Victor Hill

The Ladies’ First Post-Brexit Budget

The Ladies’ First Post-Brexit Budget

9 mins. to read

London, House of Commons, Wednesday, 20 March 2019, 12:37 The Deputy Speaker: I will have ORDER in this house! Mr Skinner, for the sake of your own health, I advise you to contain yourself. I call upon the Chancellor of the Exchequer to deliver the budget statement. Mrs Leadsom. Loud cheers from the Conservative benches…

Forget “Pharmaceuticals” – Think Immunology and Synthetic Biology

Forget “Pharmaceuticals” – Think Immunology and Synthetic Biology

17 mins. to read

As seen in the latest issue of Master Investor Magazine Investors often suppose that biotechnology is all about the development of new wonder drugs which zap bacteria and viruses – pharmacology. But in fact the best investment prospects probably reside in other, newer fields of medicine, of which there are several. Today I’m taking a…

When Clouds Part

When Clouds Part

5 mins. to read

About 20 years ago, I was descending a Monro (mountain) in Scotland – Beinn Bheigeir on Islay, to be precise – leading two beautiful young people back to the sea. (My niece and nephew: the girl is now an academic in Switzerland and the boy is in private equity.) And, as it can do there,…

All Aboard the Brexit Big Dipper!

All Aboard the Brexit Big Dipper!

11 mins. to read

Investing in the UK Pre and Post Brexit At 04:39 on Friday, 24 June David Dimbleby announced that the BBC forecast was that REMAIN could not now win. Cut to a beaming Nigel Farage at a party somewhere talking about the British people getting their country back. As the enormity of the news sunk in,…

In the Cold Light of Dawn

In the Cold Light of Dawn

4 mins. to read

Gosh. Have I missed something? I hate it when Swen prods me like that when I’m fast asleep in my favourite comfy chair. Did you say we’ve voted out? Told you so. It was when I was having lunch with Evil about a month ago that I started getting vibes. We discussed the bookies odds…

Brexit for Dummies

Brexit for Dummies

7 mins. to read

A missive through the letterbox from Jezza & Co. I had supposed that Mr Corbyn had gone on holiday, so little have I heard from him during the referendum campaign (and at his age, that would have been quite understandable). But no, the Labour Party has been up all night producing killer arguments for –…

Trust Me – I’m a Robot…

Trust Me – I’m a Robot…

6 mins. to read

You’re feeling peaky, but daren’t leave your work station to go to the doctor as the CEO is over from New York – and is prowling. Your child is off sick at home and has just texted to say she’s feeling nauseous. It’s Saturday night and you’ve conceived weird needle pains in your upper arm…

Antibiotic Persistence – Or Where Big Pharma Went Wrong

Antibiotic Persistence – Or Where Big Pharma Went Wrong

7 mins. to read

What is your favourite apocalypse? Global warming precipitating cataclysmic sea-level rise? Thermonuclear war caused by hackers violating the Pentagon? Fundamentalists with dirty bombs? A global pandemic of bird flu? President Donald? Brexit? Or: what about antibiotic resistance? I’ve just listened to a BBC R4 programme[i] on the subject of the increasing immunity of super-bugs. According…

The Anglosphere is an Emerging Civilization-State

The Anglosphere is an Emerging Civilization-State

19 mins. to read

As seen in the latest issue of Master Investor Magazine In the next stage of the Information Age nations which share a cultural affinity will coalesce into closer political and economic partnerships. The principal cultural affinity of the UK is with other English-speaking nations, not Europe (which is heterogeneous, anyway). The forthcoming EU referendum in…

Things I Think You Ought to Know

Things I Think You Ought to Know

6 mins. to read

Asian Stars Malaysia’s Hap Seng Consolidated Berhad (KLSE:HAPSENG), a property, plantations and buildings material conglomerate, has managed to quadruple its share price in the last three years and is up 55 percent over the last twelve months – despite a modest decline in the Kuala Lumpur index[i]. It has managed to double after-tax profits despite…