and Boris Johnson's comments on trade and the US.

Welcome to Emerging Opportunities, our chance to spend half an hour in some of the farther flung investment markets. Joining Simon Rose in the studio was Gavin Serkin managing editor of the Frontier Funds Consultancy, and the author of 'Frontier: Exploring the Top Ten Emerging Markets of Tomorrow'. Their guest on the show today was Aberdeen Asset Management's emerging markets fixed income money manager Kevin Daly, for a insight into the latest news and moves in emerging markets.

Morrisons' positive Christmas results came from more than just last minute trips for cranberry sauce, according to the Financial Times assistant companies editor Daniel Thomas. He joins Share Radio’s Ed Bowsher to talk through the retailer’s latest numbers, plus food delivery service JustEat, web retailer Boohoo and Snapchat’s latest move.

We've had some new retail figures out today from KPMG and the Britsh Retail Consortium. Amongst other things, they say that total retail sales rose 1.7% in December. Share Radio's Ed Bowsher spoke to Paul Martin, head of retail at KPMG, to find out more.

Political upheaval, job worries and financial pressures are leaving young people anxious and daunted, according to The Prince's Trust. The charity found we're now seeing the lowest levels of confidence and happiness among 16 to 25 year olds in eight years of research. Money problems play a major role with over two fifths concerned goals like homeownership and a steady job are unrealistic. Georgie was joined by Paul Brown, from the Prince's Trust to discuss more.

Boris Johnson has been visiting Washington DC where he's met Republican congressional leaders as well as some of Donald Trump's top advisers. After one meeting, Johnson said that the UK was 'first in line' for a post-Brexit trade deal with the US. For more on this story, Ed Bowsher spoke to Richard Whitman, Visiting Senior Fellow to the Europe Programme at Chatham House.