The mini collapse in shares earlier in February must surely presage something more serious. In my excessively long experience of markets, the first shudder is rarely the last. Emollient words from inexperienced market commentators should be roundly ignored. This bull market is approaching the shadows of its duration and investors should make use of the…
Another year, another pilgrimage to the JP Morgan Biotech conference in San Francisco, now in its 26th year. About 9,000 people scurry around the passageways of the far-too-small-for-purpose St Francis hotel, watching companies present stuff that is now readily available online. The smarter lot, who number about 41,000, hover in the periphery of the conference,…
It’s that time of the year again: when the pundits look back and either tell you “I told you so”, or “mea culpa”, or some variant in between. I don’t really like looking back – except where the past holds some lessons for the future – but it sure has been an “interesting” year. Bond…
Two trips to Australia in two weeks is not a recipe for a Juvenescent life. Bottom line, if you have to do it, go Emirates. It’s way better than BA, sadly, which has dropped all pretence of service in favour of short term profits. I went the second time to speak at a conference known…
I’m on an Emirates A380 over the island of Goa, en route to Dubai from Melbourne. For the past ten days, I’ve been on a whirlwind visit to Hong Kong, where I spoke at the Economist Longevity conference, and to Australia, where I discussed, inter alia, lithium and more Juvenescence. In less than two weeks,…
What to write about this month? Victor Hill has already – and brilliantly – covered Catalonia, and I have banged on about Longevity long enough (pun intended). But the latest book (Juvenescence) is now out – at last – and the launch party for journos, collaborators as well as friends and family, at the Oxford…
This missive is being written on the Edinburgh to London train, as I return from a full week at the Edinburgh Festival. My friends Alan and Fran Steel of Alan Steel Asset Management, Scotland’s most successful IFA (Independent Financial Adviser), asked me to speak to a selection of their clients during my visit, which I…
There are three of us Mellons currently trying to get books out ahead of each other: my father is finishing one on African Bangles; my brother in law is close to completing a magnum opus on the future of media; and I am pleased to say that, albeit delayed, Juvenescence is coming out on September…
I was recently invited to a Conservative Party lunch hosted by the City and Westminster Tory Association. It was a jolly affair, with hundreds of well-oiled attendees, and despite the recent electoral setback, the mood appeared quite upbeat. Mrs May, to her credit given the recent events, made a formulaic speech that was well received,…
In the past month, I’ve been going around the British Isles, talking to groups of people about my research into longevity, ahead of the launch of the Juvenescence book in July. I know it’s always a mistake to develop confirmation bias, but the more I talk on the subject, and the more I look into…
