Lloyds slips below 100p; watch to buy/add

Volatility in markets occasionally goes up significantly.

Why? This is because events – be it politically or military – happen unexpectedly. Traders often extrapolate recent market tranquility as the norm. These ‘unprobable’ events were attached with too low a probability. When they hit, the whole mar…[Read more]

J M Keynes famously said when the facts change I change my opinion. What do you do sir ?

I think we have reached that point regarding Korea, there are just two many variables in the mix right now to justify holding on to an index position here.

The KOSPI/EWY ETF have both made double digit percentage gains in 2026.
It now seems prudent to bank…[Read more]

One of Britain’s leading engineering and aerospace companies is up by 5.70% after reporting earnings and guidance that beat the market’s expectations. It gilded that lily with news of a £2.50 billion share buyback. The company said that based on its new, more bullish outlook, it now expects to hit its mid term guidance targets two years earl…[Read more]

Somebody asked me why I liked South Korea and have it as my top pick for 2026?

Well there are many reasons but without trying to get overly complicated, this tryptic of images below sets out the case:

Image One highlights the potential profitability of Samsung .

Image Two shows the weightings of Samsung and rival memory chip maker, SK…[Read more]

Rolls Royce jumped on excellent results and buybacks

Rolls Royce’s (RR.) growth results today continues to unpin its excellent recovery.

Over the past 5 years, Rolls Royce outperformed almost every other large cap stock in the UK. Prices rallied 20x from its 70p pandemic low. Investors who stayed steadfastly in the aerospace stock had reaped a…[Read more]

At the risk of sounding like a one trick pony ALB US are up by +8.40% just ahead of the open today

What takes my eye at a sector level .

Albemarle Corp ALB US added +5.24% on the regular session yesterday and are up by another +5.23% in the US pre market this morning.

As lithium prices continue to rally see the charts below .

Albemarle was very much a momentum stock prior to Xmas and into the New Year, and its posted 3 new ,5-day highs in the last week, when its gained…[Read more]

The S&P 500 Materials sector stocks, ranked by YTD % change.

Can’t help but notice that Albemarle ALB US have sprung back to life in the last 24 hours as Lithium prices rally by +5.74% . Both the stock and the commodity are well below recent highs, but the signs of life are encouraging and I am inclined to watch them closely from here.

You might have thought that in the midst of a reignited trade war (?) and a crisis of conscious about AI and the future of software, that the data centre frenzy might pause for breath, but not a bit of it.

In fact, analysts at Citi have “refreshed ” their Global Data Centre Industry Model to include recent earnings data, and reports from…[Read more]

Bitcoin knocked off the top spot on Bitpanda…

FTSE 100’s accelerated uptrend to pause?

In today’s The Telegraph business section (Feb 23), one prominent headline screamed: “Britain is biggest loser from Trump’s new tariffs”.

Last week, the Trump administration was dealt a significant blow after the US Supreme Court rejected its Liberation Day tariff plan. Not backing down, the US president…[Read more]

Energy is never far from the news right now, whether its the ever increasing cost of Ed Milibands renewables dream , the seemingly insatiable demand for energy created by AI/ Data centre capex, or the foreign policy of the Trump Whitehouse.

Oil prices are up around +16.0% year to date and there are plenty of bullish signals coming from the…[Read more]