Imagine a continent which leads the world in mobile telephony banking and in fourth generation (satellite) internet access. This is a continent which has achieved remarkable advances in health outcomes as evidenced by levels of infant mortality and life expectancy, and in education over the last two decades. And which is now enjoying supercharged growth.…
Seeking Alpha offered a coruscatingly sceptical commentary (9th February) on Elon Musk’s latest analysts’ conference where the subject was the woeful failure of his Californian factory to produce Teslas. What is really startling is the recital of the most improbable problems which are essentially nothing to do with common sense. I doubt they’ll be solved…
The Catalonian insurrection has been defeated by the will of Madrid – mercifully without ugliness. But many Catalans are resentful and do not think the struggle is over. Victor Hill has been visiting Spain’s richest province again. A fairly honourable defeat… On 31 January, a message sent by Carles Puigdemont, the unlikely exiled President of…
This week has been dominated by falls in share prices across the globe caused by raised inflation expectations. It would be unsurprising for there to be more volatility as investors continue to adjust their forecasts for inflation. With Donald Trump’s tax and spending policies yet to have their full impact, coming to terms with higher…
Sheer professionalism: when the SFO cooked up charges against the Tesco 3, I thought that that would be difficult. But, then again, it’s only taxpayers’ money. And £5 million and two years later the trial collapses. What a surprise. But I really admire the sheer professionalism of the defence team in arranging a heart attack…
At times of extreme market stress, investment trusts tend to behave more like equities than funds, with the prevailing sense of nervousness driving their prices well beyond their underlying net asset values. This discount volatility creates both an extra source of risk as well as a potential opportunity. Whenever the market experiences a sharp sell-off…
I just had to buy Bitcoin this morning since Lloyds Bank banning its customers from using their credit cards so to participate is surely the proof that it has got to be worth having a go. Mind you, I bought only a smidgin and paid $7,975. Also, what on earth is Lloyds thinking of when…
The UK property sector has experienced a mixed couple of years. The EU referendum seems to have caused investor confidence in the sector to decline, with the outlook for the UK economy now being less certain than it was previously. Property prices could come under pressure in the near term. However, the valuations of these…
Money doesn’t grow on trees – so we are told. Yet central banks like the Bank of England can create it out of nothing. Do they really know what they are doing? And who has gained most from their monetary alchemy? The age of alchemy The Credit Crunch – aka the Financial Crisis – of…
The threat of a hard Brexit has held back the performance of domestically orientated UK stocks and created a value opportunity for those who believe that the economy will withstand all the business and political uncertainty surrounding the negotiations. If you share this view you might want to consider the Aurora Investment Trust (LON:ARR). This…
