MoneyWeek

What have the robots ever done for us? We constantly hear all about how artificial intelligence (AI) is going to change our lives in the future, but I’ve found it very difficult to pinpoint immediate benefits so far. This week, however, I think I fou

Western investment banks started the year tipping Chinese stocks, betting that last year’s delayed post-Covid recovery would finally come good, say Hudson Lockett and Joe Leahy in the Financial Times. Yet foreign investors are already throwing in the

America’s benchmark S&P 500 stock index has reached a new all-time high. “After a rocky start to the year” the US market “has found its footing”, say Krystal Hur and Nicole Goodkind for CNN. The S&P ended last week at 4,839.81 points, eclipsing the p

“After decades of triumphalist money making”, the private-equity industry “faces a reckoning”, says John Plender in the Financial Times. Modern private equity traces its roots back to the “corporate raiders” of the 1980s, who took companies private v

Donald Trump is the Republican Party’s “once and future king”, says Lloyd Green in The Guardian. He may have failed to knock rival Nikki Haley out of the contest for the Republican presidential nomination on Tuesday with his win in the New Hampshire

ADM investigated: Shares in Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), one of the world’s largest crop traders, fell almost a quarter on Monday after it placed its chief financial officer on leave amid an investigation into accounting practices, say Gerson Freita

If elected, as now seems likely, Labour is committed to removing the VAT exemption on private-school fees, meaning that (other things being equal) fees will rise by 20%. By charging VAT but letting schools retain charitable status, those institutions

unherd.com Capitalism is destroying the planet and “degrowth communism” is the only way to save us from extinction. That, at least, is the argument of Kohei Saito, the “rising star of contemporary Marxist thought”, whose Slow Down: How Degrowth Comm

Life expectancy has increased markedly worldwide in recent decades. Since 1970 it has risen by nearly ten years in the UK and 20 years in China. Dan Boardman-Weston, CEO and CIO at BRI Wealth Management, notes that the UN expects average life expecta

Personal Assets Trust (LSE: PNL) and Capital Gearing Trust (LSE: CGT) call themselves wealth-protection trusts. They both aim to protect and grow shareholders’ capital – in that order. However, last year was a painful one for investors in both, with

The deadline for filing your tax return is looming. If you’ve left it to the last minute, here’s how to avoid any fines or penalties. If you need to file a tax return for the 2022-2023 tax year you have until midnight on 31 January. Thousands of peop

Is getting on top of your retirement planning a financial priority for 2024? If so, there are several ways to give your pension a boost. The best way to increase your future pension is to save more today. That sounds obvious, but most savers set up t

No one’s a winner in China’s property market. But in the race to buy time ahead of a hoped-for recovery, property mogul Sun Hongbin has stolen a march. While bigger rivals, such as Evergrande and Country Garden, remain “mired in negotiations with cre

“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few,” said Winston Churchill in the House of Commons on 20August 1940. A few weeks later, the Battle of Britain reached a climax on 15 September when the Luftwaffe launched an al

The new Verve 48 from Italian boat builder Azimut is one of two outboard-powered yachts designed for the US market, but which are now becoming popular in Europe, says Michael Verdon in the Robb Report. The smaller Verve 42 was released in 2022, and t

Watches of Switzerland (WoS), the biggest retailer of Rolexes in Britain, has suffered a mauling. Time was, not so long ago during the pandemic, when luxury-goods companies of all stripes were cashing in on the predicament of wealthy collectors stuck

Appleton House, Stinchcombe Hill, Gloucestershire. An extended, refurbished Arts & Crafts house built in 1935 and once rented by Roger Moore . It is set in large landscaped gardens and has leaded-light windows, oak floors, open fireplaces and an oran

West led a Heart v Six Notrumps, and declarer counted 11 top tricks. The most obvious chance for a 12th lay in the Spade finesse (Ace then low to the Knave). Declarer won the Heart lead, and rattled off his nine winners in Hearts and Clubs. Dealer We

Allianz’s CEO Oliver Bäte warned the World Economic Forum (WEF), gathered in Davos, Switzerland, that the natives are getting restless. If elites weren’t careful, he said, there could be a revolt of the masses. WEF founder Klaus Schwab sees the mob f