This may sound absurd, but I’ve often wondered, how is it possible that I can get better internet connection in the west of Ireland compared to bang slap in the middle of London? However, I did find some solace in my suspicions being confirmed by the latest edition of midweek charts, which included a stat from the economist that mobile service in the UK ranks 46 out of 56 countries, giving it the worst mobile service in the ‘rich’ world. Admittedly, this is shamelessly quite a gen-z complaint t…

Using a bike as your mode of transport to the office is always a bit of a gamble given that the weather in London is prone to taking a turn for the worst and during a rather chilly commute to the office this morning, I did think to myself that I spend far too much time on Lime bikes, particularly because this was the exact same bike that I used to cycle home from the city only a few hours earlier. Realising that I’ve notched up 2300km on the old ‘iron horse’ since moving here last year came as…

Has anyone been to Aarhus? My search today for news that is not related to the US election led me to the discovery of supposedly the world’s happiest city which is also listed as the second most underrated travel destination in Europe. Cobblestone streets, winding waterways, and the world’s oldest living museum… seems like a bit of a hidden gem to me! Writing a market wrap on the evening before a US election feels like a bit of a pointless task given that the headlines are impossible to escape,…

With markets in a bit of a lull this morning ahead of the blitz of market-moving catalysts later this week: a) US election b) FOMC and BOE rate decisions and c) potential further stimulus detail out of China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee meetings, a lack of volumes in Europe (most indices nearly -20% vs recent averages) cast my eyes upon Deliveroo’s annual report of the top 100 food deliveries which revealed a few interesting snippets. Salads accounted for 30% of this year’s g…

An idle mind is the devil’s workshop, to quote the old proverb, and given that a lot of investors have been in ‘wait and see’ mode for the past while, forgive me for saying that the past two days have felt like a bit of a slog! However, the clock is ticking, and I have a sneaking suspicion that tomorrow’s session might tell a different story with the weeks first major event occurring close to home in the form of Wednesday’s UK Budget. Press speculation and Treasury leaks suggest a fiscal adjust…

Well the clocks officially went back yesterday, resulting in a much appreciated extension of the weekend and a reduced four-hour time difference here in London to our US colleagues for the rest of the week. The original purpose of Daylight Savings was to save fuel (implemented in 1916), and I came across an article on group of EU Parliament members who want to abolish this tradition, arguing that it causes more harm than good due to the health implications of changing the clocks on sleep cycles…

It’s always nice when a plan comes together – Simon Baker’s call on GSK would be that after correctly predicting that they would settle most outstanding cases in the Zantac litigation for dramatically lower than estimated by the broader market. It was therefore slightly surprising to see the move throughout the day lower after initially opening +7% and we still think this is a buying opportunity for a stock that is c50% cheaper than the rest of the sector! For more winning trades, our Spec Sale…

Given that a weekly game of football must now be followed up with 30 minutes of stretching just so I can walk the following morning, I’ve recently had some regrets about throwing the towel in on a largely unsuccessful golf-career in my earlier years. The lack of adrenaline over 18-holes never did it for me back in the day, and it was a similar story behind the screens today with little to shout home about as investors were in ‘wait and see’ mode ahead of US CPI tomorrow and Q3 earnings which ki…

I struggle to think of a mobile application which has provided more value than Revolut.. seamless money transfer, effortless splitting of bills, various pots for saving and many more features all within a smooth and slick interface. A must own for anyone who doesn’t, and a recent discussion at the desk about whether Revolut or its UK competitor Monzo reigns supreme has prompted me to extend this debate to the Snapshot audience for help in clarifying which is the winner of the two. Now, given th…

With today marking the 1-year anniversary of the Oct 7th Hamas attacks, this edition of the Daily Snapshot will skip the usual attempt at a light-hearted intro and move directly into the detail as Oil rises another 3% today, breaking through short-term resistance level of 80 on Brent, with the latest reports from Israel’s Channel 13 citing a US Security Official who states that Israel’s response to Iran is reportedly now ‘imminent’. Sticking to Oil, we now segue into an update from one of our t…