Indholdsfortegnelse for Issue 1258 i MoneyWeek

“I can’t possibly have the Astra,” wrote someone on Twitter when the vaccines arrived. “Someone I know had it and was trampled by cows that afternoon.” Another user, perhaps also a medical specialist, explained to the Astra-sceptic that this was an example of “herd immunity”. The first post was a satirical (I hope) example of apophenia, people’s tendency to find connections and patterns in unrelated events. The syndrome often becomes more prominent at times of great economic uncertainty or cyclical turning points; hence mounting talk of quirky economic indicators. “Those worried about a short-term slide in the gold market should research the miners” A little treat We have all heard of the lipstick indicator: in hard times women treat themselves to cosmetics, but forego pricier items such as clothes. Then…

“A total of 126,340 Canadians moved to the US in 2022, up from 75,752 in 2012. Among them were Canada’s top technical talents – attracted by high salaries, wider varieties of work and greater career options. More than 70% of the University of Waterloo’s software engineering class of 2022 accepted job offers in the US. The wealth transfer from the exodus of so many smart young Canadians is tens of billions of dollars a year, if not hundreds of billions. The numbers in the tariff debate are a rounding error by comparison. The weakening of Canada has much to do with the disastrous fiscal and regulatory policies started by Pierre Trudeau as prime minister in the 1970s. That’s when Canada’s brain drain began. Tariffs and taxes don’t make societies prosper.…

Luxury group Kering’s sales slumped in the first quarter, says Leila Abboud in the Financial Times. The 14% year-on-year decline was driven by sliding demand at Gucci, which saw a 25% drop in comparable sales. This suggests that Kering has failed to ignite a turnaround of its biggest brand, where revenue has been falling fast. While the brand enjoyed a “multi-year boom” before Covid, it has since fallen out of fashion and failed to recover, even though Kering has “shuffled around designers, introduced more subtle designs and moved to sell more products through its own stores, rather than wholesalers”. The litany of poor results from Kering has provoked a “rare public debate over the stewardship of the group’s chief, François-Henri Pinault”, says Don-Alvin Adegeest on FashionUnited. Though Pinault “has overseen…

The energy sector has been especially volatile recently, says Barron’s. However, as one of the industry’s biggest firms, with plenty of cash on hand, Chevron “deserves... attention”. The US tariff-induced trade war; a potential increase in production by oil exporters’ cartel Opec; and US green-energy projects potentially being shelved are headwinds. But Chevron’s valuation is “too cheap” considering that analysts expect earnings to bottom out in 2025 and rebound strongly over the next three years. Some of Chevron’s investments, notably in Kazakhstan, are bearing fruit. It has tariff-resistant US energy-producing assets, and its 5% dividend looks safe.…

The cause of the “massive power outage” that paralysed the Iberian Peninsula on Monday is still unknown, says Zia Weise in Politico. It was preceded by a sudden drop in power from a solar plant. Spain’s national grid operator says a “freak incident in the electrical grid” is the “likely culprit, all but ruling out a cyberattack”. Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez (pictured) came under pressure to explain what went wrong as his opponents blamed low investment in a system that relies heavily on intermittent renewable sources. It is vital to establish what went wrong and how to prevent a repeat as Europe relies increasingly on green electricity in pursuit of net zero by 2050. In a sense, the blackout was a “good thing”. In the same way that circuit…

What’s going on? Just 12 short months ago, the then-US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen made a trip to Beijing to deliver the message that the world’s biggest economy had no wish to decouple from the world’s second, its biggest trading partner. “Our two economies are deeply integrated, and a wholesale separation would be disastrous for both,” Yellen assured her hosts. Fast forward a year and Donald Trump has imposed a 145% tariff on Chinese imports. Beijing has responded with a 125% tariff on US goods, plus other measures including restrictions on exports of rare-earth minerals (vital components in a range of high-tech sectors, including defence) to the US. The trade stand-off will benefit neither, and the slow “decoupling” of the two economies is turning into a rapid unravelling. How much…

Understanding the risks you are taking on an investment is essential, but even so, a blow-up will sometimes catch you by surprise. Argentex – which I have previously profiled in MoneyWeek and which I personally hold – is a fine example. Argentex is a currency trader, helping clients to manage their foreign-exchange (FX) exposure. As such, you might even expect it to benefit from volatile markets caused by Donald Trump’s tariffs. Yet on 22 April, it admitted that it had suffered a “rapid and significant impact on its near-term liquidity position” and suspended its shares. Three days later, the board said that it was recommending a takeover offer of 2.49p per share from rival IFX – 94% below where the shares were trading before suspension The deal also includes a…

Taking the fight to globalism Ryan Bourne and Daniel KleinCapX Donald Trump is quite right to fight globalism, but that is a “very different beast” from globalisation, say Ryan Bourne and Daniel Klein. “Globalisation is people choosing to trade or interact internationally and happens even when trade is quite unfree.” Globalism, on the other hand, is the belief that certain issues “require top-down management through global or multilateral organisations and agreements” and that letting countries “find solutions through markets or civil society or local government won’t do”. Examples of globalism include the Paris climate accords, the OECD’s global minimum tax cartel, the EU, which exports red tape worldwide, the World Economic Forum and the UN, with its “ever-expanding global governance agenda”. The goal of these bodies is largely the same:…

project-syndicate.org Governments around the world are trying to “reinvent themselves in the image of business”, say Mariana Mazzucato and Rainer Kattel. This is an explicit aim of Elon Musk’s “DOGE crusade” in the US and of Javier Milei’s presidency in Argentina. But this is a mistake. Businesses and governments serve different ends. For the former, the priority is “rapid iteration, technology-driven disruption and financial returns for investors”. They try to solve a narrowly defined problem with a single product. Governments, by contrast, must tackle complex, interconnected issues such as poverty, public health and national security, seek to uphold legal mandates and ensure the provision of essential services. This calls for collaboration across multiple sectors and careful long-term planning. Introducing a new digital health app, for example, may give rise to…

Five years ago, Jacob Rothschild stepped back from direct involvement in RIT Capital Partners (LSE: RCP), the £4bn trust effectively controlled by his family. Straightaway, its performance lagged without his magic touch. On at least one occasion, RIT seemed to have turned the corner, only to fall back again. The shares retreated from trading at a premium to net asset value (NAV) to a discount of more than 30%. However, performance has now picked up under new chief executive Maggie Fanari, who joined in March 2024. Last year, the investment return was 9%, while the first quarter of 2025 was up by 3%. The principal driver of 2024’s performance was a 16% return from quoted equities, which comprise 46% of the portfolio. Meanwhile, private equity turned the corner after two…

When the potential upside of an investment eclipses the downside, you have a so-called asymmetric bet – “the holy grail of investing”, some say. You might risk $1,000. Instead of a “safe” 10% annual return, you might make ten or a hundred times your money – or you might lose it all. Enter Comstock (NYSE: LODE), which trades on the Amex in New York, an exchange for small and medium-sized companies. The stock is very volatile. Now worth $1.50, in 2021 it was flirting with $100. But if it achieves its lofty goals, it might be able to reclaim the $100 mark. Comstock is not easy to understand, but we’ll start with its assets. This is a Nevada-based, former junior mining company, which took its name from its main property,…

Airports can be excellent investments, especially if they are situated in the right location. Even if they are not ideally located, airports’ monopoly nature often provides a competitive advantage over other types of infrastructure asset. Unfortunately, most airports are owned by large private-equity companies and are not readily accessible to the average investor. There are a few select opportunities available. One of those is Athens International Airport (Athens: AIA). It began life in 1996 under a build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) model, whereby the Greek government took a 55% stake and investment firm Hochtief (later named AviAlliance) owned 45%. Traffic grew steadily in the early 2000s until the global financial crisis and the subsequent Greek debt crisis. Traffic flying in and out of the airport declined for six straight years after the crisis…

Rental yields for some landlords reached a 13-year high at the end of last year, with an average return of 6.93%, according to Paragon Bank. But landlords remain miserable. One in three is considering leaving the private rental sector altogether and nearly a third (29%) have already sold some of their properties over the last 12 months – 32% of their portfolio on average, figures from Aldermore Bank show. “Increased regulation, high mortgage rates and high maintenance costs mean more landlords are unfortunately being squeezed out of the market,” says Jon Cooper, director of mortgages at Aldermore. And now new rules threaten to make matters worse. The Renters’ Right Bill, expected to become law in England later this year, will ban in-tenancy rent rises, fixed-term tenancies and no-fault (Section 21)…

Are you selling your business? Your tax bill may be larger than expected. New rates of business asset disposal relief (BADR) came into force on 6 April: capital-gains tax is now payable at 14% on the first £1m of profits you make from the sale, up from 10% previously; and next April, the rate increases to 18%. Standard CGT rates – payable on profits above £1m – have also risen: last October they climbed to 18% and 24% for basic and higher-rate taxpayers respectively. Against this backdrop, specialist advisers on employer ownership trusts (EOTs) report a significant increase in enquiries from business owners thinking about selling up. These arrangements enable you to sell your business to your workforce – and to avoid CGT altogether. Data from the Employee Ownership Association…

The best opportunities on the stockmarket are often found in sectors with a relatively low profile. One of these is AG Barr (LSE: BAG). The soft-drinks business may lack the excitement of sectors such as technology, but the Scottish company has managed to grow its sales by more than two-thirds over the past five years while increasing profits by a similar amount. What’s more, its management has been savvy enough to anticipate some of the major changes that have swept through the food and drinks industry in recent years, while keeping costs down. Over the past few years, much of AG Barr’s success has been due to the continued strong performance of the soft drink Irn-Bru. The brand retains huge loyalty, especially in Scotland, where some consider it to be…

Investors are often drawn to emerging markets for their potential rapid growth, rising consumer wealth, and dynamic companies. However, investing in these markets is complex and requires careful evaluation of each region’s unique challenges and opportunities. The MSCI Emerging Markets (EM) index spans over 1,300 companies across 24 countries, ranging from global technology leaders to smaller niche firms. Technology has emerged as a dominant sector, now accounting for nearly a quarter of the index. The shift away from traditional industries, such as commodities and cyclicals, toward tech and tech-enabled services is reshaping the emerging-market landscape. Identifying companies that are well-positioned to capitalise on these changes, particularly in AI, digital services, and e-commerce, will be key for investors looking to capture long-term growth in emerging markets. India and China, the two…

The “Dubai chocolate” craze has sparked a global pistachio supply shortage, sending prices soaring, says the Financial Times. The bars, containing pistachio cream, shredded pastry and milk chocolate, had been a modest hit after launching in 2021 by Emirati chocolatier FIX, until a video on social-media platform TikTok in December 2023 turned them into a viral sensation. The brand’s meteoric popularity has spawned a host of knock-offs by major chocolatiers, and pistachio kernel prices have jumped from $7.65 a pound a year ago to $10.30. Lindt’s Dubai offering sells for £10 for 145 grammes in Britain, more than double its other bars, with some shops limiting sales. Pistachio supplies were already low after a poor harvest in the US, but thanks to the new demand, Iran, the world’s second-largest producer,…

Swiss central bankers are “in a bind”, says the Financial Times. The franc has soared 10% this year against the greenback to a ten-year high as global investors seek a safe haven from trade turmoil. That leaves the nation facing a potential “deflationary shock” to add to the trade one: 10% of Swiss exports go to the US, and the country is facing a (currently suspended) 31% “liberation day” tariff rate with America. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has little room for manoeuvre, says Nessim Aït-Kacimi in Les Echos. It has reacted to previous bouts of franc strength with currency market intervention – selling francs to depress the price. But in the current climate such a move runs the risk of drawing US accusations of “currency manipulation”, potentially triggering new…

It’s not all doom and gloom on the US stockmarket. While most sectors have remained depressed since Donald Trump announced sweeping global tariffs on 2 April, “consumer staples” have been a notable exception, says John Authers on Bloomberg. Soap and cereal makers tend to hold up well in a downturn, even as shoppers cut back on more discretionary purchases, such as travel. Indeed, supermarket behemoth Walmart has rallied to an all-time high relative to the US market, having risen almost 6% so far this year. That’s a “harbinger of concern”. Walmart was the only S&P 500 stock to rise during the 2007-2009 plunge. When Walmart is winning, “it’s a clear sign that investors don’t think much of the economy”.…

In April 2021 “a nice Deliveroo would have set you back 390p a share” in its initial public offering (IPO), says Alistair Osborne in The Times. Today the group’s board is inclined to recommend “that America’s DoorDash be allowed to wolf it down for less than half of that” at 180p. This seems odd given last year’s pre-tax profits of £12.2m from £2.07bn of sales are “far tastier” than the £226m in pre-tax losses from £1.19bn on sales it was making before its flotation. While the £2.7bn DoorDash offer has boosted Deliveroo’s share price by 16%, it is “by no means a knockout valuation” – especially since Amazon, which owns 13% of Deliveroo, might yet make a bid. DoorDash’s offer certainly “stacks up poorly” against the Deliveroo IPO price, says…

Saudi packaging manufacturer United Carton Industries has registered strong demand worth 600 million riyals (£119.9m) for its initial public offering (IPO) and will be the first to test the Middle East’s listings market since the recent equity sell-off, says Bloomberg. The company’s shareholders are offering 12 million shares, or a 30% stake. The Middle East IPO market has experienced an uptick in activity while volumes in other markets have languished. Bankers in the Middle East see no major disruption from US tariffs, but warn of low oil prices. United Carton generated revenue of 1.3bn riyals (£259.8m) last year and holds 40% of the Saudi corrugated-carton market.…

The killing of 26 men in Kashmir on 22 April was the worst terrorist attack against tourists since the 1989 insurgency against Indian rule of the disputed territory, says The Economist. Tensions between India and Pakistan, both of which claim Kashmir, are soaring. There has been an exchange of fire over several nights and India has suspended the 1960 Indus Water Treaty governing water sharing of six rivers. But until India has established who was behind the attack, it should “exercise restraint”. PM Narendra Modi should think long-term. “For India, Pakistan is a distraction, as it assumes a more expansive role as the leading power in South Asia. A regional war would frustrate its plans to profit from the trade dispute between America and China.” “We have been here many…

It is surprising that in an age of Zoom, smartphones and remote working, the corporate annual general meeting (AGM) still exists. A hundred years ago, a meeting that gathered everyone together in a faded ballroom in a big, old-fashioned London hotel was the only effective way to communicate directly with shareholders. In the takeover battles of the 1970s and 1980s it was even the scene of high drama, as the fate of a conglomerate was battled out in a public debate between warring factions. But the world has changed. Companies can communicate instantly with all their shareholders, meetings can be held online, and votes can be tallied electronically. It hardly seems necessary to gather people all in one place, provide them with tea and biscuits, and sit through lots of…

When traders buy shares or other assets, they sometimes borrow money to fund the purchase. The aim of doing this is to increase their potential returns. Assume a trader buys £100,000 of shares and borrows £40,000 to do so. The shares go up by £6,000, they sell the lot and repay the loan. They are left with £66,000, a gain of 10% on the total capital they personally invested (£60,000), even though the share price only went up by 6%. Of course, it works the other way as well: a 15% drop in the value of the shares would mean that the trader has lost 25% of their capital. The concept of using debt to fund part of an investment is known as gearing or leverage, but the specific practice…

“You and I should date. You’re the most beautiful woman in the world, and I’m the world’s richest man, and the people will love it.” Newly divorced Donald Trump to actress Brooke Shields (pictured), then 22, in the late 1980s, quoted in The Guardian “You can’t blame Labour. This was all in the making for ten years of incompetence by the most left-leaning Conservative party in history… I feel bad for her [Rachel Reeves]. She’s behaving like Margaret Thatcher on fiscal discipline. Otherwise, the UK would have had a 7% interest rate… High-net-worth or wealthy entrepreneurs have options. She should treat them like they are her best clients. I don’t know any person in my circle who is not moving this April, or next April if [their children] have a…

fee.org Mexico is facing a “severe obesity crisis”, says Daphne Posadas. More than 35% of school-age children are overweight or obese. Two out of every five adolescents and seven out of ten adults are similarly afflicted. To tackle this crisis, president Claudia Sheinbaum has launched a health initiative that includes a ban on the sale of sweets and snacks in schools. It won’t work. Past regulatory efforts to curb unhealthy consumption, such as warning labels, have had little impact. “History shows that prohibition doesn’t eliminate demand” – it merely forces consumers to find alternative (sometimes even more dangerous) ways to obtain what they want. The regulations will burden businesses at a precarious moment for Mexico’s economy and distort economic incentives. “Instead of fostering a culture of personal responsibility, the government…

Elliott’s bet on forcing changes at BP has gone from “slick to slippery”, says Camilla Palladino in the Financial Times. The US activist is pushing the oil major to sell its solar and offshore wind arms, ditch a venture-capital unit that invests in energy start-ups and scale back forecasting and strategy teams. Yet as a 50% slump in first-half profits shows, BP’s turnaround could be more complex. Lower oil prices and an uncertain world make it harder to get top prices for the $20bn of assets it plans to sell, while high debt levels limit the pace at which it can pivot back to oil and gas. Still, bleak times could make it easier for CEO Murray Auchincloss to be as radical as Elliott wants him to be. “The deeper…

One business leader spotting a silver lining in Donald Trump’s tariff storm is Marcos Galperin, founder and CEO of Latin America’s e-commerce and digital payments powerhouse Mercado Libre (Nasdaq: MELI). As tensions between the US and China drag on, he sees opportunity south of the border, and investors seem to agree. While US markets have slid so far this year, Mercado Libre’s shares have surged 30%, with more to come. For Galperin, the region’s countries (especially Mexico) have everything to play for amid the shift in global trade relationships, which is likely to be permanent. As businesses edge away from politically awkward partners such as China, he thinks the winners could be much closer to home. It won’t happen overnight and it won’t be painless. But in the end, one…

In 2020 it emerged that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had incorrectly recorded many people’s national insurance contributions, leaving them with a lower pension than they were due. More than 200,000 people are thought to have missed out on their full state pension since 1985. Most of the errors occurred before the new state pension launched in April 2016. An update from the DWP in April shows that between 11 January 2021 and 31 March 2025, 130,948 state pension underpayments were uncovered, totalling £804.7m. Married women who didn’t get an automatic increase to their state pension when their husband retired, as the rules dictated, are believed to be one of the main groups affected. Average payouts to this group have reached £5,553, while a total of £252.8m has…

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with ambitions for investment and growth should not overlook the government’s Growth Guarantee Scheme. The initiative, first launched in 2024, was last year extended until 2026; in recent weeks, ministers have announced an additional £500m of funding for the scheme. The GGS operates through around 50 banks and other finance providers, with the government underwriting up to 70% of advances made by each lender. This guarantee makes it easier for lenders to make loans to smaller firms, which they might otherwise consider too high-risk. SMEs can apply for loans of up to £2m each, with finance available in different forms, from conventional business loans to asset and invoice finance, and repayable over a range of terms. The funding is available to businesses with an annual…

Australia’s federal election takes place on Saturday 3 May. Until a few weeks ago, it was assumed that the centre-right Liberal/National coalition would win by a comfortable margin. However, as in other countries, Donald Trump’s economic policies and the subsequent market sell-off have led to a shift towards left-of-centre parties. As a result, with £982,415 matched on Betfair, Labor is now favourite to get most seats, at 1.27 (78.7%), compared with 4.7 (21.2%) for the Liberal/National coalition. The tip I made in January on the Liberal/National Coalition forming the next government is therefore looking questionable. While Labor is only narrowly ahead of the Coalition in the polls when it comes to first preferences, it is strongly ahead when second-preference votes are taken into account. This matters, because Australia uses a…

The 116-year-old Morgan Motor Company has unveiled its new flagship car, the Morgan Supersport. “Aesthetically, it’s one of the most forward-facing Morgans yet,” says James Taylor in Evo. Whereas the Morgan Plus Six, which ended production in March, “could have driven out of almost any decade in the second half of the 20th century, the Supersport’s treatment is much more of-the-moment”. Yet, it could only be a sports car from Malvern, Worcestershire. Yes, it’s a Morgan, “just not quite as we know it”, says Stephen Dobie for Top Gear. It has the same BMW 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo engine and eight-speed gearbox as the Plus Six, which still peaks at 335bhp and 369lb ft of torque for a 0-62mph time of 2.9 seconds and a top speed of 166mph. “The steering…

The all-important spring auction season is upon us and it’s interesting how a select few names have come to dominate the blockbuster evening modern art sales held every May in New York. Christie’s has relied heavily on a young American of Haitian and Puerto Rican heritage, whose career as an artist was cut tragically short at the age of just 27 in 1988. Jean-Michel Basquiat’s paintings have fetched the highest price of all the lots at Christie’s 21st Century Evening Sales in three of the last four years – the most expensive of which was In This Case (1983), which sold for $93.1m in 2021. The following year didn’t feature a Basquiat in the line-up. If it had, perhaps it would have been four for four. Over at rival Sotheby’s,…

Much has been made of the effect of Donald Trump’s tariffs on global trade, but comparatively little on the effect on collectables. Last month, an email missive from Olivier D. Stocker popped into my inbox, in which the chairman and CEO of London-based Spink, writing from the auction house’s Hong Kong office, redressed the balance. Because tariffs are paid by those importing into the US, “collectors based [there] will be at a disadvantage when bidding as they will have to factor in the tariff in calculating the maximum price they are ready to pay for an item”, he writes. As Stocker points out, items can be bought and not imported (ie, stored in vaults abroad), but it still adds to the costs facing collectors in the US. That is bad…

India and Brazil are the early winners in Donald Trump’s trade war, says Dan Coatsworth for AJ Bell. Although global markets have bounced somewhat off their early April lows, most major indexes remain underwater. The US S&P 500 is off 2.5% since 3 April, with the FTSE 100 down almost 2%. The best performers have been Brazil’s Bovespa (up 2.7%) and India’s BSE 100 (up 4.2%). Latin American soft commodities are in hot demand as China buys up beef, poultry and soybeans that it used to obtain in America. Meanwhile, India’s large domestic economy is less exposed to trade than many of its Asian peers. The next big growth theme The unexpectedly weaker dollar is proving a boon for emerging markets (EMs), some of which borrow heavily in greenbacks and…

Unilever CEO Fernando Fernandez has warned that “inflationary pressures” may hit some of its most profitable divisions, says Emma Taggart in The Times. He claims to have seen “some return of commodity inflation”, though so far only in “a few families of materials”. He thinks that Unilever’s emphasis on localised supply chains mean that Trump’s tariffs will have only a limited direct impact on its sales, but they will certainly not help what is becoming “a more challenging macroeconomic environment” in the firm’s largest market. Unilever isn’t the only food producer to worry about gloomier economic conditions, both in the US and elsewhere, say Madeleine Speed and Gregory Meyer in the Financial Times. Rival conglomerate Nestlé also warned that “weary shoppers would have to swallow higher prices”. PepsiCo and Procter…

Five to buy Judges Scientific The Telegraph Judges Scientific is “good value for money on a long-term view”. Shares in the designer and producer of scientific instruments have fallen 44% in a year, and the company posted lower annual revenue and profit due to a tough trading environment. Yet earnings are expected to rise over the next two years, and it has the capacity to pursue acquisitions to boost long-term earnings and overcome operating difficulties. Judges is a “worthwhile contrarian pick”. 6,140p Ashtead Technology The Times As oil giants pivot away from renewables, Ashtead Technology, a provider of subsea equipment for offshore energy firms, is hedging its bets. It plans to follow market activity, whether it’s focusing on oil, gas, or offshore wind, and generated most of its sales from…

● When Marks & Spencer (M&S) halted online orders last week following a cyberattack, the reaction of some customers was “pathetic”, says Maggie Pagano in the Daily Mail. “Shoppers have been moaning about clothes not coming in time for holidays and other silly complaints. As they say, that’s a First World problem.” Still, this is a big blow for M&S, since e-commerce now accounts for around a third of its clothing and home sales. No wonder the shares were down 10% at one point. Maybe this will make it reconsider its goal of shifting over half its business online. “Depending on the internet for such a substantial chunk of sales is perhaps not so sensible.” ● “What do you give a bloke who’s just presided over a 40% share-price fall…

“At this stage, cash is king. So 95% of my money in the funds are in cash,” says veteran investor Mark Mobius, who has spent almost four decades investing in emerging markets at Franklin Templeton and subsequently via his own firm. The high uncertainty triggered by Donald Trump’s trade war makes it prudent to wait until it is clear how events will play out and where the opportunities will be. “We’re playing a little bit with S&P 500 index funds just to keep in tune of the market, because the S&P is a leader globally… we’re also looking at some of the emerging market stocks, but in a very, very careful way,” Mobius tells Bloomberg. “Right now, we’ve got to keep the cash and be ready to move when the…

bloomberg.com/opinion It’s hard not to sympathise with Donald Trump as he declares war on to the “woke mind virus” afflicting US institutions of higher education, says Adrian Wooldridge. Yet universities are “far more than just incubators of wokery”. They are also “powerful engines of US prosperity” – “central nodes in the world’s most successful innovation system, magnets for global talent, generators of patents and products, and linchpins of the scientific-industrial complex”. Trump, who is withholding billions of dollars in federal funding unless the universities comply with his demands, is putting all this at risk. This war could not have come at a more dangerous time. China is rapidly catching up in technology and economic might, and is pouring money into higher education. France and other countries, including Britain, are looking…

■ Fidelity Japan Trust has invited proposals from external managers – including AVI Japan Opportunity (AJOT) – to take over the running of the £191m investment trust. The move follows a hostile merger approach from AJOT, which has been backed by City of London Investment Management (Fidelity Japan’s largest shareholder). The trust faces a continuation vote at its annual general meeting on 21 May, and says that it now does not expect this to pass, based on feedback from investors. If the vote fails, the board will propose a six-month timeline to consider options for reorganisation or liquidation. ■ Supermarket Income Reit has sold a 50% stake in eight stores to a new joint venture with US fund manager Blue Owl for £200m, at a 3% premium to net asset…

● “Tech-savvy criminals” are now targeting valuable car brands and stealing them to order rather than just grabbing what they can, says Jack Simpson in The Sunday Times. As a result, the average value of a stolen car has risen from £4,372 in 2013-2014 to £17,886 in the 2023-2024 tax year, according to the Office for National Statistics. There are two high-tech ways thieves steal cars. One is relay theft, which dupes the car into thinking the key fob is nearby and makes it unlock. The other is signal blocking: the key fob is stopped from communicating with the car, which means it is left unlocked without the owner realising. How should you fend thieves off? “Faraday boxes that store keyless entry fobs are cheap but effective,” Jack Cousens of…

● Small businesses struggling to find the right type of finance through conventional approaches to lenders may be better off working with an intermediary. New data shows that commercial finance brokers played a part in helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SEMs) to secure £38m of finance last year. Brokers are particularly adept at putting small businesses in touch with new entrants to the lending market, which may offer innovative products that better suit borrowers’ needs. A third of deals facilitated by brokers last year were with specialist lenders; 28% of loans came from challenger banks. ● Tax compliance now costs small businesses in the UK almost £25bn a year, new research from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) reveals. The FSB says the average small firm is now spending £4,500…

Markets have been extremely volatile over the past four weeks. Nevertheless, my share tips haven’t been as badly affected as you might think, with the gains and the losses largely balancing out. Of my four long tips, two rose and two fell. Property developer Harworth increased from 172p to 178p, while food-packaging specialist Hilton Foods went up from 824p to 881p. By contrast, payments firm Corpay fell from $348 to $316, while Domino’s Pizza Group declined from 283p to 272p. Overall, my net losses nudged up from £859 to £893. My five short positions also produced a mixed performance, with two out of the five moving in my favour. Telecoms firm Lumen Technologies fell from $3.93 to $3.58, and drone maker Red Cat depreciated from $5.79 to $5.21. However, quantum-computing…

“At Esso garages and branches of Tesco Express, at newsagents and on street corners, you will see them: snaking lines of young women – and a few men – clutching squishy packages,” says Sam Chambers in The Times. They’re waiting to use the smart lockers that have sprung up around the country for dropping off or picking up goods – usually second-hand clothes. All have “joined the preloved fashion revolution”. In the vanguard of this revolution is Vinted, a secondhand online marketplace founded in Lithuania in 2008 that now has more than 16 million UK users. In 2019, the company became Lithuania’s first “unicorn” – a private company that reaches a $1bn valuation. The company was the brainchild of Milda Mitkute and her friend, Justas Janauskas. Mitkute wasn’t thinking about…

2023 Cheverny, La Cour du Roy, Famille Bougrier, Loire, France £10.95, thewinesociety.com I must admit to having never knowingly tasted a Cheverny red wine before. These keenly priced Loire wines are usually white and made from a blend of sauvignon blanc and chardonnay. The best examples taste like a refreshing mid-point between Sancerre and Chablis. I have enjoyed them for decades, because they usually cost a tenner less than the more famous wines mentioned above – they are one of the few quirky “steals” remaining in the wine world. But this week’s superstar is a red, made from a blend of 70% pinot noir and 30% gamay. In this respect, it is not dissimilar to a time-honoured Burgundian Passetoutgrains. And while Burgundy seemingly heats up, from both a climatic and…

Buenos Aires looks much the same as always. But there’s a new energy. Walking around the Palermo Soho neighbourhood, we see more construction, more new shops and new restaurants. “Things have gotten better since Milei took over,” was the judgement of our taxi driver. “Not everything, but people are not sitting around anymore.” “He’s right,” said a business friend. “Before, I had a hard time finding people willing to work. Now, I guess they have been fired from the government or are afraid their benefits will be cut off, but we get a lot more job applicants than we used to. The trouble is, they are more expensive.” The disappointment for foreigners is that everything is more expensive. And not just in peso terms. A good dinner in a good…