Went to reopened Palm House in Edinburgh Botanics. Old days: arrive, wander round all glasshouses, leave. Now: book ticket online, get QR code, arrive, queue (only allowed in a set time), show QR code, walk past enormous ugly black fence, wander round one glasshouse, leave.
@moneyandmore72 I do feel sorry for the investors though. I really have no idea what a successful framework (with a high probability of success) would look like for selecting a fund manger?
Most investors end up getting fooled by marketing and recent performance.
You're confusing being conservative with being a passionate advocate for what used to be consensus positions across the polical spectrum:
- freedom of expression
- individual liberty
- judging people on the content of their character instead of creating a race-based hierarchy
- equality of opportunity for all
- highly selective immigration policy that benefits the existing population (remember when the Left used to oppose mass immigration because they knew it drove down wages?)
- defending Western civilisation against its ideological and kinetic enemies
In an Immigrant's Love Letter to the West, I show that these positions were not just held but actively espoused by prominent left wing politicians in very recent history, including Obama and others.
It's not my fault that all of these things are now threatened by a lunatic left, Islamists and a lunatic right.
I remain liberal on sex, drugs, rock and roll, offensive humour etc.
And on economic policy, I have actually become MORE liberal with time as I've run my own business and understood the impact of taxes and regulation.
So no, I am not a conservative (not that there is anything wrong with it). I just happen to believe that woke lunacy is the enemy of all things liberal and oppose it for that very reason.
Remember this?
As doubts creep in, the trend is flattening. In other words, the market is pricing in a slower pace of hikes, unlike 2022.
Combined with lower-highs in energy/commodities, it's unlikely the bond sell-off has much further to go.
New local highs in semiconductors $SMH vs. the Nasdaq $QQQ
Underneath the hood, the chase for riskier stocks is on.
If/when bond yields stabilize, we have all the pre-conditions for a significant move higher.
Here we go again.
John Cleese — the comedian and national treasure — has been reported to the Government’s counter-extremism programme, Prevent, over his social media posts about Islam.
The ability to criticise, debate, challenge and mock a religion is a fundamental right in Britain. Parliament voted to abolish our blasphemy laws in 2008 — 18 years ago. Yet it appears we now have one for Islam alone.
The official Islamophobia definition — repackaged as “anti-Muslim hostility” — has emboldened those who wish to silence criticism of Islam.
One of John’s posts in question reads: “I personally prefer a culture that does not approve of FGM, child marriage and killing infidels.”
The Islamic website 5Pillars reports that the complainant described John’s posts as “dehumanising and collectively attributing violence and criminality to Muslims”, and assessed the risk as “moderate to high”.
Enough is enough. This madness must stop. We cannot allow an Islam-specific blasphemy law to take root.
We stand with @JohnCleese and are ready to help him should he need it.
The French labor code has more than 3,000 pages, Swiss labor law has 200. Where would you like to invest and create new jobs?
France’s unemployment is 8.3%, Switzerland’s registered rate is 3.0%. French youth unemployment exceeds 21%. A typical French full-time private-sector wage is about €3,600 gross a month, in Switzerland it is about CHF 7,024 (€7,400).
Why does the left love regulations so much? They hurt those they want to “protect.”
Imagine moving to a Muslim country and then brazenly announcing your intention to replace their religion and political systems…
It’s literally inconceivable.
We've become numb to how insane this is.
While bonds have yet to find a floor, consider how "the internals" within the index are moving today:
Safe havens (down)
XLP
XLU
XLV
"Hot" stocks (up)
SMH
XLK
MAGS
Historically not bearish, as money continues to rotate out of havens and into more exciting stocks.
XLU below:
Equities have corrected via time, not price.
While the market has gone sideways, EPS expectations keep rising, so the PE multiple has corrected by 14%. Nice chart from @MichaelKantro for SPX, but we can see SMH as well.