Share Sounds. from Share Radio Afternoon presented by Ed Bowsher

FTSE's strength continues while the pound falls on the back of new UK trade figures, Sainsbury's reports Christmas growth and what will the market expect following Trump's first press conference since his election? That and more as Share Radio's Ed Bowsher speaks with Ben Kumar, Investment Manager at Seven Investment Management.

Welcome to the Share Radio News Hour with Ed Bowsher. Sainsbury's shares are climbing today after the company's Christmas update beat expectations. Ed will be speaking with Ben Kumar from 7 Investment about the retailer, as well as why the UK's trade deficit has risen yet again. While the FTSE continues to rise today, shares in Foxtons have hit a record low on a gloomy full year trading update. Ed will be getting insight into what's gone with wrong from Jamieson Blake at ADS Securities. They'll be chatting about several other top company stories too. And in the second half of the hour, we'll be looking at the latest developments on Donald Trump's alleged relationship with Russia. US political commentator, Sanford Henry, will give us his take. Plus, Ed will be speaking to Labour MP, Liam Byrne, about his new book 'Black Flag down'. It's about how the centre left can combat extremism. All that and more on today's edition of the Share Radio News Hour.

Jeremy Corbyn has backed a cap on "high earners" in an attempt to combat increasing income inequity. These comments come ahead of his speech later today to members of the Labour party, where he is expected to signal a shift in migration policy. For his thoughts on the Labour Leader's comments, Share Radio's Ed Bowsher was joined on the line by John Ashmore, Chief reporter for Politics Home.

It's been an extraordinary by any standards for central banks. Resistant growth in inflation, political instability and extreme fluctuations with the price of oil mean that chairs of central banks across the world face a unique and suitably dangerous set of circumstances. To look back on the year for monetary policy, former Bank of England committee member and Emeritus Professor of Banking and Finance at the London School of Economics Charles Goodhart joined Ed Bowsher in studio.

Time now for our weekly catch up with the team at Moneyweek magazine. This week, Ed Bowsher was joined by Merryn Somerset Webb, editor in chief at MoneyWeek. They discuss: the European Central Bank's monetary policy, and the gift that has the use of a pension - but is much nicer to look at.

The insurance market Lloyd's of London is now the first major city business to announce it is preparing plans to set up a subsidiary on mainland europe. This will allow Lloyds to continue operating in the EU even if UK firms lose their so-called 'passport' rights after Brexit. For more on this, Share Radio's Ed Bowsher was joined on the line by Philip Alexander, Regulation Editor at Risk.net

Plenty of interest rate decisions to tuck in to today: whilst the Fed has raised rates citing the strength of the US economy, the Bank of England has been more pessimistic. Base rates have been kept on hold, with Carney warning that signs of slowdown in economic activity have been detected. Is Brexit finally taking its toll? Share Radio's Ed Bowsher was joined by Jasper Lawler, Senior Market Analyst at London Capital Group to discuss the top stories shaping markets today.

The Chancellor, Philip Hammond, says he thinks a period of adjustment would be beneficial to the UK as it prepares to leave the European Union. Share Radio's Ed Bowsher spoke to Sir Vince Cable, former Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills for his reaction to Philip Hammond's comments on the next steps of Brexit.

When you hear about companies, you often hear about profit. But, sadly, the conventional measures of profit don't often tell us the full story about how a company is doing. To clear things up, Share Radio's Ed Bowsher spoke to Phil Oakley, Investment Analyst at SharePad

Oil prices have surged after non OPEC members agreed with their OPEC counterparts to cut production by 558,000 barrels per day, from January 1. This follows an historic meeting of OPEC members who are also cutting 1.2m barrels per day in an attempt to cut the worldwide glut in oil and drive prices higher. For more on this, Share Radio's Ed Bowsher was joined by Roland Head, Oil expert from thefiringroom.com