MoneyWeek

This week we got the latest inflation numbers from the US. The consumer price index (CPI) for April came in at 8.3% higher than this time last year. Some saw this as good news: it is slightly lower than it was last month (8.5%). Some saw it as bad ne

“Global investors had been hoping that big tech earnings would put the brakes on sliding stockmarkets, but it hasn’t quite worked out that way,” says Steven Frazer in Shares. The latest quarterly earnings results have been mostly solid, but stocks ha

Alex Rankine Markets editor The position of central bankers today “recalls an old joke about a cab driver telling a lost tourist asking for directions: If I were you, I would not be starting from here”, says John Plender in the Financial Times. The

Japan has become “the land of the sinking currency”, says Russ Mould in Shares. The yen is trading close to a 20-year low at 130 to the US dollar, having fallen 16% over the past 12 months. The main cause is divergent monetary policy. While US policy

Boris Johnson attempted to “reenergise his faltering government” this week with a new legislative programme set out in Tuesday’s Queen’s Speech “intended to show he has ideas to improve voters’ lives after the Conservative Party’s dire local election

Sinn Fein secured a “historic victory” last week, becoming the first pro-unification party to win the largest number of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly, says Patrick Sawer in The Daily Telegraph. The result means that Sinn Fein gets the right

Pfizer spends its cash: Drugs giant Pfizer is spending the cash pile it built up from selling its Covid-19 vaccine and pills to buy the rest of Connecticut-based Biohaven Pharmaceutical that it doesn’t already own for $11.6bn, say Jared S Hopkins and

John Lee, the ultra hard-line Beijing loyalist who oversaw the introduction of Hong Kong’s bitterly controversial anti-sedition law, was anointed this week as the territory’s next chief executive (see page 10). The selection, and Lee’s appointment, i

worksinprogress.co Have you ever wondered why the M11 starts at junction 4? Or why the M1 concludes at Brent Cross with a ski ramp heading into the open sky? The reason is that London is “haunted” by the ghost of a monstrous plan that would have pu

Investment trusts controlled by a wealthy family have an intuitive appeal. The family will have a long history of investment success, excellent business connections and an ambition for strong returns in the good times combined with an emphasis on pre

James Anderson is one of the biggest names in the UK fund management industry. As the brains behind the intensely growth-orientated strategy that drives many of Baillie Gifford’s well-known funds, and of course the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust

“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers,” says wise-cracking rebel Dick the Butcher in Shakespeare’s Henry VI. The line always gets a laugh – it’s easy to make jokes at lawyers’ expense – but Shakespeare is not endorsing the thuggish Dick

Household bills have soared in recent months and many of us will be feeling the pinch to the point where we start to doubt the official statistics. Inflation hit 7% on the consumer price index (CPI) measure in March, but your own personal inflation r

The inheritance-tax (IHT) grab continues to intensify. The combination of frozen tax thresholds and soaring property prices saw HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) take £5.5bn in IHT between April 2021 and February 2022 – around £700m more than in the same p

Britain’s economy is driven by services, with the idea of making things relegated to the back seat long ago. Last year the manufacturing sector contributed just 9.7% of economic output. Service sectors such as retail, financial services, leisure and

“I chose Bongbong Marcos as my president because I believe he can help our country be great again,” observed a 50-year-old Manila housewife on news that the son of the former dictator Ferdinand Marcos has won a landslide victory in the Philippines’ p

They say that you should never look a gift horse in the mouth, and Cheltenham race-goers have much to be thankful for in the town’s long association with horses. For over two centuries the Gloucestershire town has been running regular races, with the

Wood House, Shrawley, Worcester. A Grade II-listed Regency house set in parkland and woodland close to the Malvern Hills. The house has high ceilings with ornate cornicing, fireplaces and a large breakfast kitchen with Aga. The grounds include a stab

The hybrid Tonale is more pragmatic than Alfa Romeo’s previous offerings, says Top Gear. It is a car that’s “not for dreamers, but for actual buyers: a compact-ish crossover of thoroughly moderate performance”. Its talents put it “fair and square aga

How Britain Became the Servant of Tycoons, Tax Dodgers, Kleptocrats and Criminals Oliver Bullough Profile, £20 The sanctions imposed in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have thrown into sharp focus how much of Britain’s landmark assets, fro

In his prime, tennis legend Boris Becker was the undisputed king of the centre court. A fortnight ago, he met his match at a very different type of court, where he was jailed for two and a half years for hiding £2.5m worth of assets and loans to avoi

The great “river of no returns” – Amazon – went over a waterfall at the end of last month when its shares collapsed on the news of worse-than-expected earnings. The shares fell more than 30% below their record high, reports Forbes, marking their wors