Alpha Portfolio Service Brochure
Alpha Publications
Is Starmer destined to be a Wally with the Brolly?
18 November 2024Love him or loathe him, Donald Trump is first and foremost a businessman – albeit some of his historic business practices have been open to question! Nevertheless, his goals to deregulate the US and lower corporate tax have struck a chord with investors and many voters. By comparison, in the UK, the Labour leadership does […]
Europe’s Big Issue
11 November 2024Given Donald Trump’s comprehensive presidential election win, one of the key issues for Europe, alongside potential US trade tariffs, will be the war in Ukraine. The Trump-Putin bromance appears back on, with Putin reportedly having praised Trump’s courageous election victory. No wonder PM Sir Keir Starmer is seeking to hold urgent talks with President Macron […]
The Need for Speed
4 November 2024Datacentres are one of the most energy-intensive building types, consuming up to 50 times more energy than a typical commercial office. While the UK government is investing billions into wind power generation, US big tech is going towards nuclear to power its energy-hungry AI datacentres. Clearly, large US technology companies do not feel renewables and batteries […]
Shedding the Pounds
28 October 2024Weight loss drugs have been the ‘holy grail’ for the pharmaceutical industry for many years. The cost to the NHS and healthcare services from diabetes and obesity is in the order of £20 billion a year. GLP-1 agonists are a class of medications developed to treat type 2 diabetes. These are injectable drugs that mimic […]
Spend, spend, spend
21 October 2024PM Sir Keir Starmer is backing extra investment in transport, schools, and hospitals – spend, spend, spend. This is at a time when taxes are at an historic high and the national debt is at the highest level since the early 1960’s! Chancellor Rachel Reeves, is now rumoured to be considering £40bn in Budget tax […]
Sir Doom and Mrs. Gloom
14 October 2024Immediately following the general election, there was a widespread sense of relief that a welcome period of political stability would be ahead. Little did we know, the first 100 days would see numerous political gaffes. The latest being comments by Transport Secretary Louise Haigh, regarding a proposed £1bn DP World port investment and ahead of […]
A highly charged race to the White House
7 October 2024With under a month to go, the US presidential election race currently looks too close to call, but the outcome will be globally significant. Whether Kamala Harris or Donald Trump, the political landscape will likely see many twists and turns over the coming weeks. While US focus has been upon the war in Ukraine and […]
‘Scotty, I need more power’
30 September 2024In the absence of the discovery of Dilithium Crystals that help power the starship USS Enterprise, Constellation Energy and IT giant Microsoft, recently signed a deal to re-start a unit of the ‘infamous’ Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. For those not old enough to remember, part of the site closed in 1979 after […]
A World divided
23 September 2024The war in Ukraine has created a divided World. China and India have sat on the side-lines during the conflict, but both have indirectly supported Putin by buying vast amounts of cheap Russian oil and gas. A new ‘axis of evil’ has developed with North Korea and Iran also supplying weapons to Russia. In doing […]
Running out of charge?
16 September 2024Volvo has joined a growing list of car manufacturers to scale back their electric vehicle (EV) plans. Toyota has cut its 2026 EV output target by one third and Stellantis is suspending production of its e-Fiat500. New registrations of EVs across the EU dropped by 11% in July due to a combination of factors. These […]
A Taxing Question
9 September 2024A period of political stability has been positive for both the UK economy and stock market. The Bank of England has started to lower interest rates, which should help business confidence, while the UK housing market is showing signs of life. However, Labour’s honeymoon period is coming to an end. PM Sir Keir Starmer has […]
Energy prices are heating up again
2 September 2024Just when you hoped the energy crisis was over, gas and electricity prices are due to rise by 10% in England, Scotland, and Wales from October. This is due to Ofgem increasing the energy price cap. To make matters worse, up to 10 million pensioners are expected to no longer qualify for further winter fuel […]
An AI sized elephant in the room
27 August 2024Many expect artificial intelligence (AI) to profoundly change the world, transform the speed of knowledge creation, and in doing so, deliver a significant productivity boost. However, the growth of AI will increase the challenge of the world meeting net zero climate goals. The draft Paris Climate Accord was released in December 2015, seeking a 43% reduction […]
Supermassive Black Hole
19 August 2024Labour’s fiscal black hole could be growing. Even before Labour won the general election, Chancellor Rachel Reeves had slightly boxed herself into a corner by self-imposing new fiscal rules. This was an ‘ironclad’ commitment to reduce government debt. However, this will restrict her ability to avoid tax increases or public spending cuts. On coming into […]
Going for broke
12 August 2024Britain has dropped out of the world’s top ten manufacturing nations for the first time since the industrial revolution. Britain is now placed twelfth in the 2022 rankings, down from eight the previous year. This is according to data recently compiled by manufacturing lobby group Make UK. Using data for 2022, the latest available, the […]
Has the magic dragon run out of puff?
5 August 2024China’s Communist Party recently held its so-called ‘Third Plenum’ at which it outlined future economic policy. Major economic reforms have been the highlight of previous events, such as when Deng Xiaoping used it in 1978 to initiate the reform and opening up of China. However, this time the accompanying underwhelming 5,000-word communique did not contain […]
Sinking global trade
29 July 2024The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has said that in 2023 the volume of global trade fell for just the third time in 30 years. The 1.2% decline was largely attributable to high energy prices, inflation, and interest rates. However, the WTO is also concerned about the impact of tariffs on global trade. The current biggest area […]
A Softer Bank and a greener future
22 July 2024In July 2016, following Brexit, Japanese conglomerate SoftBank acquired Cambridge-based semiconductor chip designer Arm Holdings (Arm) for over £23bn. Theresa May hailed the deal as a vote of confidence in the UK post-Brexit vote, but it was more an opportunistic move following the sell-off in UK equities. Last year, SoftBank took advantage of the US […]
Russia, are they taking the proverbial?
15 July 2024The cost-of-living crisis was a major part of the recent UK election campaign. While food inflation has slowed materially, food prices remain elevated. However, there are forces at work beyond the control of the new Labour government that suggest food prices are likely to remain a challenge for many UK households. Following Russia’s invasion of […]
Can Sleepy Joe spark fireworks?
8 July 2024While the 5th November is remembered in the UK for Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, it is the forthcoming US presidential election on that date that could create fireworks. Following that disastrous first televised debate, will the Democrats stick with Sleepy Joe? Biden says he ‘screwed up’ the debate, but has vowed […]
Things can only get better
1 July 2024“Things can only get better” is a track sung by Northern Irish band D:Ream. Originally released in 1993, but it was in 1997 that it really hit the headlines, as the official anthem of Tony Blair’s Labour Party and their landslide victory. Roll the clock forward, and the track is once again in the spotlight. On […]
Oils not well
24 June 2024Election campaigning has highlighted the differing political views on the North Sea oil and gas industry. With Sir Kier Starmer heading for no.10, the Labour party has said it would not issue new oil and gas licences and would extend the windfall tax on energy companies. While the UK shifts towards renewables, elsewhere new oil […]
Sorry, we don’t have it in stock
17 June 2024With Euro 2024 underway, those of you not watching down the local pub will hopefully be following games at home on a large screen TV. However, for those hoping to treat themselves to a new TV or large sofa to watch the football, there might be more of a challenge. While there are hopes of […]
Fast fashion or Pre-loved?
10 June 2024Pre-loved clothing is becoming the latest fashion. British clothing retailers have had to adapt their business models to change to changing trading conditions. From climate change and erratic weather, to the structural shift from the traditional high street to online shopping. On top of this, there has been the cost-of-living crisis and the pressure on […]
Putin’s war against penguins
3 June 2024The Weddell Sea is in Antarctica and is governed by The Antarctic Treaty of 1959. Russian research ships in the Weddell Sea have been collecting seismic data and are reported to have discovered huge oil reserves. The reserves detected are estimated to contain over 500 million barrels of oil, equivalent to ten times the UK’s […]
Sell in May and go away
28 May 2024‘Sell in May and go away, don’t come back until St Leger’s Day.’ This well-known city investment saying originated on the London Stock Exchange in the days when rich nobility, merchants and bankers would take time off from London to spend the summer months at their country estates. Not returning until the last major horse […]
Forward-looking statements
20 May 2024“It is not what you say that matters but the manner in which you say it; there lies the secret of the ages.” – poet William Carlos Williams. Management teams must sometimes be puzzled by the share price reaction when they announce results to the stock market. For example, occasionally ‘record’ results can be rewarded […]
China’s Goldfinger
13 May 2024Gold has recently hit an all-time high and finished last week at $2,360, but what has been driving the price higher? It is a far cry from 1999, when Chancellor Gordon Brown announced his decision to sell half of the UK’s gold reserves when gold was standing at a 20-year low. That decision came to […]
China has that sinking feeling
7 May 2024Just when you thought China’s property woes could not get any worse, a report from a group of Chinese universities suggests that nearly half of the country’s major cities are sinking! The study covered 82 Chinese cities, each with a population of over 2 million, using radar observations from Sentinel-1 satellites to measure vertical land […]
Pothole Politics
29 April 2024It is estimated that there are over a million potholes on UK roads. In the Autumn Spending Review of 2020, when Rishi Sunak was Chancellor, he announced £1bn of additional funding to fill in potholes. On the 15th January 2021 he then heralded ‘enjoy National Pothole Day before they are all gone.’ Will these words […]
Electric Shock
22 April 2024The ‘AI’ induced ‘Magnificent Seven’ produced an average return of over 100% in 2023, compared to the S&P 500 returning 24% and have dominated markets over the last twelve months.* The seven in question are Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Tesla, and Meta, but they have so far enjoyed a very mixed 2024. The momentum […]
Geo-Political Tectonics
15 April 2024The recent earthquake in Taiwan is a reminder that the Earth’s tectonic plates are continually shifting. However, as earth plates shift, so do political landscapes. The US appears to be strategically re-positioning itself, in the face of the potential threat to Taiwan from China. This is being reflected in both a shift in its military […]
Dangerous Liaisons
8 April 2024There is a global shortage of ammunition. Increased demand due to the war in Ukraine and the conflict in Gaza has been compounded by a shortage of gunpowder. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been a seismic event for NATO and defence spending. Years of under-investment, exacerbated by support for the global pandemic and energy crisis, […]
Greta Thunberg’s favourite person
2 April 2024It was the world’s warmest February in modern times, according to the EU’s climate service, extending the run of monthly records to nine in a row. February 2024 was about 1.77C warmer than ’pre-industrial times’ according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). The WMO blames heat-trapping greenhouse gases, which it believes are the main culprit. […]
A Taxing Problem
25 March 2024The take-up of electric vehicles (EVs) in the UK is being driven by fleet buyers rather than consumers, and while market share fell last year, according to some estimates, by 2035 EVs could account for over 40% of the cars on our roads. This will create a fiscal headache for whichever party is in government, […]
Power Crunch
18 March 2024Some good news at last for UK households, with energy prices expected to fall by over 12% in April. From 1st April 2024, the Energy Price Cap, which dictates what most households pay for energy, is set to drop by an average of £238 or 12%. However, the UK could face a power crunch point […]
FOMO – Fear Of Missing Out
11 March 2024The total value of Bitcoin is now worth over $1.3tn, making it 50% of the overall $2.6tn cryptocurrency market. With a simultaneous rally in the price of gold, that has also reached a new all-time high, what messages are these sending out about the health of global financial markets? Both are a potential cause for […]
Size Matters
4 March 2024The stock market does love acronyms and catchy names. It started with the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China), but has moved on to the largest US quoted stocks developing from the FAANGs (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google), to the ‘Magnificent Seven’ (Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Apple, Alphabet, Nvidia, Tesla). The latest is the ‘Trillion Dollar Club’ […]
Where Have All the Flowers Gone?
26 February 2024With the war in Ukraine entering its third year, a peaceful resolution looks as distant a prospect as one in the Middle East. Putin is seeking re-election – a guaranteed outcome, has put Russia’s economy on a war footing, and is hoping that Donald Trump wins the US presidential election. Over the weekend, President Volodymyr […]
America First – The Sequel
19 February 2024Donald Trump is polling 11 points ahead of an increasingly frail-looking, 81-year-old President Joe Biden. By the time of the November election, Donald Trump will be 78, and assuming Biden feels compelled to stand for re-election, it will be the first presidential election where both candidates will be older than the average US life expectancy. […]
Switching off
12 February 2024The UK registered its one millionth electric car last month. However, a 16% drop in sales by private buyers, has added to fears that sales growth is stalling. The uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) in the UK continues to be driven by fleet buyers, helped by tax incentives as companies seek to hit environmentally friendly […]
A shrinking pool of talent
5 February 2024The UK stock market has a problem: a shrinking in the number of listed companies. Research has shown that over the last decade, the London Stock Exchange coupled with the junior market, AIM, has seen a 25% decrease in the number of listed firms. The pace of companies leaving the market due to takeovers, principally […]
Lifting the lid on car finance
29 January 2024The cost to the banking sector of the PPI (payment protection insurance) scandal is thought to have been in excess of £40bn. At least the compensation provided a welcome boost to UK consumer spending! Surely, lessons will have been learned, but there could not be another mis-selling scandal, could there? Well, yes there could, as […]
Red Sea Danger
22 January 2024The Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden are one of the world’s most dangerous shipping routes. In March 2015, Saudi Arabia and an alliance of eight other mostly Sunni Arab states backed by the US, UK, and France, began airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen. The Houthi Shia Muslim rebels seized control of northern […]
A piece of (yellow) cake*
15 January 2024Oppenheimer, the movie about the father of the atomic bomb, recently cleaned up at the Golden Globes. How fitting therefore, that uranium was one of the biggest winners amongst commodities last year, with an increase of 86%, closing 2023 at a 15-year high. Despite accidents such as Chernobyl and Fukushima, nuclear energy is increasingly being […]
Taiwan, living in the Dragon’s mouth
8 January 2024The Chinese New Year 2024 will be the year of the Dragon, and will bring authority, prosperity, and good fortune, but for who? For many other countries, it will be the year of elections, particularly the UK and US. The first key election of 2024 is one that Beijing will be watching very closely, and […]
What’s in store for 2024?
2 January 2024The Global Investment Outlook – 2024 Looking into the crystal ball – what is in store for 2024? Elections and interest rate cuts! Inflation is coming down, but for some economies, the last mile may prove more difficult. Encouragingly US PCE inflation fell below the Fed’s 2% target in November. Central banks are expected to […]
Human V AI Christmas Challenge
18 December 2023‘Tis the season to be jolly’ so as this is the last Alpha Bites of 2023, we thought we would try a festive experiment. We have two modern versions of The Twelve Days of Christmas, one produced by us and one by AI. We would love to know which you think is most festive. Ours […]
Don’t bank on it?
11 December 2023UK banks are closing branches at an alarming rate. The latest bank branch closures bring the total number of high-street branches shut across the sector to 623 so far this year. This is yet another inevitable structural shift due to the growth of internet banking. However, branch closures have created angst in rural communities, especially […]
I’m afraid there is no money
4 December 2023Former Treasury Minister Liam Bryne left a now infamous note for his successor when Labour left government in May 2010. It said, ’Dear Chief Secretary, I’m afraid there is no money. Kind Regards – and good luck! Liam.’ Given the recent success in local by-elections and with the Labour party 20% ahead in the polls, […]
China Crisis
27 November 2023China recently recorded a deficit of $11.8bn in foreign investment in the three months to the end of September, the first time since records began in 1998. In essence, foreign businesses appear to be withdrawing money out of China at a faster rate than they have been putting it in. Big multinational companies are not […]
Deep Sea Resources Mining
20 November 2023In the face of growing international opposition to deep sea mining, at the end of October, the UK government announced its support for measures designed to protect the world’s oceans and improve the conservation of marine biodiversity. Ahead of this month’s UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, the International Seabed Authority (ISA), a UN […]
Isambard AI Brunel?
14 November 2023Given the transformational nature of “AI”, we should not really be surprised to learn that AI has been named Word of the Year for 2023 by Collins Dictionary. PM Rishi Sunak recently hosted an AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park and wants the UK to be a world leader in the technology. The summit was […]
Ironclad
6 November 2023US President Joe Biden recently warned China that the US will defend the Philippines in case of any attack in the disputed South China Sea. He said ‘I want to be clear – I want to be very clear: The United States’ defence commitment to the Philippines is ironclad.’ Biden added, “Any attack on the […]
A Sirius business
31 October 2023An estimated 85,000 retail investors and a high proportion of those living in Yorkshire lost considerable amounts of money in 2020 investing in Sirius Minerals. Sirius invested around £1bn to access the world’s largest known deposit of polyhalite underneath the North York Moors National Park near Whitby. As Sirius ran out of money, the […]
If you see me, then weep
23 October 2023During Europe’s long, hot summer of 2022, river levels fell alarmingly. The hunger stones in the Elbe River at Děčín in the Czech Republic, are engraved with the words ‘if you see me, then weep’ which were a historic indicator of famine, were once again exposed. A year later and the Amazon River is experiencing […]
The Grey Zone
16 October 2023War or at peace, or somewhere in between? Grey zone warfare tactics are aimed at weakening an adversary, over a prolonged period. Military analysts believe this is what China is trying to do with Taiwan. Last month, a record number of Chinese fighter jets crossed the unofficial border between them. By regularly crossing Taiwan’s Air Defence […]
Palm Oil. A sustainable solution is in hand
9 October 2023Palm oil use is controversial – production is damaging to the environment and it is high in saturated fat, causing concerns about our health. It is used in everything from chocolate to pizza, shampoo, and deodorant to toothpaste. It is believed to be present in 50% of all supermarket items, across every category. It is […]
Rules of Origin
2 October 2023Following Alpha Bites ‘Made in China,’ another challenge appears to be facing the European car manufacturing industry. The problem stems from the ‘rules of origin’, which come into force in January 2024, following Brexit. Rules of origin determine the ‘economic nationality’ of a good and were a key part of the UK/EU trade agreement. Rules […]
Not enough money in the pot
25 September 2023UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaking of the war in Ukraine, said that Russia ‘has unleashed a nexus of horror. Lives have been destroyed, human rights abused, families torn apart, children traumatised and hopes and dreams shattered.’ The recent G20 meeting in India produced a watered-down statement regarding the war in Ukraine and incredibly Russia was […]
A blow for offshore wind
18 September 2023The UK’s renewable energy strategy has been dealt a blow as no new offshore wind project contracts have been bought by developers in the latest key government auction. While there were no bids for new offshore wind farms, there were deals for solar, tidal, onshore wind projects and for the first time, geothermal. The UK […]
Made in China
11 September 2023‘Gravity’ is to be built on the former Royal Ordnance Factory site near Bridgwater, Somerset, just down the road from Hinkley Point C and will create 4,000 jobs. The £4bn investment will make batteries for Jaguar Land Rover and will eventually provide almost half of the UK’s car battery production by 2030. While a positive […]
G- Force
4 September 2023BRICS is an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The term ‘BRIC’ was originally developed in the context of foreign investment strategies by Jim O’Neill of Goldman Sachs in 2001 and evolved to include South Africa in 2010. BRICS has recently held its latest conference in Johannesburg. However, Putin attended virtually to […]
Dire Straits
29 August 2023Over the past two decades, China’s economy has increased in value by a staggering six times! Far beyond the most optimistic expectations, propelling it into second place behind the US in the world rankings, with a GDP of c. $19.4trillion. China has been a big winner of globalisation and grew its economy through the development […]
Looking over the pond
21 August 2023They say the grass is always greener on the other side or in this case, the other side of ‘the pond’. UK equities continue to trade at extremely low valuations by historic standards, while US equities remain close to a record high. No wonder, more quoted companies are mulling the idea of moving their UK […]
I got 89 problems
14 August 2023Investment managers must assess their client’s attitude to risk, but in turn, must also consider market volatility and global macroeconomic risks. While markets act as a barometer of investor confidence and like to think they are pricing in the ‘known-knowns’ such as the path of interest rates, there can be sudden unexpected challenges such as […]
You only had one job…
7 August 2023Andrew Bailey, Governor of The Bank of England (BoE), has stated there are ‘very big lessons to learn’, after failing to spot the current inflationary bubble. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is primarily responsible for keeping the Consumer Price Index (CPI) measure of inflation close to a target, currently 2% per year. Having faced criticism for failing to act soon enough […]
A Latin love affair
31 July 2023China has surpassed the US as South America’s top trading partner. China’s ties to the region date back to the sixteenth century, but today is it a partner or a predator? It is also a major source of foreign direct investment and lending in South American energy and infrastructure projects, including through its Belt & […]
Debanking
24 July 2023The closure of the bank accounts of ‘politically exposed persons’ (PEPs) has made news headlines recently after several public figures, including Nigel Farage, complained their accounts had been shut without warning. City Minister Andrew Griffith is believed to have summoned nineteen bank chiefs to a meeting to discuss how customers can be protected from being […]
A Smoking Gun
17 July 2023Last week, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and its member countries, agreed to a new strategy that will bring emissions down to net-zero ‘by or around’ 2050. However, environmental groups are furious, stating the targets do not go far enough. Wealthier nations and small island states had called for a 50% reduction in emissions by […]
Greedflation
10 July 2023With politicians and even Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England accusing some retailers of ‘profiteering’ during the cost-of-living crisis, the role of UK regulators is coming under greater public and political scrutiny. This has fuelled fears of monopolistic greedflation. The water regulator Ofwat has already received considerable flak from the UK public over […]
A Great British Energy dilemma
3 July 2023The politics of power. Labour leader Sir Kier Starmer is looking to tap into concerns about climate change. Starmer has announced that if his party wins the next general election, it would end new oil and gas exploration in the North Sea. Labour is also proposing to support renewable projects such as onshore wind and […]
Inflation – Rocket Man
26 June 2023What is to blame for inflation running hot? Central banks, Brexit, Putin’s invasion of Ukraine or Covid-19 and global supply chain disruption? Well, after a hot Glastonbury weekend, part of the blame apparently lies with the demand for music festivals and Beyoncé. The start of Beyoncé’s world tour in Sweden last month sparked such a […]
Feeling the Heat
19 June 2023The hot weather is proving a challenge and we all seem to be feeling the heat! A news headline from last week ‘Britain fires up coal plant as solar panels suffer in hot weather’ has more to do with a spike in demand, due to air conditioning units, but the message is clear – we […]
Chess in the South China Sea
12 June 2023While the war of attrition continues in Ukraine, a longer-term power struggle is developing in the Far East, between the US and its allies and China. In previous Alpha-Bites we have highlighted China’s increasing presence in the South China Sea, while the US has strengthened ties with Australia through the AUKUS agreement. Both military powers […]
G7 Chinese Takeaways
5 June 2023Western leaders sent a strong message to Russia at the recent G7 meeting in Hiroshima by inviting Volodymyr Zelensky to attend. However, the G7 also had China in its sights. As the world’s second-largest economy and a key component of global supply chains, Western economies have become inextricably dependent on China but competition with Beijing […]
Facing Election Rejection?
30 May 2023It feels an eternity since the UK European Union membership referendum in June 2016 and many of us will be scratching our heads trying to identify any positives. From a global investment perspective, it does also feel as if the UK has been ‘wading through treacle.’ Following Boris Johnson’s landslide election victory in December 2019, […]
Bulking Up
22 May 2023Many of you will no doubt be making car journeys over the summer. If travelling with children, you may like to know there is now another game to play to keep them occupied – spot the longer lorries! The government has approved the use of longer lorries on British roads, which it believes will make […]
AI – Rise of the Machines
15 May 2023Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates recently stated the development of artificial intelligence (AI) is the most important technological advance in decades. In a recent blog Gates called it as fundamental as the creation of the microprocessor, the personal computer, the Internet, and the mobile phone. “It will change the way people work, learn, travel, get healthcare […]
A slow boat from China
9 May 2023Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns created considerable disruption to global supply chains and freight costs soared. As the world has emerged from lockdown, demand has normalised and supply chains constraints have eased. Thankfully, freight costs have also fallen back significantly from their peak which has helped both company profit margins and taken some of the pressure off […]
How do you like your chips?
2 May 2023As readers will be aware, we are mindful of the ongoing tension building between the US and China and the potential impact the rift could cause on global trade. Increasing tensions have given rise to a significant shift in US government defence priorities, from counter-insurgency operations (Afghanistan, Iraq) to equipping forces for potential peer-to-peer competition […]
Bailouts on the Belt and Road
24 April 2023Covid-19 then central bank interest rate hikes, the banking crisis and slower global economic growth has adversely impacted many smaller emerging economies. China’s Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) infrastructure finance programme is believed to have been hit by $78bn of bad debts over the last three years. No official data is available, but since 2013 […]
Return to Kernow
17 April 2023Simon Reeve’s recent ‘Return to Cornwall’ on BBC2, provided an eye-opening look at why the county is one of the most desirable parts of the country and an iconic holiday destination, but also one of the poorest areas in England. In 2022, the average net household income was just £21,000 a year. This is well […]
Stormy Waters
11 April 2023A political storm, not to be confused with the ‘Storm’ brewing in the United States… The Environment Agency recently published data which revealed the frequency of discharge of sewage into our rivers by the water companies. This showed a staggering 825 sewage spills per day into England’s rivers and seas in 2022. Over 300,000 sewage spills […]
A big bang or a pop?
3 April 2023In November last year, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt proposed an overhaul of the insurance industry Solvency II rules. These require life assurance companies to hold a sizeable ‘buffer’ of assets on their balance sheets and dictates where they can invest these reserves. Should the overhaul go ahead given the current lack of confidence in global […]
The race to net-zero
27 March 2023The European Commission recently proposed a Green Deal Industrial Plan. Within this, the Net-Zero Industry Act, will set a target for 40% of the EU’s clean technology to be built inside the eurozone by 2030. These include: solar, wind, batteries, energy storage and heat pumps – all low carbon technology manufacturing. The EU wants to strengthen […]
Watt – No charge?
20 March 2023With 17 new wind farm projects planned for Scotland adding an additional 25GW generating capacity, the UK’s offshore wind power capacity is projected to more than double. In 2022, the government set an ambitious target to increase the UK’s offshore wind capacity to 50GW by 2030, so the planned wind farms are a major boost. […]
When the balloon goes up
13 March 2023The recent Chinese weather balloon incident has highlighted the tensions between China and the US. Relations have further soured with the US warning China against supplying ‘lethal’ aid to Russia for its war against Ukraine. The latest ‘spat’ is the Netherlands restriction on sales of the ‘most advanced’ micro-processor chips, made by ASML, to China […]
Diddly Squat
6 March 2023Current shortages of some fruit and vegetables are a harsh reminder how fragile the UK’s food supply chain is. The ‘clock is ticking’ for the UK government to protect homegrown food supply, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) president recently warned. Speaking at the NFU annual conference, Minette Batters said that farmers are being hit by […]
War, what is it good for?
27 February 2023Last week marked the first anniversary of Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The worst war in Europe since 1945 has inflicted immense suffering on the people of Ukraine and created a humanitarian crisis. Ukraine and its supporters in the free world have risen to the challenge better than expected. However, European nations that have withstood […]
The Art of War
20 February 2023Wars should be avoided at all cost. As we approach the first anniversary of the start of the Ukrainian conflict, we have learnt that modern warfare has evolved. Hybrid warfare does not involve actual traditional physical attacks with someone opening fire with a weapon. Hybrid refers to the use of non-conventional methods, that are non-attributable […]
You reap what you sow
13 February 2023The good news is that across Europe and the US, inflation is heading lower. This is key to central bank interest rate policy, with markets anticipating a slower rate of interest rate hikes as inflation eases. However, some components of the inflation data are proving ‘stickier’ than others. Clearly, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has […]
A shellfish act
6 February 2023Some 111 projects across the UK have recently won a share from the £2.1bn second round of the government’s Levelling Up Fund. Combined with first round results, announced in October 2021, the Levelling Up Fund has awarded £3.8 billion to 216 projects! This comes at a time when the government has been facing a major […]
Green with envy
30 January 2023Tony Danker, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), recently warned that the world has entered a green technology ‘subsidy arms race.’ This followed news that the EU is to make ‘unprecedented’ investments in clean technologies in a bid to counter the Biden administration’s $369bn Inflation Reduction Act. The fear is that without government […]
Great Expectations
23 January 2023We‘ve probably all experienced this. You look forward to something only to find that it does not live up to your expectations, particularly holidays. If you pay for a 5-star hotel then you want 5-star service and if the destination is overseas, you also expect cloudless skies and unbroken sunshine. The disappointment is therefore far […]
Blown away
16 January 2023Outlook – hopefully mild and windy Wind supplied almost 27% of the UK’s annual power for the first time ever last year. Wind also accounted for a greater proportion of UK energy generation than nuclear at 15.5%. However, gas also increased its share of power generation, reaching a three-year high at 38.5%. Indeed, the UK […]
Fog warning
9 January 2023Until the mini-budget mayhem of last September many of us will have been blissfully unaware of Liability-Driven Investment (LDI). This is a basically a strategy to enhance returns within some UK defined benefit pension funds from government bonds. Unfortunately, the mini-budget created a seismic shock within the LDI sector that, in turn, almost led […]
The Global Investment outlook – What do we see for 2023?
3 January 2023What did we highlight last year? This time last year in ‘Catch-22 in 2022’ we highlighted the challenge for central bankers – would they be able to tame the inflation tiger as the global economy emerged from Covid-19 lockdown? In the event, they all proved to be too far behind the curve and […]
The twelve strikes of Christmas
19 December 2022‘Twas the night before Christmas and not a train or postal van was stirring. Strike action continues to hamper the UK economy. Even Santa’s elves have announced they will be taking industrial action in the run up to Christmas in a dispute over ‘pay and conditions’. Although, this is not thought to be […]
Sitting on a gold mine
12 December 2022The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) forum estimates there is a global ‘mountain’ of electrical and electronic waste from washing machines to laptop computers and smartphones. The weight of discarded electronic devices could amount to as much as 74million tonnes by 2030. The average UK household is estimated to have about £600 of […]
1 The Square,
Temple Quay,
Bristol BS1 6DG
Tel: 0117 203 3460
Email: info @ alpha-pm.co.uk
Full version
© Alpha Portfolio Management 2024. All Rights Reserved
Site by Lookhappy