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]

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]

I don’t know if you have checked EWY US the South Korea iShares MSCI ETF recently but you might be quite pleased if you do.

Because they are +3.59% today and by more than 25.0% over the last month .
You may recall that I tipped Korea to out perform the US S&P 500 in 2026 (see the link below).

And though its early days we are of to a good…[Read more]

Allied to those questions about sustainability and renewable energy, here is a link to a very interesting essay on the nature of a business and what it should strive to do ,and who it should try to please? From NYU Stern Business School Professor Aswath…[Read more]

Has the whole renewables energy and sustainability drive been just a sideshow and a colossal waste of time ? looking at his chart and associated comments its hard to think not .

Its a tricky market for fund management companies right now.

At one end of the spectrum we have St James Place which has been disrupted by the emergence of tax and financial planning AI with the stock falling by as much as -13.39%, in a single session 9 days a ago.

At the the other end of the spectrum we have Schroder’s which is the…[Read more]

Outperformance that’s a word that keeps cropping up in my feeds most likely because that’s not what most people and their portfolios are doing right now .

Why is that ? Well put simply they have the wrong positions / exposure tracking the market through an ETFR like SPY, VOO or their European equivalents is a great plan until the stocks that…[Read more]

UBS Wealth has downgraded the Communication Services sector today it follows a downgrade to the Information Technology sector by the money manager last week The wealth manager is concerned a bout the scale of AI and data centre related capex n the sectors which it reminds customers could consume most of the sector free cash flow leaving…[Read more]

Multi asset broker eToro ETOR US sees its stock rally by +18.0% today following better than expected earnings and news of an additional $100 million share buy back.

Though the stock remains well below its June 2025 highs circa $79.96. a close above the 50 D MA found at $33.48 would be something for the bulls to hold on to.

Rivals Robinhood…[Read more]

These are strange days in the markets make no mistake. Consider this comment on the S&P 500 by former market maker Noel Smith:

” The S&P is flat over the past month, but the average stock moved 10.8% — a dispersion spread at the 99th percentile over 30 years. ”

And this recent quote from market commentator Michael Batnick “Wild market. W…[Read more]

Which of these would you rather own right now? and for the long-term?

I am happy to stick with Walmart WMT US myself.

I picked them out 18 months or so ago and I am happy with how they have performed and their prospects going forward

They day it will all change is not far away!

I spent a lot of yesterday looking at the sectors and industries that have outperformed the S&P 500 over the year to date what was very clear is that many of these outperforming groups have their roots in the old economy ( see table 1) rather than the new economies of software and technology.…[Read more]

The shares of financial adviser St James ‘s Place sold off by -13.39% yesterday. The reason the emergence in the US of a new platform that will allow financial advisors to create bespoke tax efficient planning for their clients.

In other words Ai is helping to automate and speed up, and personalize the advisors job, and that wasn’t seen a…[Read more]

JP Morgan wrote on Equity Strategy yesterday and kindly published a list of their top European stock picks as they did so see below.

They also posted a very useful valuations framework for European Equity sectors, out to 2027. So there is plenty to get your teeth into here

The action is in Asia once more.

US markets are unable to form a consensus right now when it comes to direction, and the most important narratives. Will AI eat software? Or will its gargantuan Capex requirements bankrupt the Mag 7 and Co before it reaches singularity?

South Korea and Japan, or at least their equity indices seen…[Read more]