Author | Lightnews

Alpha Portfolio Management @alphapmbristol.bsky.social · 4d

Defending down under

Australia is ramping up defence spending. The biggest increase since WW2, to counter the perceived threat from China.

The US and Australia are creating closer ties to develop rare earth minerals.

#AUKUS #RareEarths

tinyurl.com/59ba4c8z

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Alpha Portfolio Management @alphapmbristol.bsky.social · 11d

Can’t afford the leccy?

The UK has a cost-of-living-crisis and some of the highest cost electricity in the developed World.

Consumers deserve reliable and cost-effective suppliers.

#UKEnergy #costoflivingcrisis

tinyurl.com/3uuw8f2c

Alpha Portfolio Management @alphapmbristol.bsky.social · 11d

The UK has a cost-of-living-crisis and some of the highest cost electricity in the developed World.

Consumers deserve reliable and cost-effective suppliers.

#UKEnergy #costoflivingcrisis

tinyurl.com/3uuw8f2c

Alpha Portfolio Management @alphapmbristol.bsky.social · 18d

The price the NHS pays for medicines is set to rise by nearly 25%. The move aims to stop major pharmaceutical companies from pulling investment out of the UK to avoid Trump’s tariffs.

#NHS #DrugPrices

tinyurl.com/bdw36ubh

Alpha Portfolio Management @alphapmbristol.bsky.social · 25d

Have Europe's politicians had their chips?

French PM Sébastien Lecornu resigns, Germany faces a welfare crunch and the UK braces itself for tough choices.

When the chips are down, who’d be a politician?

#EuropeanPolitics #WelfareReform

bit.ly/46D7stA

Alpha Portfolio Management @alphapmbristol.bsky.social · Sep 30

The UK and US recently signed a major energy agreement, the Atlantic Partnership for Advanced Nuclear Energy.

Could this herald a nuclear renaissance?

The Tech Prosperity Deal signed, we will need a lot more reliable energy

#Microsoft #NVIDIA #OpenAI

bit.ly/4nwfKJN

Alpha Portfolio Management @alphapmbristol.bsky.social · Sep 23

Cyber-attacks – Being held to ransom.

Cybercrime incidents are on the rise. Major businesses continue to be exposed by sophisticated criminals.

Major software providers are playing catch up to correct vulnerabilities.

#CyberAttack #ransomwaredefense

bit.ly/46HlERc

Alpha Portfolio Management @alphapmbristol.bsky.social · Sep 16

Red Sea cable cuts spark fresh fears of sabotage.

Azure outages show how fragile global connectivity is.

Critical infrastructure is at risk.

#CyberSecurity #CloudComputing

bit.ly/3Ip95BG

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Alpha Portfolio Management @alphapmbristol.bsky.social · Sep 9

Latest tax rumours and the long time to wait for the Autumn Statement risk undermining UK economic growth.

Markets and businesses hate uncertainty!

bit.ly/45UBXuD

Alpha Portfolio Management @alphapmbristol.bsky.social · Sep 3

A cuckoo in the nest

President Trump is ruffling the feathers of America’s allies with tariffs.

Could Trump’s tantrums backfire, undermine the dollar and leave the door open to China?

#Geopolitics #TradeWar

bit.ly/3V0aph9

Alpha Portfolio Management @alphapmbristol.bsky.social · Aug 27

Data centre gold rush.

The UK is building data centres, crucial for supporting the digital economy.

Growing demand from AI and cloud services poses significant energy and environmental challenges.

#DataCentres #TechInfrastructure

bit.ly/3HyzMnf

Alpha Portfolio Management @alphapmbristol.bsky.social · Aug 19

Uranium enrichment.

The cost of building Sizewell C nuclear reactor has doubled to £38bn.

Governments around the world are building nuclear power plants.

@sizewellc.bsky.social

#EnrichedUranium

bit.ly/3HGA2Aq

Alpha Portfolio Management @alphapmbristol.bsky.social · Aug 12

Meme Stock Mania

The meme stock craze has resurfaced on social media.

US retail traders are again piling into illiquid shares.

US equity market valuations are close to record levels.

#MemeStocks #TradeWars

bit.ly/4mwAoIO

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Alpha Portfolio Management @alphapmbristol.bsky.social · Aug 5

Food prices are rising.

The UK has suffered its driest spring in more than a century and the Budget has also increased employers’ costs.

Weather and taxes are driving food inflation. Taking the Pea?

#CostOfLivingCrisis #FoodInflation #ClimateCrisis

bit.ly/456gKh2

Alpha Portfolio Management @alphapmbristol.bsky.social · Jul 29

Copper and critical metals. A critical moment.

Taking back control. Trump has announced a 50% tariff on imported copper to ‘bring copper production home’.

Most of the world’s critical rare earth minerals are in China, its rival super-power.

bit.ly/4kZdxo0

Alpha Portfolio Management @alphapmbristol.bsky.social · Jul 22

Simplified investment advice.

The FCA plans to simplify investment advice. Simplified advice with targeted support is making it more accessible and hopefully affordable.

Bridging the advice gap.

#UKInvesting #FCA #FinancialAdvice

bit.ly/3TTzSZc

Alpha Portfolio Management @alphapmbristol.bsky.social · Jul 15

Lies, damn lies and statistics!

Data errors spark concern over inflation stats while markets navigate fresh Trump tariffs and Fed rate signals.

#EconomicData #ONS #@BLS_gov

bit.ly/44vV5P1

Alpha Portfolio Management @alphapmbristol.bsky.social · Jul 8

Roman general Vegetius stated “if you want peace, prepare for war”.

The concept of 'peace through strength' has evolved through history but, would appear to be where the members of NATO are currently sat.

#PeaceThroughStrength #NATO #DefenseSpending

bit.ly/4lHkta0

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Alpha Portfolio Management @alphapmbristol.bsky.social · Jul 1

Passive-aggressive investing.

Over the last 30 years passive investment has surged.

Markets are now increasingly sensitive to the wall of money.

Index-tracking funds are buying into the Mag7 regardless of valuation.

#PassiveInvesting #IndexFunds

bit.ly/3I0Sy6C

Alpha Portfolio Management @alphapmbristol.bsky.social · Jun 24

Nuclear power is back on the agenda, not least because of developments in Iran!

The government needs to get a grip on electricity costs and security if UK businesses are to thrive.

#NuclearPower #FutureOfEnergy

bit.ly/3ZKGxs1

Alpha Portfolio Management @alphapmbristol.bsky.social · Jun 17

The organisation representing manufacturers - Make UK-
believes high energy costs risk undermining Labour’s industrial strategy.

The UK’s energy policy looks likely to define our industrial future.

#EnergyCrisis #UKManufacturing

bit.ly/3SQk60C

Alpha Portfolio Management @alphapmbristol.bsky.social · Jun 10

Ukraine’s drone blitz cripples Russian bomber fleet in Operation Spiderweb.

The UK’s Strategic Defence review will highlight how warfare has changed.

#UkraineRussiaWar #OperationSpiderweb #UKDefence

bit.ly/4kYgfdK

Alpha Portfolio Management @alphapmbristol.bsky.social · Jun 4

You can bank on it

From Lehman Brothers to NatWest: why the banking rules may be up for reform.

The UK’s leading banks have asked Chancellor Rachel Reeves for a ring-fencing regime to be removed.

#BankingReform #RingFencing

bit.ly/4dNsxDA

Alpha Portfolio Management @alphapmbristol.bsky.social · May 28

Rebuilding Britain

The Mansion House Accord.

A voluntary agreement from 17 pension providers to allocate at least 10% of all defined contributions into private markets.

#RebuildingBritain #MansionHouseAccord

bit.ly/4dzooTs

Alpha Portfolio Management @alphapmbristol.bsky.social · May 20

The CRINKs

An unofficial alliance of autocrats - China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

Supporting members with economic, military, and diplomatic resources.

#CRINK #autocrat #putin #Jinping #Khamenei #KimJongUn

bit.ly/4mmQnK8