Innehållsförteckning för 1220 från MoneyWeek

“Most people who now work in the market have never experienced a ‘proper’ market meltdown,” says investment strategist Albert Edwards, a veteran of the 1987 crash. Perhaps that explains the palpable sense of desperation and panic on Monday, when the US VIX index – known as the “fear gauge” since it reflects expectations of volatility priced into stock options – briefly spiked to levels last seen during the Covid lockdowns and the 2008 financial crisis. But more established market analysts who really ought to know better have also been running around like headless chickens. On CNBC’s perfectly named Squawk Box slot (the term actually comes from the old intercom speaker that analysts at investment banks and brokers used to communicate with traders), Jeremy Siegel of the Wharton School called for…

“Republican vice-presidential nominee J.D. Vance [argues] that ‘a million cheap, knock-off toasters aren’t worth the price of a single American manufacturing job’… If your version of the American dream is to make toasters… it’s really hard to do that without steel and aluminium [but ironically] the trade policies of Donald Trump and Joe Biden… have made it harder… US food-equipment manufacturers can’t buy steel from abroad at a low price because [of tariffs on China]… American steel companies… are either incapable of making the right kinds of steel or incapable of delivering it in a timely manner or at a reasonable price… Personally, I’d rather live in a country that imports cheap toasters than produces them… [without any tariffs] …The US would still import nearly all of its toasters, given…

Shares in Pringles and Pop-Tarts maker Kellanova surged by 16% this week after it was reported that confectionery, food and petcare conglomerate Mars is preparing to buy it. That would be “one of the year’s biggest takeovers”, says the Financial Times. Mars is one of the world’s largest privately held companies, with annual sales of more than $50bn and more than 150,000 employees. The news also comes as Kellanova has “appeared to weather the slowdown in US consumer spending”, raising its full-year sales forecasts last week after its latest earnings “surpassed expectations”. The shares had gained 15% this year before the bid. Buying Kellanova makes sense, say Crystal Tse and Deena Shanker on Bloomberg. It would give Mars “a greater variety of food labels including Pringles, Cheez-It and Pop-Tarts”. It…

Investors are always on the hunt for the next Nvidia, says Wirtschaftswoche. According to David Giroux, T. Rowe Price’s chief investment officer, who is in charge of $1.54trn of assets, it could be Aurora Innovation, a self-driving vehicle technology group. It ticks the key boxes, boasting a first-class management team, leadership in a huge potential market, a product that adds value, and an enduring competitive advantage because potential rivals would have trouble establishing themselves in the sector quickly. Analysts reckon that the potential global market for self-driving lorries could be worth $4trn. The software system replaces the driver and saves 26 US cents per mile. It is also safer.…

During the election campaign, Labour made some very clear promises. There was no need for tax rises and the new government would stick to the fiscal rules set down by the last one. And yet, within only a few weeks of taking office, chancellor Rachel Reeves has already signalled that she is going to break both of them. First, she found a “black hole” in the government’s spending commitments that had eluded the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). Reeves claimed that there were vast commitments that had not been acknowledged, and suggested that as a result taxes will have to rise when her first Budget is unveiled in the autumn. The OBR said that it will review spending forecasts provided by the previous government – but even so, a major…

The Sahm rule is an economic metric that has been proposed as a simple indicator of when the US economy has entered a recession. The rule is named after economist Claudia Sahm, who formerly worked at the US Federal Reserve and wrote about it in a report on the use of automatic fiscal policy to counteract recessions, although a similar principle had been set out by other analysts. The core idea of the Sahm rule is to use unemployment data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics – a simple data series that is updated monthly – as a real-time indicator of the state of the economic cycle. As set out by Sahm, the rule states: “When the three-month moving average of the national unemployment rate is 0.5 percentage point…

“I know my value. If I walk for you, you’ll get your press.” Supermodel Naomi Campbell (pictured), quoted in The Guardian “There’s no doubt I’ve been surprised by how much some of those podcasts make. But I’ve never been massively motivated by money.” Tony Blair’s former spin doctor Alastair Campbell on his podcast series The Rest is Politics, with former cabinet minister Rory Stewart, quoted in The Times “I did wander into the corporate circuit, which has [proved] lucrative... I don’t need to swear or offend anyone, so I’m a pretty safe pair of hands. I remember...15 years ago, when a famous comedian had pulled out of a big gig in London because he was prone to nerves and too anxious. They called and asked me to step in. I was…

newhumanist.org.uk There have always been introverts and extroverts, “homebodies and socialites”, says Marie Le Conte. The two groups co-existed peacefully. The Covid lockdowns, however, have changed us. “Seemingly mundane differences began to define us.” Some people thrived at home while others fell into a pit of despair. Some bolted out again as soon as they could; others wished the restrictions to go on for longer. Indeed, even in late 2023, a poll showed around a third of people keen to bring back Covid-era restrictions, including strict lockdowns. This is shocking, but not surprising. Naturally outgoing people now find it harder to get their friends out of the house. Plans require more effort and are always at risk of being cancelled. A spontaneous pub trip now takes work to organise. But…

I recently attended the inaugural Weird Sh*t Investment Conference in London, organised by the legendary Swen Lorenz. I heard 25 presentations throughout the day, offering left-field investment ideas ranging from banks in Kazakhstan to Madagascan hot-dog stands. Not one, but two of the presentations made the case that we should be investing in Georgia, and that is what I am going to look at today: how to play the rise of the “Switzerland of the Caucasus”. Georgia sits in a strategically enviable spot on the Black Sea, from where it looks west to Europe (Georgia has applied to join the EU), but also east to Asia. It lies on the Silk Road, the trading route to China; there are also rumours it may join the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). To…

The market turmoil of the past few days has undermined the performance of my long tips. While three rose and one was unchanged, the other four declined. Investment and share-trading platform IG Group went up from 861p to 886p, high-street clothing retailer Next increased from 8,772p and Rolls-Royce Holdings advanced from 443p to 449p. Online-payment platform PayPal remained unchanged at $60. However, US building-materials supplier Builders FirstSource went down from $160 to $150, General Motors slipped from $49.56 to $39.75 and Hollywood Bowl declined from 320p to 308p. Cruiseship operator Royal Caribbean fell from $168 to $137. My long tips are now making an overall loss of £171, compared with a profit of £1,430 two weeks ago. The silver lining to all the market turbulence has been that my short…

Winter fuel payments are designed to help older people pay to keep their homes warm in the colder months. Everyone in England and Wales aged over 66 receives £200 towards their heating bills, rising to £300 for those over 80. But that is set to change. Last week the chancellor announced new limits on who will receive the payments as part of her plan to plug the £20bn “black hole” in public finances. Now only pensioners who receive pension credit or other benefits will get their winter fuel payment. The number of households who are eligible for the payout will fall from around 8.4 million to 1.3 million, saving the state £1.4bn, says Lily Russell-Jones in The Sunday Times. Money up for grabs However, there is one way a million…

If your employer were to offer you more pay in return for a reduced pension contribution, what would you say? This is the dilemma facing teachers at one of the UK’s largest chains of academies. It is offering them the chance to opt out of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) in favour of a less generous occupational scheme it is setting up. In return, the teachers would receive a higher salary. With many employers concerned about the cost of pensions – particularly in defined-benefit schemes such as the TPS – there may be many more examples of this kind of offer ahead. Employers must tread carefully. It is illegal to encourage staff to opt out of the company’s pension scheme. But where they offer an alternative arrangement that meets the…

“Rapidly growing emerging markets make up around 60% of Unilever’s overall sales” For many income funds, the consumer-staples sector has been a happy hunting ground when it comes to finding companies delivering consistent and growing income. The sector benefits from widely recognised brands that encourage regular purchases from loyal consumers, so these stocks tend to be relatively defensive during economic slowdowns. Many companies also have excellent records of income growth over several economic cycles. Amid all the hype and interest in artificial intelligence (AI), the sector has derated against the broader market despite its companies delivering resilient growth in earnings and cash flow. Here we highlight three stocks that we think offer attractive long-term opportunities. A tasty morsel PepsiCo (Nasdaq: PEP) is best known for its beverages, with brands including…

Parklane, situated in Limassol, on the southern coast of Cyprus, is the perfect, picturesque escape. Here, you can forget about the stress of everyday life, relax, enjoy good food and admire the Mediterranean surroundings. From the second I arrived, I felt as though I had walked into a page of a travel brochure, caught, as I was, by the opulent setting, relaxing music and courteous staff. I was made to feel welcome and at ease. The five-star resort is a short 30-minute drive from Larnaca airport, making it a perfect haven for couples, families, friends or even as a solo retreat. There’s something for everyone – three outdoor pools, a spa, a gym, six restaurants and bars, shopping, plus a dedicated children’s pool and play area – all just steps…

The Élysée Palace – the office of the French president – was left €8.3m in the red last year after spending €125m on diplomatic and presidential duties, administration, security and estate management, says Politico. One of the more expensive dinners flagged by the Cour des Comptes, France’s audit office, was the banquet that president Emmanuel Macron threw for King Charles (pictured) at the Palace of Versailles. At least 160 guests, including Mick Jagger and Hugh Grant, dined on blue lobster, with the tab coming to nearly €475,000. Almost €40,000 was spent on wine and drinks, including a bottle of 2004 Château Mouton Rothschild. Another dinner, thrown in honour of India’s prime minister Narendra Modi at the Louvre, set the Élysée Palace back by at least €400,000. The auditors did, however,…

“Two macro forces are combining to almost guarantee” a future of higher coffee prices, says Clint Jasper for Australia’s ABC. Population growth is expanding the world’s appetite for espresso, even as climate change cuts the land suitable to grow the crop. Arabica – the bean used in premium coffees – is fussy, requiring temperatures that stay between 18ºC and 22ºC, and need 1,200mm of rain throughout the year. Droughts and “sweltering” temperatures in Brazil have slashed yields. That has displaced demand into robusta, the bean used to make instant coffee. Robusta is a “much hardier plant” than Arabica, says Erika Tulfo for CNN. But while it can better withstand dry spells, even robusta has its limits. Several years of adverse weather have hit yields in Vietnam, the key robusta producer.…

Oil prices are resilient, while gold has put in a “star” performance this year, says asset manager DWS Group. Yet the Bloomberg Commodity index, which tracks global raw-material prices, is down by 5% in 2024 and is 27% below its June 2022 highs. Gold has a 17% weighting in the index, but other commodities have dragged it down. Copper has dropped by a fifth since a high in May this year, while other key industrial metals are also soft. The Bloomberg grains sub-index has plunged by roughly 40% since June 2022 amid a “bountiful harvest of corn and soya beans” in Brazil and record Russian wheat exports last year. Agricultural prices often lead commodities markets, so there may be scope for further declines in raw materials.…

A few years ago, investors would have “baulked” if you’d said Rolls-Royce “would become one of the hottest” blue chips, says City AM’s Guy Taylor. The company endured “years of turmoil” prior to the arrival of Tufan Erginbilgic in January 2023. Since he took over, “Turbo Tufan” has overseen a fourfold jump in the group’s stock and “a string of stellar results”. No wonder, then, that in its half-year update last week, Rolls reinstated the payout, raised full-year profit guidance beyond £2.3bn and gave 40,000 staff £700 each in shares. The group’s progress has certainly been “spectacular”, says Lex in the Financial Times. Part of this is due to “commercial discipline” as Rolls-Royce “is writing better contracts for its engines”, helping to boost its servicing income, which now makes up…

Chinese driverless-technology start-up WeRide plans to list on New York’s Nasdaq exchange, raising as much as $500m, says Bloomberg. It could be the biggest US initial public offering (IPO) by a Chinese firm since ride-hailing group Didi Global’s listing in 2021, which prompted a crackdown by Beijing on companies with sensitive data selling shares abroad. The company has not disclosed the number of shares or price range for its shares. It reported a $268m loss on $55m revenue last year and was valued at about $4.4bn in 2022. In addition to its autonomous driving software, WeRide produces robotaxis, minibuses, vans, and street sweepers.…

Kamala Harris’s ascension to the top of the Democratic Party’s ticket for the US presidential election underlines why the choice of running mate matters, says The Guardian. So her own pick for vice-president was always going to get more attention than usual. However, her choice of Minnesota’s governor Tim Walz shows the party’s new-found confidence that it is possible to beat Donald Trump. Walz has proved himself “adept” at winning over moderate Republicans in his home state, while the selection of “a folksy Midwestern man who loves hunting” will make it even harder for the Republicans to portray the Democratic ticket as “extremist”. Not so fast, says The Wall Street Journal. The Harris campaign hopes that Waltz’s “plain-spoken personality” and “Midwestern background” will appeal to voters in swing states, including…

Hannah Neeleman (pictured), 34, who goes by her brand name Ballerina Farm, is a US “Mormon dancer turned beauty-pageant winner, homesteader, mother of eight and, with about 18 million [social-media] followers… the undisputed queen of tradwives”, says Eva Wiseman in The Observer. “Tradwives” (traditional wives) are “women who live, online and sometimes in Utah, as idealised homemakers”. They cook, clean, raise children and gain millions of dollars along the way. The online videos of tradwife Nara Smith, 22, are “nutty”. In one, she makes a glass of fizzy cola from scratch while wearing a sequined evening gown. “It’s exquisite performance art… but I wouldn’t be surprised if the videos would, like an aestheticised Havana syndrome, cause brain damage.” They are, however, influential even if they are “a radical fantasy of…

● “Financial forecasts raised for a second time this year; share price still becalmed. If she didn’t have last year’s bumper £12.7m pay package to cushion the blow, one could sympathise with Emma Walmsley [pictured],“ says Nils Pratley in The Guardian. Her overhaul of pharma giant GSK seems to be delivering, yet the share price is still range-bound because “every time a break-out looks to be in prospect, something crops up”. Most recently, litigation over claims that the Zantac heartburn drug caused cancer is now being taken to a jury trial, while US health officials have narrowed the age range for the use of new vaccines such as GSK’s Arexvy for respiratory syncytial virus vaccines in older adults. Still, this is an “overly gloomy way to view the new-style GSK.”…

Nouriel Roubini, the economist who became known as “Dr Doom” due to his warnings about the risks of the housing bubble before the 2008 global financial crisis, has become the latest high-profile figure to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF), says Bloomberg. Roubini will be one of the managers of the Atlas America Fund, which plans to invest in everything from US government, corporate, and municipal bonds to real estate, equities, and gold. The aim of the ETF – which will not be available to UK retail investors at this point – will be to produce steady returns with low correlation to stockmarkets and to provide some protection against market falls. Roubini’s fame has arguably faded in recent years, possibly because he has remained bearish during the extended bullmarket in US…

thecritic.co.uk A first report from the UK’s Covid inquiry might seem to make pleasant reading for lockdown sceptics, says Max Lacour. Ideas that were once oppressed with “snarling opprobrium” now seem to be part of the accepted narrative. The report notes that lockdowns were unprecedented and ill thought out, and accepts that they should be a measure of last resort, even acknowledging that some argue they should never be imposed at all. The report, then, contains “more nuance than we had any right to expect”. But don’t celebrate too soon. Read on and it seems clear that the point of criticising Boris Johnson’s lockdowns is that they were implemented poorly rather than that they are wrong per se. “Technocracy tends to be ratchet-like and technocratic failure tends to prompt calls…

The technology surrounding banking and finance is changing all the time. While this has largely been good news for the technology companies and the larger banks, some smaller firms have been also able to carve out a niche for themselves. One of these is Alpha Group International (LSE: ALPH). Alpha focuses on using technology to help companies and institutions who operate across borders, particularly when it comes to foreign-exchange (forex) risk. This is important because forex fluctuations can have a big impact on a firm’s bottom line if it is paying for goods and services in one currency and selling them in another. Managing such risk can be time-consuming and complicated. However, Alpha has pioneered a bespoke online platform for its customers. It allows for a large part of the…

Savers are the obvious losers from last week’s cut in the base interest rate. They have been warned to lock in interest rates now before banks and building societies start slashing interest rates. Homeowners, meanwhile, shouldn’t get too excited, according to Josh Kirby in The Telegraph. “While variable-rate mortgages will immediately reduce, fixed-rate borrowers will have to wait until their deal ends” and future fixes are not expected to fall significantly. “Most people take out fixed-rate mortgages, which are largely driven by ‘swap rates’ [embodying] what investors think the Bank rate will be over a period of several years in the future,” Robert Gardner, chief economist at Nationwide told the paper. So “if the Bank of England continues to lower the Bank rate gradually, in line with investors’ expectations, mortgage…

New figures show that HM Revenue & Customs paid out a record £42m of tax refunds connected to income-drawdown pension withdrawals in the first quarter of the year. The total for the 2023-2024 tax year as a whole was £198m, reigniting calls for the government to resolve a quirk of the income-drawdown rules. The problem is that there is no limit on how much cash savers may take out of their pensions when using income-drawdown schemes. Many withdraw large amounts upfront. However, when you make your first withdrawal, HMRC assumes this is how much you will be drawing down each month and taxes you according to what it then thinks your annual income is going to be. Savers taxed too much in these circumstances are entitled to a refund once…

Investors have “been feasting on US stocks like there was no tomorrow, buoyed by the sweet promise of impending rate cuts”, says Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management. But last week the Federal Reserve, the US central bank, opted to hold interest rates at 5.25%-5.5% rather than cutting them. The decision was followed by mildly disappointing economic data about manufacturing and unemployment, causing markets to react “with the ferocity of a toddler denied candy”. The technology-focused Nasdaq 100 index entered correction territory – a 10% fall from a recent high – at the end of last week. Black Monday That was followed on Monday by a 12.4% plunge in Japan’s Nikkei 225, its worst day since 1987. Other markets also sold off, with the Nasdaq down by another 3.4% and…

Five to buy Frasers Group The TelegraphBritish retailers have faced poor weather and high interest rates, which have reduced household spending. Nonetheless, Sports Direct’s owner, Frasers Group, has shown “resilience” and “growth potential”, with pre-tax earnings expected to quadruple by 2025. The shares are a bargain and trade at a discount to peer Next thanks to concerns over founder Mike Ashley’s majority ownership and misconceptions about the firm’s diversification beyond Sports Direct. Frasers is targeting affluent customers, expanding product ranges, and plans to enter the “buy now, pay later” market. It “stands out from the crowd”. 886p DFS The TimesBritain’s largest furniture seller has faced lockdowns, staff shortages, and supply-chain disruptions. However, there are growth opportunities, especially with younger customers, with Keir Starmer calling for 1.5 million houses to be…

Acres of newsprint have been covered by speculation about the tax increases the government and the Treasury are planning. But the predictions are nearly all the same. Taxes on private education may prove hard to implement; those on North Sea hydrocarbons will discourage investment and production; and levies on non-domiciles will be hard to enforce. Taxes on capital, such as capital-gains tax (CGT) and inheritance tax (IHT), are easy to avoid. These extra taxes will be paid by the foolish, the lazy and the scrupulously honest, inevitably raising far less than hoped for. By the time the penny drops, the money that was supposed to have been raised will already have been spent, leaving the chancellor with a yawning gap in the national finances. That, combined with a relentless pressure…

Kamala Harris’ surge in the polls – she has now overtaken Donald Trump in the polling averages – has been mirrored by improvements in her odds in the betting markets. However, Trump remains slightly favoured ahead of her for now. With £45.2m matched on Betfair, he is at 1.98 (50.5%), while Harris is at 2.14 (46.7%). A tiny percentage of bettors seem to think that think there is a chance that another candidate will win, with Robert F. Kennedy – who this week admitted to dumping a dead bear in New York’s Central Park a decade ago – at 140 (0.8%), Nikki Haley – whom Trump defeated in the primaries – at 180 (0.6%) and Michelle Obama – who has at no point run for president – at 240 (0.04%).…

The past week gave us yet another example of how central banks have taught the markets bad habits over the past three decades. We saw a sharp pullback in stocks that had been on a bull run for most of the year, a sudden rally in a currency that almost everybody had previously been saying was excessively weak, a widening in credit spreads that had always looked illogically narrow, and so on. But there was no evidence of meaningful distress in the functioning of the financial system. Yet instantly, we had a predictable flurry of whining and pleading for interest-rate cuts on the pretext that the end of the financial world is nigh. Some of the usual suspects even called for the US Federal Reserve to announce an emergency cut…

A burst bubble to welcome David Fickling Bloomberg China’s cement production has “collapsed” since the real-estate bubble popped in 2021, with output this year expected to be around 1.85 billion metric tonnes, says David Fickling. This is roughly 20% below the average in the decade to 2021, and the lowest figure since 2009. It’s also a “hugely significant drop” in climate terms, as concrete is one of the most polluting materials. For every 100 tonnes of Portland cement, about 57 tonnes of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere, and the sector globally accounts for around 8% of emissions. The decrease in China’s cement output alone implies a near-1% decline in global carbon pollution. Shares in large cement producers have fallen recently, suggesting that investors don’t expect state support. It’s…

project-syndicate.org Under a new law, employers in several sectors in Greece may go back to the six-day work week, says Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg. This is surprising for many reasons: it bucks a general trend towards “fostering work-life balance” and flexible working arrangements; Greeks already work more hours than the EU average; the change will be particularly hard on women; and it seems to go against the evidence – that shorter work weeks and a more balanced lifestyle contribute to greater productivity. So what explains the move? Like many high-income countries, Greece faces an acute labour shortage – a problem with roots in low fertility and an ageing population, but which was exacerbated by the labour drain after the 2010 financial crisis. There are four ways to address the problem. First,…

Since 1955, the Numis Smaller Companies index, representing the bottom 10% of the UK market, has returned a compound 14.1% per annum compared with just 11% for the FTSE All-Share index. But its outperformance has been far from consistent. Small caps underperformed for most of the decade to 1998 before bouncing back strongly in 1999. They have underperformed again since 2016, and now trade at less than 12 times expected earnings, below the long-term average. This is more expensive than the FTSE 100, which trades at a 15%-20% discount to its long-term average. But, it is argued, there is much more growth potential in smaller companies than in large ones. Small-cap managers such as Robin West of Invesco Perpetual argue that small-caps’ performance will bounce back, as it did in…

All house builders should benefit from a positive environment for new housing, but some will do better than others. Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW) has national coverage and a large range of house types providing it with exposure to most eventualities. Its CEO is from a planning background and, as a result, it is well positioned for a freeing up in the land market. Persimmon (LSE: PSN) is generating returns far below its old levels, leaving plenty of room for improvement. It is well exposed to parts of the country where the affordability of housing is less stretched and is therefore less at risk if high mortgage rates remain unhelpful. MJ Gleeson (LSE: GLEE) has the purest exposure to houses built for those on a lower income and therefore those most…

The total assets of index- and exchange-traded funds in the US recently surpassed those held in actively managed mutual funds. Passive funds’ holdings of US shares had already eclipsed those of their active counterparts in 2022. While many people believe that the low costs of funds that follow an index make them a no-brainer for investors, others worry that they are reducing the efficiency of the stockmarket, both by removing the active element from stockpicking, and by creating other distortions. One particular quirk is known as the “index effect”, which stems from the fact that index funds have to buy shares that are included in an index (and sell those that leave it). While there is a gap between the date the new index is announced and the deadline for…

● Chancellor Rachel Reeves is planning a further crackdown on non-doms, people who live in the UK but pay tax elsewhere. Most tax lawyers think the latest tweak “will kill one of the last remaining attractions of the UK tax regime to the mobile millionaire”, says Dominic O’Connell in The Times. Reeves plans to expand on Jeremy Hunt’s new rules. Hunt aimed to scrap the notion of paying tax where you are domiciled. Instead, there would be a simple residency test. “If you lived in the UK, you would pay UK tax, no matter where your income was earned.” Reeves wants to go further and scrap so-called excluded property trusts – “an offshoot of the non-dom regime that allows people to protect offshore wealth from UK inheritance tax”. You can…

● How much do you need to save to retire early? Data from investment platform Interactive Investor attempts to answer that question. To be confident of a financially comfortable retirement, someone retiring this year at age 55 would need a pension fund of around £1.3m, the platform calculates; this falls to £800,000 for a 66-year-old. For a moderately comfortable retirement, a 55-year-old would need £857,000, falling to £507,000 for a retiree aged 67. For a no-frills retirement with enough income to cover the basics, the figures drop to £215,000 and £70,000 respectively. ● Thousands of public-sector workers owed compensation following a landmark legal ruling on age discrimination are still waiting for the money, campaigners warn. The payments are connected to the McCloud decision, where the courts ruled that the government…

US short-seller Andrew Left (pictured) became famous as a crusader who exposed companies with feet of clay. Celebrated targets included the Canadian pharma firm Valeant and the Chinese property giant Evergrande. Now he faces a big reckoning of his own, says the Financial Times. A federal grand jury in Los Angeles has charged the flamboyant founder of Citron Research with more than a dozen counts of fraud – alleging he made at least $16m from “a long-running market-manipulation scheme” that involved duping his followers on social media. A regular guest commentator on CNBC, Fox Business and Bloomberg TV, Left, 54, also faces a separate civil fraud case brought by America’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). If convicted on the criminal charges, he “could face decades in prison”. The SEC claims…

2023 Ken Forrester Wines, The FMC, Stellenbosch, South Africa (£41.50, reduced to £37.35 each by the case, greatwine.co.uk) I only know one person in the wine world whose nicknames include a grape variety. Ken Forrester is rightly known as the King of Chenin or Mr Chenin. These are lofty titles, yet I can’t think of anyone questioning this moniker because he has earned it. Ken has long championed this beautiful white grape that flourishes in the Cape, and for the last three decades he has been at the vanguard of its production. I happened to, fortuitously, find myself playing a bit part in the legend of my featured wine, Ken’s flagship, The FMC. He showed me a preview sample of a 2001 creation, and my palate went into orbit. Later…