Lucky Europe, Unlucky Britain

Against the odds, and with a little help from an unusually accommodating Old Man Winter, Europe might avoid a recession. The UK probably won't be as fortunate. Those were the overarching takeaways from flash reads on S&P Global's PMIs released on Tuesday. European business activity expanded "marginally" in the opening weeks of the new year, suggesting a "tentative" return to growth following six months of contraction, according to the release. The flash read on the bloc-wide composite gaug