Category Archives: Uncategorized
VH Global Sustainable Energy Opportunities
The VH Global Sustainable Energy Opportunities invests directly in energy infrastructure that have a high impact value and align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
The Company’s investment policy states that it aims to achieve diversification principally
by making a range of sustainable energy infrastructure investments across a number of distinct geographies and a mix of proven technologies that align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (‘SDGs’) where the investments are a direct contributor to the acceleration of the energy transition towards a net-zero carbon world.
The Company’s investment in proven technologies will include exposure to power generation (renewable and conventional), biomass, transmission, distribution, storage and waste to-energy. These investments will be operational, in construction or ‘ready-to-build’ but will not include assets that are under development or are in pre-consent stage. Successful IPO raising £242.6m in February 2021
The M&G Climate Solutions Fund.
The fund has two aims: to provide combined capital growth and income that is higher than that of the MSCI World Index
over any five-year period; and to invest in companies that aim to deliver solutions to the challenge of climate change. At
least 80% of the fund is invested in the shares of companies from any developed market. The fund usually holds shares in
fewer than 40 companies
Fund size: £19.97 million
The largest holdings are:-
Linde 4.5% of the fund
Johnson Controls International 4.4% of the fund
Republic Services 4.3% of the fund
Ball 4.1% of the fund
EDP Renovaveis 3.9% of the fund
Darling Ingredients 3.9% of the fund
Autodesk 3.7% of the fund
Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies 3.6% of the fund
Schneider Electric 3.5% of the fund
Equinix 3.5% of the fund
The fund is split across these asset classes:-
Green technology 43.1% of the fund
Clean energy 26.9% of the fund
Circular economy 26.0% of the fund
Cash 4.0 % of the fund
M&G Climate Solutions Fund | M&G Investments (mymandg.co.uk)
The Closure of P2P Lending on Zopa.
Stopping P2P consumer investments at Zopa
After 16 years of peer-to-peer (P2P) consumer investments at Zopa, we’ve taken the difficult decision to close this part of our business. We’re committed to making the process as easy as possible for you. To support this, Zopa Bank will be buying your entire loan portfolio at current face value without any of the fees you’d normally pay for a loan sale. You’ll receive your investment balance back by 31 January 2022.
We’ve informed our regulators, the FCA, of our decision.
What this means for you
We deliberated over a number of options for how to close the P2P side of our business and we believe the sale of your portfolio in full represents the best outcome for our customers. Crucially, this will lock in the returns you’ve already earned and ensure your funds are available to withdraw from your holding account in a timely manner.
Zopa’s purchase of your portfolio will happen in stages, starting in December with your newest loans and completing no later than 31 January 2022 with the oldest loans.
We’ll purchase your loans at face value, so you’ll receive the balance you have invested in loans back in full plus of course any interest that borrowers have already paid up to the date of sale. The money will be directed to your Zopa holding account and we’ll send you a confirmation email at each stage of the sale, so you can withdraw your money as it comes in. Once the loan sale has been completed, our Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA) customers will need to request an ISA transfer to a new provider to retain their tax-free wrapper
Why we’re doing this
We’re proud that our prudent, data-led model has achieved consistent positive returns for investors. Throughout our history we’ve delivered returns in line with target, including during the last two years, where we’ve delivered an average return of 3.9%.
Sadly, over the last few years, customer trust in P2P investing has been damaged by a small number of businesses whose approach led to material losses for customers investing in those platforms. Linked to this, the changing regulation in the sector has made it challenging to grow and remain commercially viable. We’ve therefore decided to fully focus on Zopa bank and we will be closing the P2P business with effect from 7 December.
Since the Bank launch in June of last year, we’ve already seen strong — and growing — demand for our new products. That early success shows that we’re able to help more people by providing a wider range of innovative financial products like our award-winning credit card and fixed term savings accounts, which many investors have already opened. Once the sale of loans is complete, investors will have access to an exclusive savings option from Zopa Bank.
How will my investments work in the meantime?
From today, we’re going to stop matching investor funds with loans, so all repayments will be directed to your holding account until the purchase goes through. Any money that’s currently in the queue will be automatically returned to your holding account.
We’re also going to be stopping loan sales. We’ve decided to do this as we don’t think it’s in customers’ best interests to do a loan sale now. If you were to perform a loan sale today, you’d be paying a 1% fee as well as any market rate adjustments to access part of your investment that you’ll be receiving back within weeks, with no fees to pay. For more on how investments will be impacted, check out our FAQs.
Updated FAQs and information centre
We expect our customer service agents to be very busy, so it may take them longer than normal to get back to you. To help you during this time, we’ve made lots of additional information available at the bottom of this email, through our FAQs and in the information centre, so please check these out if you have any immediate questions. The Zopa Principles (Section 14 – Contingency planning) includes information on our right to sell your loan portfolio.
Finally, thank you
As the world’s first peer-to-peer platform, this has been an incredibly difficult decision, and one only taken after lots of deliberation. At Zopa, we’re very proud of our peer-to-peer DNA and are honoured that over 90,000 of you joined us on this journey over the last 16 years. We hope that you’ll stay with us beyond your investment’s draw down and into the next chapter at Zopa.
The L&G ESG Green Bond UCITS ETF
The L&G ESG Green Bond UCITS ETF is a London Listed ETF that holds green bonds. The L&G ESG Green Bond UCITS
ETF aims to provide exposure to green bonds across developed and emerging markets. Green bonds are issued in order to fund projects
that have positive environmental outcomes and/or climate benefits.
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/GBNG/legal-and-general-asset-management/company-page
Inflation
Bloomberg Wealth with David Rubenstein: Ron Baron
Learn everyday, but especially from the experiences of others. It’s cheaper! – John Bogle
L&G Digital Payments ETF.
The L&G Digital Payments is an ETF that invests in companies in the digital payments sector.
Its top ten holdings are:-
GreenSky 4.6% of the fund
Nuvei 3.7% of the fund
Lightspeed 3.2% of the fund
Green Dot 3.0% of the fund
Adyen 2.9% of the fund
Afterpay 2.9% of the fund
Zuora 2.7% of the fund
International Money Express 2.6% of the fund
Shopify 2.6% of the fund
Square, Inc. 2.6% of the fund
The L&G Digital Payments UCITS ETF (the “ETF”) aims to track the performance of the Solactive Digital Payments Index NTR
The Index is designed to provide exposure to equity securities of global companies that are actively engaged in the digital payments ecosystem. The digital payments ecosystem consists of the card payment and the cardless open-banking payment ecosystems. The index universe encompasses companies that are actively engaged in the value-chain of digital payments, which includes payment acquirer, card issuers, payment gateways, payment processors, payment technology providers, and cardless payment service providers.
The JP Morgan Natural Resources Fund
The JP Morgan Natural Resources Fund aims to provide capital growth over the long-term (5-10 years) by investing at least 80% of the Fund’s assets in the shares of companies throughout the world engaged in the production and marketing of commodities.
Th underlying fund launch date: June 1965. Underlying Fund Size (30/06/2021) £671.2m
Top Ten holdings:-
RIO TINTO 6.3% of the fund
CHEVRON 5.2% of the fund
FREEPORT-MCMORAN 5.1% of the fund
BHP 4.8% of the fund
TOTALENERGIES 4.5% of the fund
ROYAL DUTCH SHELL 4.1% of the fund
ANGLO AMERICAN 3.9% of the fund
NEWMONT 3.7% of the fund
HESS 3.4% of the fund
EXXON MOBIL 3.0% of the fund
Assets in top holdings 44% of the fund
M&G Global Sustain Paris Aligned Fund
The M&G Global Sustain Paris Aligned Fund is fund from M&G Investments. The fund aims to provide a combination of capital growth and income, net of the Ongoing Charge Figure, that is higher than the MSCI World Index over any five-year period and to invest in companies that contribute towards the Paris Agreement climate change goal of keeping a global temperature rise this century well below two degrees Celsius above re-industrial levels. At least 80% of the fund is invested in the shares of sustainable companies from across the world
Fund size £ 641.08 Million
Top Holdings:-
Microsoft 7.3% of the fund
Alphabet 5.8% of the fund
Manhattan Associates 5.7% of the fund
WH Smith 5.2% of the fund
Unitedhealth Group 5.2% of the fund
Schneider Electric 4.8% of the fund
Novo Nordisk 4.6% of the fund
Visa 3.7% of the fund
Kuehne UND Nagel International 3.6% of the fund
Johnson Controls International 3.5% of the fund
The fund is concentrated and usually holds fewer than 40 companies
How Detroit Went From A Booming Metropolis To A Shrinking City
The Debt of Deutsche Telekom
The national incumbent telecoms operator of Germany, is Deutsche Telekom
The annual report has some interesting figures.
https://www.telekom.com/en/investor-relations/publications/financial-results#620432
Net Debt stands at €127,972 Million = €127 Billion
That is a lot of debt, but holds liquidty of cash reserves of €15 Billion.
However, its revenue tops €100bn for first time.
Deutsche Telekom had liabilities of €37.1b due within a year, so debt that has to repaid in the next 12months.
€18.9b in receivables that were due within 12 months, so it is due that cash in the next year.
Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM): Capturing opportunities and mitigating risks
HM Government Borrowings: October 2021
Another month, guess what, take a lucky guess, it is the same old story, HM Government, spends more money than it receives via taxes and duties.
Now we are in a Covid 19 world. UK’s HM Government needs to fund many new demands. [www.dmo.gov.uk]
https://www.dmo.gov.uk/dmo_static_reports/Gilt%20Operations.pdf
Another deficit month, thus to bridge the gap, needs to borrow on the bond market In October 2021, the HM Government had to borrow money to meet the difference between tax revenues and public sector expenditure. The term for this is The PSNCR: The Public Sector Net Cash Requirement. There were “only” 7 auctions of Gilts (UK Government Bonds) by the UK Debt Management Office to raise cash for HM Treasury:-
6-Oct-2021 0 3/8% Treasury Gilt 2026 £2,750.0000 Million
20-Oct-2021 0¼% Treasury Gilt 2031 £2,812.5000 Million
13-Oct-2021 0 1/8% Index-linked Treasury Gilt 2051 3 months £567.4000 Million
12-Oct-2021 0½% Treasury Gilt 2061 £1,562.5000 Million
06-Oct-2021 0½% Treasury Gilt 2029 £3,125.0000 Million
05-Oct-2021 0¼% Treasury Gilt 2025 £3,000.0000 Million
05-Oct-2021 1 1/8% Treasury Gilt 2039 £2,288.1250 Million
Thus:-
£2,750.0000 Million + £2,812.5000 Million + £567.4000 Million + £1,562.5000 Million + £3,125.0000 Million + £3,000.0000 Million + £2,288.1250 Million = £16,105.525 Million
£16,105.525 Million = £16.105525 Billion
On another way of looking at it, is in the 31 days in October2021, HM Government borrowed:- £519.53306451612903225806451612903 Million each day for the 31 days.
We are fortunate, while the global banking and financial markets still has the confidence in HM Government to buy the Gilts (Lend money to the UK), the budget deficit keeps rising. What is also alarming, is the dates these bond mature from 2026 through to 2061. All long term borrowings, we are mortgaging our futures, but at least “We Are In It Together….”
L&G Cash Pension Fund
The L&G Cash Pension Fund with £1,596.8m of assets.
http://factsheets.financialexpress.net/SLEFL/EUY4_RX.pdf
Top Ten holdings:-
UK TREASURY 33.9% of the fund.
BANK OF TOKYO-MITSUB LONDON 8.8% of the fund.
NATIONAL BANK OF CANADA 8.8% of the fund.
PMC LOAN 8.7% of the fund.
BANK OF MONTREAL 8.1% of the fund.
BRED – BANQUE POPULAIRE 8.1% of the fund.
DZ BANK AG 8.1% of the fund.
NATIONWIDE BUILDING SOCIETY 6.3% of the fund.
SUMITOMO MITSUI BANKING 4.8% of the fund.
BNP PARIBAS LONDON 4.4% of the fund.
Assets in top holdings 100.0% of the fund.
Intersting to see the graph below, and the reality of holding cash.
This fund is loosing value.
Investment in South Ruislip
The Vanguard Target Retirement 2035 Fund
The Vanguard Target Retirement 2035 Fund is a unit trust from Vanguard. The Fund’s investment objective is to achieve an increase in value and, consistent with a gradually changing asset allocation, hold investments that will pay out money for investors planning to retire in or within approximately five years after 2035. The Fund’s asset allocation will become more conservative as 2035 is approached and passed, moving from higher risk (such as shares) to mainly lower risk (such as bonds) investments.
£142.2 Million is the fund size, it is a fund of funds.
RIT Capital Partners PLC
RIT Capital Partners PLC is also known as the Rothschild Investment Trust.
It is the same family, the Rothschild banking dynasty.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothschild_family
The trust, is a London listed fund, whose aim is to deliver long-term capital growth, while preserving shareholders’ capital; to invest without the constraints of a formal benchmark, but to deliver for shareholders increases in capital value in excess of
the relevant indices over time.
Net assets £4,299m
Total dividend for the year 35.25p per share
Quoted Equity – Long 36% of assets
Quoted Equity – Hedge 11% of assets
Absolute Return & Credit 18% of assets
Private Investments – Funds 23% of assets
Private Investments – Direct 9% of assets
Real Assets 2% of assets
Net Liquidity / Borrowings / Other Assets 1% of assets
Assets:-
Equities
Coupang South Korea
Acorn Global
Helios Towers Africa
IQVIA Holdings
Visa
T-Mobile
Coca-Cola
Astra Space
Walt Disney Company
CME Group
Kraft Heinz
Unilever U
Reckitt Benckiser
Alphabet
Facebook
Long-only funds:
HCIF Offshore
Springs Opportunities China
Morant Wright
Discerene Global
Ward Ferry Smaller Asian Companies Asia Small/mid-cap
BlackRock Emerging Markets Emerging Markets
Lansdowne New Energy Global
Sand Grove UK
Emerging India Focus India All-cap
Sumi Trust Japan Japan Small-cap
Hedge funds:
BlackRock Strategic Equity Global All-cap,
Gaoling China All-cap,
Springs Global Strategic Partners China
EcoR1 Capital United States All-cap, biotechnology
Tribeca Global All-cap,
Coreview China All-cap
Derivatives:
Nikkei 225 futures Japan Long
MS ESG basket Global Long
MS Tech basket Global Short
NASDAQ 100 futures United States Short
Vaneck Oil Services ETF United States Short
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/RCP/rit-capital-partners-plc
Gresham House Energy Storage Fund PLC
The Gresham House Energy Storage Fund PLC, is the London listed energy storage company. Gresham House Energy Storage Fund plc (GRID or the Fund) seeks to capitalise on the growing intraday supply and demand imbalances caused by Great Britain’s ever increasing reliance on renewable energy. The Fund aims to provide investors with an attractive and sustainable dividend by investing in a portfolio of utility-scale Energy Storage Systems (ESS) located in Great Britain, which primarily use batteries to import and export power, accessing multiple revenue sources available in the power market
The graph speak volumes:
The 52 week range is from 106.48 to 132.50
Year To Date return 16.71%
1 year return 18.68%
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/GRID/gresham-house-energy-storage-fund-plc/company-page
BT Half Year figures.
BT Half Year figures.
The UK’s premier telecommunications giant is British Telecommunications PLC, and yesterday announced it’s half year results.
BT, it connects for good.
The dividend as promised has been reinstated, at 2.31p a share.
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/BT.A/half-year-report/15199249
The dividend will be paid in Feb 2022
the total number of voting rights in BT Group plc currently on Fri 5th Nov 2021 is 9,919,143,412.
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/BT.A/total-voting-rights/15192929
Thus:
9,919,143,412 x £0.0231 = £229,132,212.8172
That is £229 million to be paid to shareholders in Feb 2022.
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/BT.A/bt-group-plc/company-page
BP’s 3rd Quarter Results.
The Oil Major BP PLC yesterday announced its Q3 results.
The giant is transforming itself into a new Green energy company.
The numbers make interesting reading
Total debt stands at £31,971 Million.
Underlying replacement cost profit was $3.3 billion, compared with $2.8 billion for the previous quarter. This result was driven by higher oil and gas realizations, higher refining availability and throughput enabling the capture of a stronger environment and a stronger gas marketing and trading result. Meaning higher prices in gas.
In low carbon, confidence in bp’s 2025 target of 20GW developed renewables.
BP’s current forecasts, at around $60 per barrel Brent
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/9904Q_1-2021-11-1.pdf
Henry Ford:
If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability. -Henry Ford
Science: Investment in facts
FTSE All-World High Dividend Yield UCITS ETF
The FTSE All-World High Dividend Yield UCITS ETF employs a passive management – or indexing – investment approach, through physical acquisition of securities, and seeks to track the performance of the FTSE All-World High Dividend Yield Index (the “Index”). The Index is comprised of large and mid-sized company stocks, excluding real estate trusts, in developed and emerging markets that pay dividends that are generally higher than average.
Number of stocks held: 1580 securities.
The BMO Managed Portfolio Trust PLC
The BMO Managed Portfolio Trust PLC is a ‘multi-manager’ investment trust, investing in a range of investment companies giving you exposure to different investment providers and markets within a single investment trust managed by BMO. : The objective for the Growth Portfolio is to provide growth shareholders with capital growth from a diversified portfolio of investment companies. The Growth Portfolio invests in a diversified portfolio of at least 25 investment companies that have underlying investment exposures across a range of geographic regions and sectors and the focus of which is to maximise total returns, principally through capital growth
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/BMPG/bmo-managed-portfolio-trust-plc/company-page
Top Ten Equity Holdings
Monks Investment Trust 4.6% of the fund
Allianz Technology Trust 4.5% of the fund
Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust 4.3% of the fund
Polar Capital Technology Trust 3.7% of the fund
HgCapital Trust 3.6% of the fund
Chrysalis Investments 3.5% of the fund
Impax Environmental Markets 3.1% of the fund
Herald Investment Trust 3.0% of the fund
Mid Wynd International Investment Trust 2.8% of the fund
Fidelity Special Values 2.8% of the fund
Total 35.9% of the fund
Ray Dalio: CEO of Bridgewater Associates: How to invest in 2021 and 2022
HM Government Borrowings: September 2021
Another month, guess what, take a lucky guess, it is the same old story, HM Government, spends more money than it receives via taxes and duties.
Now we are in a Covid 19 world. UK’s HM Government needs to fund many new demands. [www.dmo.gov.uk]
https://www.dmo.gov.uk/dmo_static_reports/Gilt%20Operations.pdf
Another deficit month, thus to bridge the gap, needs to borrow on the bond market In September 2021, the HM Government had to borrow money to meet the difference between tax revenues and public sector expenditure. The term for this is The PSNCR: The Public Sector Net Cash Requirement. There were “only” 8 auctions of Gilts (UK Government Bonds) by the UK Debt Management Office to raise cash for HM Treasury:-
28-Sep-2021 1¼% Treasury Gilt 2051 £2,000.0000 Million
22-Sep-2021 0 1/8% Index-Linked Treasury Gilt 2056 3 months £350.0000 Million
15-Sep-2021 0¼% Treasury Gilt 2031 £2,857.9160 Million
14-Sep-2021 0 3/8% Treasury Gilt 2026 £3,000.0000 Million
08-Sep-2021 0 1/8% Index-linked Treasury Gilt 2031 3 months £1,010.7250 Million
07-Sep-2021 0¼% Treasury Gilt 2025 £3,250.0000 Million
07-Sep-2021 1 5/8% Treasury Gilt 2071 £1,250.0000 Million
01-Sep-2021 0½% Treasury Gilt 2029 £2,859.0000 Million
Thus:-
£2,000.0000 Million+ £350.0000 Million + £2,857.9160 Million + £3,000.0000 Million + £3,250.0000 Million + £1,250.0000 Million + £2,859.0000 Million= £16,577.641 Million
£16,577.641 Million = £16.577641 Billion
On another way of looking at it, is in the 30 days in Sept 2021, HM Government borrowed:- £552.58803333333333333333333333333 Million each day for the 30 days.
We are fortunate, while the global banking and financial markets still has the confidence in HM Government to buy the Gilts (Lend money to the UK), the budget deficit keeps rising. What is also alarming, is the dates these bond mature from 2025 through to 2071. All long term borrowings, we are mortgaging our futures, but at least “We Are In It Together….”
L&G Cyber Security ETF
The L&G Cyber Security ETF investing in companies that are working in the in field of network and IT security.
The Legal and General Cyber Security ETF is rocketing in value.
Now trading at over £19 a share.
Top Ten holdings:-
Palo Alto Networks 3.6% of the fund
Fortinet 3.5% of the fund
Cyberark 3.4% of the fund
Avast 3.2% of the fund
Qualys 3.1% of the fund
Radware 3.1% of the fund
Cloudflare 3.0% of the fund
Trend Micro 3.0% of the fund
Cisco Systems 2.9% of the fund
Juniper Networks 2.8% of the fund
The Debt of AT&T and its Balance Sheet
AT&T, the US US phone and telecoms giant carries a lot of debt.
These are large debt numbers:
$179,783,248,238
That is $179 Billion of debt.
How we need to understand this figure.
It needs to repay $82.1bn in the next 12months (liabilities due in the next year).
It has cash reserves of $11.9bn (immediate liquidity)
It also has receivables of $20.1bn in the next 12months (money owed to AT&T).
It still carries a large level of debt.
https://investors.att.com/financial-reports/debt/debt-information
The cost of interest on this debt is about $8,048 million = $8.048 Billion
So while interest rates are low, paying $8bn on interest is quite manageable, when its turnover is $171,760 million = $171 Billion.
So the Debt to Revenue is at 4%.
Big numbers from American Telephone and Telegraph
https://www.stock-analysis-on.net/NYSE/Company/ATT-Inc/Analysis/Debt
Investment in Fraud: Elizabeth Holmes: The ‘Valley of Hype’ behind the rise and fall of Theranos
Investment in Water Conservation
The AXA ACT Framlington Clean Economy
The AXA ACT Framlington Clean Economy is a UK Unit Trust. The aim of this Fund is to: (i) provide long-term capital growth over a period of 5 years or more; and (ii) seek to achieve sustainable investment objective, in line with a responsible investment approach.
The Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in shares of listed companies of any size which are based anywhere in the world and which the fund manager believes will generate both above-average returns and a positive and measurable impact on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors.In selecting shares, the fund manager applies AXA IM Group’s sector specific investment guidelines relating to responsible investment to the Fund.
Portfolio Analysis: Top 10 Holdings
Ameresco Inc 3.78% of the fund
NextEra Energy Inc 3.38% of the fund
Schneider Electric SE 3.24% of the fund
Darling Ingredients Inc 2.99% of the fund
TE Connectivity Ltd 2.98% of the fund
Trimble Inc 2.92% of the fund
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacuting 2.86% of the fund
Infineon Technologies AG 2.76% of the fund
Hannon Armstrong Sustainable 2.73% of the fund
Aptiv PLC 2.56% of the fund
Total 30.16% of the fund.
He is Brilliant and Amazing
A question of investment trust
Hydrogen Investment
The Ashoka India Equity Investment Trust PLC
The Ashoka India Equity Investment Trust PLC is an London listed investment trust, that has the strategy to achieve long-term capital appreciation, mainly through investment in securities listed in India and listed securities of companies with a significant presence in India.
It’s top ten holdings are:-
- Laxmi Organic Industries Materials 6.8% of the fund
- ICICI Bank Financials 6.1% of the fund
- Infosys Information Technology 4.9% of the fund
- Axis Bank Financials 4.7% of the fund
- Coforge Information Technology 4.6% of the fund
- Asian Paints Materials 3.5% of the fund
- Nestle India Consumer Staples 3.0% of the fund
- Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Consumer Discretionary 2.9% of the fund
- Cartrade Tech Consumer Discretionary 2.9% of the fund
- Bajaj Finserv Financials 2.8% of the fund
Total 42.3% of the fund
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/AIE/ashoka-india-equity-investment-trust-plc/company-page
Oxford Nanopore PLC
Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc was founded in 2005 as a spin-out from the University of Oxford. The company now employs about 600 employees from multiple disciplines including nanopore science, molecular biology and applications, informatics, engineering, electronics, manufacturing and commercialisation
It has just floated on the London Stock Exchange.
Floatation price of 425p a share.
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/ONT/announcement-of-offer-price/15154688
it is flying high.
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/ONT/oxford-nanopore-technologies-plc/company-page
HSBC Holdings PLC September Dividend.
Yesterday, 30th Sept 2021, HSBC Holdings, paid out is Sept 2021 dividend.
$0.07 a share = £0.051203 a share
£0.051203 a share pence per share it the dividend that it to be paid.
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/HSBA/total-voting-rights/15117630
The total number of voting rights in HSBC Holdings plc is 20,426,332,840
Thus:
20,426,332,840 x £0.051203 = £1,045,889,520.40652
That is £1,045 Million = £1.045 Billion paid to shareholders, yesterday.
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/HSBA/hsbc-holdings-plc/company-page
BT Pension Fund
BT is the UK’s premier telecommunications company.
The BT pension fund is huge pension fund that looks after the assets and pays the pensions to BT’s retired workforce. The BT Pension Scheme (BTPS) is the UK’s largest corporate defined benefit pension scheme with assets of about £58 billion ($80 billion), paying more than £2 billion in pension payments per year. The scheme closed to new members in 2001, but remains responsible for securing the long-term financial wellbeing of approximately 320,000 current and future pensioners
The Scheme’s net assets were invested 37.5% in growth assets and 62.5% in liability hedging assets as at 30 June 2020
Total benefits paid were £2.5bn, in the year to 30 June 2020. That is about £208.33333 Million a month paid out in pensions to BT’s amazing retired workforce.
https://newsroom.bt.com/bt-announces-triennial-pension-valuation/
Distribution of investments:
Equities 18.3% of the fund
Government bonds and cash 33.2% of the fund
Secure income 1.4% of the fund
Investment grade credit 27.9% of the fund
Other growth assets 12.4% of the fund
Property 6.8% of the fund
Total Assets £57,493 Million
With such a large portfolio, it makes substatial investment income
Dividends from equities £202 million
Income from bonds £562 million
Net rental income from properties £61 million
Income from pooled investment vehicles £55 million
Derivatives £125 million
Longevity insurance contract £-(30) million
Interest on deposits and short-term investments £23 million
Total of £998 Million income.
https://www.btps.co.uk/MediaArchive/SchemeSite/BTPS_Report_Accounts_30_Sept_2020.pdf
Abrdn PLC September Dividend.
Tomorrow, Abrbn PLC pays out its quarterly dividend, on Tue 28th September.
Abrdn is the new name for StandardLifeAberdeen, the merged business of Standard Life PLC and Aberdeen Asset Management PLC.
7.3 pence per share it the dividend that it to be paid.
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/ABDN/total-voting-rights/15118757
The Company’s issued share capital consists of 2,180,724,034 ordinary shares
Thus:
2,180,724,034 x £0.073 = £159,192,854.482
That is £159 Million = £0.159 Billion paid to shareholders, yesterday.
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/ABDN/abrdn-plc/company-page
BP PLC September Dividend.
Yesterday BP PLC paid out its quarterly dividend, on Friday 24th September.
3.9529 pence per share it the dividend that was paid.
The total number of voting rights in BP p.l.c. is 20,133,847,476
Thus:
20,133,847,476 x £0.039529 = £795,870,856.878804
That is £795 Million = £0.795 Billion paid to shareholders, yesterday.
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/BP./bp-plc/company-page
Truth: Investment in Facts
Royal Dutch Shell (Shell PLC) September Dividend.
Yesterday Shell paid out its quarterly dividend, on Monday 20th September.
Shell is a dual listed company.
Dividends on A Shares will be paid, by default, in euros at the rate of €0.2024 per A Share. Holders of A Shares who have validly submitted US dollars or pounds sterling currency elections by August 27, 2021 will be entitled to a dividend of US$0.24 or 17.38p per A Share, respectively. Dividends on B Shares will be paid, by default, in pounds sterling at the rate of 17.38p per B Share
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/RDSA/total-voting-rights/15083032
Royal Dutch Shell plc’s capital as at July 30, 2021, consists of 4,101,239,499 A shares and 3,704,709,414 B shares, each with equal voting rights. Royal Dutch Shell plc holds no ordinary shares in Treasury. The total number of A shares and B shares in issue as at July 30, 2021 is 7,805,948,913
Thus:
7,805,948,913 x £0.1738 = £1,356,673,921.0794
That is £1,356 Million = £1.356 Billion paid to shareholders, yesterday.
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/RDSB/royal-dutch-shell-plc/company-page
HM Government Borrowings: August 2021
Another month, guess what, take a lucky guess, it is the same old story, HM Government, spends more money than it receives via taxes and duties.
Now we are in a Covid 19 world. UK’s HM Government needs to fund many new demands. [www.dmo.gov.uk]
https://www.dmo.gov.uk/dmo_static_reports/Gilt%20Operations.pdf
Another deficit month, thus to bridge the gap, needs to borrow on the bond market In August 2021, the HM Government had to borrow money to meet the difference between tax revenues and public sector expenditure. The term for this is The PSNCR: The Public Sector Net Cash Requirement. There were “only” 5 auctions of Gilts (UK Government Bonds) by the UK Debt Management Office to raise cash for HM Treasury:-
24-Aug-2021 0 3/8% Treasury Gilt 2026 £3,000.0000 Million
17-Aug-2021 0 7/8% Treasury Gilt 2046 £2,274.2500 Million
11-Aug-2021 0 1/8% Index-linked Treasury Gilt 2039 3 months £705.0000 Million
10-Aug-2021 0¼% Treasury Gilt 2031 £3,437.4990 Million
03-Aug-2021 1¼% Treasury Gilt 2051 £2,000.0000 Million
Thus:-
£3,000.0000 Million + £2,274.2500 Million + £705.0000 Million + £3,437.4990 Million + £2,000.0000 Million = £11,416.749 Million
£11,416.749 Million = £11.416749 Billion
On another way of looking at it, is in the 31 days in August 2021, HM Government borrowed:- £368.28222580645161290322580645161 Million each day for the 31 days.
We are fortunate, while the global banking and financial markets still has the confidence in HM Government to buy the Gilts (Lend money to the UK), the budget deficit keeps rising. What is also alarming, is the dates these bond mature from 2026 through to 2051. All long term borrowings, we are mortgaging our futures, but at least “We Are In It Together….”
NatWest Group September 2021 Dividend.
Today, Friday 17th September, NatWest Group (formerly the Royal Bank of Scotland) pays out its September dividend.
3p a share
Total voting rights in NatWest Group is 46,121,249,780
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/NWG/total-voting-rights/15117681
Thus:-
46,121,249,780 x £0.03 = £1,383,637,493.4
That is £1,383 Million = £1.383 Billion paid out to shareholders
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/NWG/natwest-group-plc/company-page
Outstanding interview, every sentence is just pure wisdom
Lloyds Banking Group: September 2021 Dividend.
Today, 13th Sept 2021, Lloyds Banking Group pays out its Sept dividend.
http://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com
0.67p a share.
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/LLOY/total-voting-rights/15117362
Lloyds Banking Group plc with rights to vote which are exercisable in all circumstances at general meetings is 70,986,783,092 ordinary shares of 10p each.
Thus:-
70,986,783,092 x £0.0067 = £475,611,446.7164
That is £475 Million
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/LLOY/lloyds-banking-group-plc/company-page
New York. The Greatest City.
Today is a date in history, we can never forget. The most generous people in the world are the Americans, always helping in famine, flood, and natural disaster, helping the ones who need help, liberating people from oppression, and the most technologically advanced nation, home to Apple, Google, IBM, Cisco, Intel, BNC Holdings, Ford Motor Company, Applied Materials, Air Products, S-One Communications, Verizon, AT&T.
Today is a day to remember our fallen New Yorkers, the Heroes of Flight 93 and the brave people at The Pentagon.
The Ascent of Volex PLC
VOLEX PLC VLX Stock | London Stock Exchange
Volex is a UK manufacturing company in the electrical cable business.
The Investment in Brexit
It was the big Brexit lie. No, not the £350m a week to spend on the NHS or the “bonfire” of red tape. The lie was that the shambles now enveloping British trade with Europe was an unavoidable price worth paying to leave the EU. That was rubbish.
In order to further his chances of becoming Tory leader Boris Johnson made two commitments. One was to resign from the EU, the other was to depart Europe’s customs union and single market, aspects of which embrace other non-EU states such as Norway. The second decision was an almost casual gesture to make him look macho to the party’s hardline Brexiters. It was not put to referendum and was beyond stupid.
No news item today is free of the consequences. Earlier this year, the effects of leaving the single market could be seen in plummeting trade with the continent, even accounting for the pandemic. Additional red tape is awesome. HMRC estimates traders will be handling 215m more import/export documents a year, at an estimated bureaucratic cost of £7.5bn a year. Tariffs may not apply but rules of origin and health standards do. Every truck, every cargo requires inspection.
As for migration, the overall shortage of seasonal farm labour, according to BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today, is 20% and often more. Fruit will rot in fields, pigs cannot get to abattoirs and Christmas turkeys will be a “nightmare”. Meanwhile, care homes in England are short of 170,000 staff, and delivery firms short of 100,000 drivers. Hotels have abandoned rooms and restaurant tables. Creative industries – worth £110bn to the UK economy – were forgotten by the Brexit negotiators and are now virtually isolated from Europe.
Wagamama. Wagamama struggling to find chefs at a fifth of its UK sites
This is not Brexit. Britain could have left Brussels and freed itself from a mass of rules and regulations. It is the result of leaving the single market, of Johnson’s xenophobic belief that European trade standards were somehow not British”. He was wildly in favour of EU workers when mayor of London but no longer as prime minister.
I am sure some of the current disruption will settle down but the idea that trade with Britain’s biggest partner by far, the EU, will ever recover outside some form of economic union is absurd. So is the theory that any losses from the present chaos will be met by gains elsewhere. It seems bizarre to have to explain to a Tory that prosperity lies in open markets not closed ones.
Johnson has significantly not set up a permanent trade and agriculture commission to guard British interests in new deals. He is clearly desperate for deals, however bad. In addition, the National Audit Office has yet to do the normal impact assessment of Lord Frost’s post-Brexit deal with the EU. It has not bothered. I imagine the assessment would be the colour of blood.
Brexit need never have so devastated the British economy. The damage has come from one decision, to depart the single market. The sensible path now would be for Johnson to eat humble pie and seek, as far and as fast as possible, readmission to that market. Britain would imitate the protocol it has agreed for Northern Ireland. This would not mean rejoining the EU, just rejoining Ireland – the most delicious of historical ironies.
Negotiating the single market in 1987 was Margaret Thatcher’s proudest free-trade achievement. It was in Britain’s and Europe’s interest and proved a success. Johnson reversed that achievement in an act of naked political ambition. He pretended it was necessary for Brexit. It was his biggest lie.
Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist
Warren Buffett explains how you could’ve turned $114 into $400,000
The Debt of Verizon.
Verizon Communications, is one of the world’s largest voice and data telecommunications companies.
Created from the merger of the two baby bells, Bell Atlantic and NYNEX and the acquistion of GTE.
The company, Verizon Communications carries a lot of debt:-
https://www.verizon.com/about/investors/schedule-outstanding-debt
To be precise, total debt as of June 30, 2021 is at $155,294 Million.
That is $155bn.
Jim Bogle Quote.
The Global Scale of Quantative Easing.
The Global Scale of Quantative Easing.
Leading central banks now own more than £18 trillion in government bonds and other assets, an increase of more than 50% on pre-pandemic levels. This is an eye-watering expansion from the financial crash more than a decade ago. Since the start of the pandemic, the US Federal Reserve’s (the Fed) balance sheet has more than doubled to $8tn (£5.9tn). The European Central bank has total assets worth more than €8tn (£6.8tn), the Bank of Japan has about 722tn yen (£4.8tn), while the UK has doubled its QE programme to £895bn.
Despite the flood of cheap money, more than a decade of meagre growth has followed the 2008 crisis, as Quantative Easing only succeeded in pumping up asset prices – benefiting owners of shares and property most. However, the post-2008 recovery was sapped by governments launching damaging austerity policies, while central bankers argue Quantative Easing helped avoid worse job losses.
Work Smarter, Not Just Harder
Investment in reality.
Great Pacific Garbage Patch – Ocean Pollution Awareness
HM Government Borrowings: July 2021
Another month, guess what, take a lucky guess, it is the same old story, HM Government, spends more money than it receives via taxes and duties.
Now we are in a Covid 19 world. UK’s HM Government needs to fund many new demands. [www.dmo.gov.uk]
https://www.dmo.gov.uk/dmo_static_reports/Gilt%20Operations.pdf
Another deficit month, thus to bridge the gap, needs to borrow on the bond market In July 2021, the HM Government had to borrow money to meet the difference between tax revenues and public sector expenditure. The term for this is The PSNCR: The Public Sector Net Cash Requirement. There were “only” 6 auctions of Gilts (UK Government Bonds) by the UK Debt Management Office to raise cash for HM Treasury:-
27-Jul-2021 0 3/8% Treasury Gilt 2026 3,000.0000 Million
20-Jul-2021 1 5/8% Treasury Gilt 2071 1,562.5000 Million
07-Jul-2021 0 1/8% Index-linked Treasury Gilt 2051 3 months 701.0500 Million
06-Jul-2021 0¼% Treasury Gilt 2031 3,437.4990 Million
06-Jul-2021 0½% Treasury Gilt 2061 1,866.2500 Million
01-Jul-2021 0¼% Treasury Gilt 2025 4,232.4970 Million
Thus:-
£3,000.0000 Million + £1,562.5000 Million + £701.0500 Million + £3,437.4990 Million + £1,866.2500 Million + £4,232.4970 Million = £14,799.796 Million
£14,799.796 Million = £14.799796 Billion
On another way of looking at it, is in the 31 days in July 2021, HM Government borrowed:- £477.41277419354838709677419354839 Million each day for the 31 days.
We are fortunate, while the global banking and financial markets still has the confidence in HM Government to buy the Gilts (Lend money to the UK), the budget deficit keeps rising. What is also alarming, is the dates these bond mature from 2025 through to 2071. All long term borrowings, we are mortgaging our futures, but at least “We Are In It Together….”
The Debt of National Grid.
National Grid is one of the world’s largest publicly listed utilities focused on transmission and distribution of electricity and gas in the United Kingdom and the United States. It plays a vital role in connecting millions of people to the energy
they use safely, reliably and efficiently.
It finances its operations from trading and debt. It currently has Net debt of £28.6bn as of March 31st 2021. It has to pay back this debt from now to the end of 2057.
The graph below shows that maturity profile.
https://www.nationalgrid.com/investors/debt-investors/debt-information
FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) Chair Powell’s Press Conference July 28, 2021
A very interesting meeting, and the press conference identified some salient points:
https://www.federalreserve.gov/mediacenter/files/FOMCpresconf20210728.pdf
- worldwide shortage of semiconductors has sharply curtailed production so far this year.
- in addition, The US Fed are continuing to increase their holdings of Treasury securities by at least $80 billion per month and of agency MBS by at least $40 billion per month
The Ascent of Phoenix Copper PLC
Phoenix Copper PLC is a London listed Copper miner.
Here’s an in-depth break down of Warren Buffett’s 2021 annual letter
Vodafone August 2021 Dividend
On Friday 6th August, Vodafone PLC paid out its August 2021 dividend.
€0.045 or 3.83432p a share.
The total number of voting rights in Vodafone is 27,786,049,932
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/VOD/total-voting-rights/15081941
Thus:-
27,786,049,932 x £0.0383432 = £1,065,406,069.7526624
That is £1065 Million = £1.065 Billion
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/VOD/vodafone-group-plc/analysis
UK National Debt.
The UK Debt Management Office, that issues Gilts (UK Government Bonds) to help finance the HM Government’s spending commitments, has a website that is full of data.
Currently, Total Amount Outstanding (including inflation uplift for index-linked gilts) = £2,054.14 billion nominal.
That £2,054.14 billion is £2.05414 Trillion.
BT Group PLC
UK Wealth Gap
UK wealth gap widens in pandemic as richest get £50,000 windfall
Resolution Foundation finds rising house and asset prices have ‘turbo-charged’ gap between richest and poorest
Britain’s wealth gap has ballooned during the pandemic with the richest 10% gaining £50,000 on average, dwarfing increases for the poorest third of the population, according to a thinktank report.
The Resolution Foundation said wealth had increased during lockdown as a result of a lack of spending opportunities and rising house prices, but the benefits had been skewed to the richest by a ratio of more than 500 to 1.
Jack Leslie, a senior economist at the thinktank, said it was rare for wealth to increase during a recession but the impact of events during 2020 and 2021 had been to “turbo-charge” the gap between rich and poor.
The Resolution Foundation – which focuses on improving living standards for those on low and middle incomes – said the findings of the report should cause the government to rethink its decision to scrap the £20 a week increase to universal credit in September.
The report, produced in partnership with the Standard Life Foundation, found that the average household had enjoyed a windfall of £7,800 per adult during the crisis – the first time wealth has increased during a recession since the mid-1940s
“The Covid-19 crisis has seen a highly unusual combination of a sharp reduction in economic activity, and a sharp increase in household wealth. Many families have been forced to save rather than spend during lockdowns, while house prices have continued to soar even while working hours have plummeted,” Leslie said.
Britain suffered its biggest-one year fall in output in more than 300 years in 2020 but since the start of the crisis in February 2020 total household savings had risen by £200bn, household debts (excluding credit cards) decreased by about £10bn, and house prices – which fell by an average of 22% over the previous four recessions – rose by 8%.
The thinktank report said total UK wealth had increased by £900bn to £16.5tn during the course of the pandemic, but the poorest households were more likely to have run down rather than increase their savings, and had not shared in the house price boom because they were less likely to own a home in the first place.
“As a result, the rising wealth gaps that marked pre-pandemic Britain have been turbo-charged by the crisis,” Leslie said. “With policymakers facing many tough decisions in the autumn – from protecting households as unemployment rises to paying for a decent system of social care – they can no longer afford to ignore the dominant role wealth is playing in 21st-century Britain.”
The richest fifth of households were four times as likely to have increased their savings during the crisis as the poorest fifth of households (47% versus 12%), and 2.5 times as likely to have reduced their debts. The thinktank said this reflected pandemic-induced spending reductions being concentrated among those on higher incomes.
According to the report, adults in the richest 10% of households now have wealth of £1.4m each following the £50,000 increase during the crisis, while the poorest 30% gained an average of just £86 per adult in additional wealth.
The wealth gap between the average and the wealthiest 10% of households had increased by £44,000 during the crisis (after a £350,000 increase between 2006-08 and 2016-18), the Resolution Foundation said. During the same period, the gap between the average and the poorest 10th of households had also grown, by £7,000 (a bigger increase than seen during the whole 2006-08 and 2016-18 decade).
Mubin Haq, the chief executive of Standard Life Foundation, said: “The rise in wealth for those at the bottom has been paltry even taking into account the £20 a week increase in universal credit payments to those on the lowest incomes. Wednesday’s announcement of the cut to UC risks further widening the wealth divide which ballooned during the pandemic.”
Buffett: How Long Can Stocks Stay Overpriced (Before A Crash)
United Utilities August Dividend.
Yesterday, 2nd August, United Utilities PLC paid out is August dividend.
28.83p a share.
The total voting rights in the company were 681,888,418.
Thus:-
681,888,418 x £0.2883 = £196,588,430.9094.
£196 Million paid out to sharesholders.
The Vanguard ESG Developed World All Cap Equity Index
The Fund aims to provide long-term growth of capital by seeking to achieve the performance of the FTSE
Developed All Cap Choice Index.
A £1,413.5m = £1.4 Billion fund.
Top Ten Holdings are:
APPLE INC. 4.4% of the fund
MICROSOFT CORP. 3.6% of the fund
AMAZON.COM INC. 2.8% of the fund
ALPHABET INC. 2.2% of the fund
FACEBOOK INC. 1.3% of the fund
TESLA INC. 1.2% of the fund
JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. 0.8% of the fund
SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO. LTD. 0.8% of the fund
VISA INC. 0.7% of the fund
UNITEDHEALTH GROUP INC. 0.6% of the fund
The assets in top holdings 18.4% of the fund
Nordea Global Climate and Environment Fund
This fund aims to achieve long-term capital growth through a diversified portfolio of equity or equity related investments in companies, which are expected to benefit either directly or indirectly from developments related to environmental challenges such as climate change. The fund shall invest globally and shall invest a minimum
of two thirds of its total assets in equities, other equity shares such as co-operative shares and participation certificates, dividend right certificates, warrants on equities and equity rights.
A £6,403.7m fund = £6.4 Billion
Top Ten holdings are:
LINDE 3.6% of the fund
REPUBLIC SERVICES 3.6% of the fund
AIR LIQUIDE 3.3% of the fund
ASML HOLDING 3.3% of the fund
WASTE MANAGEMENT 3.3% of the fund
SYNOPSYS 2.8% of the fund
INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES 2.6% of the fund
PARKER-HANNIFIN 2.5% of the fund
TRIMBLE 2.5% of the fund
INTERNATIONAL FLAVORS & FRAGRANCES 2.4% of the fund
The assets in top holdings 29.9% of the fund
Conditions are ripe for repeat of 1970s stagflation and 2008 debt crisis:-Nouriel Roubini
The conditions are ripe for repeat of 1970s stagflation and 2008 debt crisis
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jul/02/1970s-stagflation-2008-debt-crisis-global-economy
Warning signs are there for global economy, and central banks will be left in impossible position
In April, I warned that today’s extremely loose monetary and fiscal policies, when combined with a number of negative supply shocks, could result in 1970s-style stagflation (high inflation alongside a recession). In fact, the risk today is even bigger than it was then.
After all, debt ratios in advanced economies and most emerging markets were much lower in the 1970s, which is why stagflation has not been associated with debt crises historically. If anything, unexpected inflation in the 1970s wiped out the real value of nominal debts at fixed rates, thus reducing many advanced economies’ public-debt burdens.
Conversely, during the 2007-08 financial crisis, high debt ratios (private and public) caused a severe debt crisis – as housing bubbles burst – but the ensuing recession led to low inflation, if not outright deflation. Owing to the credit crunch, there was a macro shock to aggregate demand, whereas the risks today are on the supply side.
We are thus left with the worst of both the stagflationary 1970s and the 2007-10 period. Debt ratios are much higher than in the 1970s, and a mix of loose economic policies and negative supply shocks threatens to fuel inflation rather than deflation, setting the stage for the mother of stagflationary debt crises over the next few years.
The same loose policies that are feeding asset bubbles will continue to drive consumer price inflation
For now, loose monetary and fiscal policies will continue to fuel asset and credit bubbles, propelling a slow-motion train wreck. The warning signs are already apparent in today’s high price-to-earnings ratios, low equity risk premia, inflated housing and tech assets, and the irrational exuberance surrounding special purpose acquisition companies, the crypto sector, high-yield corporate debt, collateralised loan obligations, private equity, meme stocks, and runaway retail day trading. At some point, this boom will culminate in a Minsky moment (a sudden loss of confidence), and tighter monetary policies will trigger a bust and crash.
But in the meantime, the same loose policies that are feeding asset bubbles will continue to drive consumer price inflation, creating the conditions for stagflation whenever the next negative supply shocks arrive. Such shocks could follow from renewed protectionism; demographic ageing in advanced and emerging economies; immigration restrictions in advanced economies; the reshoring of manufacturing to high-cost regions; or the Balkanisation of global supply chains.
More broadly, the Sino-American decoupling threatens to fragment the global economy at a time when climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic are pushing national governments toward deeper self-reliance. Add to this the impact on production of increasingly frequent cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure, and the social and political backlash against inequality, and the recipe for macroeconomic disruption is complete.
Making matters worse, central banks have effectively lost their independence because they have been given little choice but to monetise massive fiscal deficits to forestall a debt crisis. With both public and private debts having soared, they are in a debt trap. As inflation rises over the next few years, central banks will face a dilemma. If they start phasing out unconventional policies and raising policy rates to fight inflation, they will risk triggering a massive debt crisis and severe recession; but if they maintain a loose monetary policy, they will risk double-digit inflation – and deep stagflation when the next negative supply shocks emerge.
But even in the second scenario, policymakers would not be able to prevent a debt crisis. While nominal government fixed-rate debt in advanced economies can be partly wiped out by unexpected inflation (as happened in the 1970s), emerging-market debts denominated in foreign currency would not be. Many of these governments would need to default and restructure their debts.
At the same time, private debts in advanced economies would become unsustainable (as they did after the global financial crisis), and their spreads relative to safer government bonds would spike, triggering a chain reaction of defaults. Highly leveraged corporations and their reckless shadow-bank creditors would be the first to fall, soon followed by indebted households and the banks that financed them.
To be sure, real long-term borrowing costs may initially fall if inflation rises unexpectedly and central banks are still behind the curve. But, over time, these costs will be pushed up by three factors. First, higher public and private debts will widen sovereign and private interest-rate spreads. Second, rising inflation and deepening uncertainty will drive up inflation risk premia. And, third, a rising misery index – the sum of the inflation and unemployment rate – eventually will demand a “Volcker moment.”
When former Fed chair Paul Volcker increased rates to tackle inflation in 1980-82, the result was a severe double-dip recession in the US and a debt crisis and lost decade for Latin America. But now that global debt ratios are almost three times higher than in the early 1970s, any anti-inflationary policy would lead to a depression rather than a severe recession.
Under these conditions, central banks will be damned if they do and damned if they don’t, and many governments will be semi-insolvent and thus unable to bail out banks, corporations and households. The doom loop of sovereigns and banks in the eurozone after the global financial crisis will be repeated worldwide, sucking in households, corporations and shadow banks as well.
As matters stand, this slow-motion train wreck looks unavoidable. The Fed’s recent pivot from an ultra-dovish to a mostly dovish stance changes nothing. The Fed has been in a debt trap at least since December 2018, when a stock- and credit-market crash forced it to reverse its policy tightening a full year before Covid-19 struck. With inflation rising and stagflationary shocks looming, it is now even more ensnared.
So, too, are the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan and the Bank of England. The stagflation of the 1970s will soon meet the debt crises of the post-2008 period. The question is not if but when.
Nouriel Roubini was professor of economics at New York University’s Stern School of Business. He has worked for the IMF, the US Federal Reserve and the World Bank.
HM Government Borrowings: June 2021
Another month, guess what, take a lucky guess, it is the same old story, HM Government, spends more money than it receives via taxes and duties.
Now we are in a Covid 19 world. UK’s HM Government needs to fund many new demands. [www.dmo.gov.uk]
https://www.dmo.gov.uk/dmo_static_reports/Gilt%20Operations.pdf
Another deficit month, thus to bridge the gap, needs to borrow on the bond market In June 2021, the HM Government had to borrow money to meet the difference between tax revenues and public sector expenditure. The term for this is The PSNCR: The Public Sector Net Cash Requirement. There were “only” 9 auctions of Gilts (UK Government Bonds) by the UK Debt Management Office to raise cash for HM Treasury:-
23-Jun-2021 0 1/8% Index-linked Treasury Gilt 2065 3 months £500.0000 Million
16-Jun-2021 0 5/8% Treasury Gilt 2035 £3,118.7500 Million
15-Jun-2021 0 1/8% Treasury Gilt 2028 £3,055.2810 Million
15-Jun-2021 1¼% Treasury Gilt 2051 £2,000.0000 Million
09-Jun-2021 0 1/8% Index-linked Treasury Gilt 2031 3 months £1,172.4380 Million
08-Jun-2021 0 3/8% Treasury Gilt 2026 £3,742.4970 Million
08-Jun-2021 1 5/8% Treasury Gilt 2071 £1,562.5000 Million
02-Jun-2021 0¼% Treasury Gilt 2031 £3,437.4990 Million
02-Jun-2021 0 7/8% Treasury Gilt 2046 £2,500.0000 Million
Thus:-
£500.0000 Million + £3,118.7500 Million + £3,055.2810 Million + £2,000.0000 Million + £1,172.4380 Million + £3,742.4970 Million + £1,562.5000 Million + £3,437.4990 Million + £2,500.0000 Million= £21,088.965 Million
£21,088.965 Million = £21.088965 Billion
On another way of looking at it, is in the 30 days in Jun 2021, HM Government borrowed:- £702.9655 Million each day for the 30 days.
We are fortunate, while the global banking and financial markets still has the confidence in HM Government to buy the Gilts (Lend money to the UK), the budget deficit keeps rising. What is also alarming, is the dates these bond mature from 2028 through to 2071. All long term borrowings, we are mortgaging our futures, but at least “We Are In It Together….”
Climate Change: It is here.
New verified temperature record for Antarctic continent – British Antarctic Survey (bas.ac.uk)
We see the terrible consequences of changing weather:-
China floods: 12 dead in Zhengzhou train and thousands evacuated in Henan – BBC News
Europe floods: Victims face massive clean-up as waters recede – BBC News
However, to read this, is very concering:-
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has today (1 July 2021) recognised a new record high temperature for the Antarctic continent of 18.3° Celsius on 6 February 2020 at the Esperanza station (Argentina). It also rejected an even higher temperature, of 20.75°C, which was reported on 9 February 2020 at an automated permafrost monitoring station (Brazil) on Seymour Island.
The previous record for the Antarctic region (continental, including mainland and surrounding islands] was 17.5°C (63.5°F) recorded on 24 March 2015 at Esperanza Research Station. The record for the Antarctic region (all ice/land south of 60 degrees latitude) is 19.8C, taken on Signy Island in January 1982.
BT invests in unique Silicon Valley technology to measure and fight cyber risk
BT invests in unique Silicon Valley technology to measure and fight cyber risk
With the number and impact of cyber attacks continuing to increase rapidly, BT has today announced a multi-million pound investment in Safe Security, an industry-leading cyber risk management firm. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, their SAFE (‘Security Assessment Framework for Enterprises’) platform allows organisations to take a health check of their existing defences and understand their likelihood of suffering a major cyber attack
The investment will allow BT to combine the SAFE platform with its world-leading managed security services to provide customers with a real time view of how safe they are against an incredibly fast-moving cyber threat landscape. SAFE is unique in calculating a financial cost to customers’ risks and giving actionable insight on the steps that can be taken to address them. The platform ultimately enables organisations to surgically target gaps in their defences, and already protects multiple Fortune 500 companies and governments around the world.
Philip Jansen, Chief Executive of BT, said: “Cyber security is now at the top of the agenda for businesses and governments, who need to be able to trust that they’re protected against increasing levels of attack. Adding SAFE to BT’s proactive, predictive security services will give customers an enhanced view of their threat level, and rapidly pinpoint specific actions needed to strengthen their defences. Already one of the world’s leading providers in a highly fragmented security market, this investment is a clear sign of BT’s ambition to grow further.”
Saket Modi, Co-founder and CEO of Safe Security, said: “We’re delighted to be working with a proven global security leader in BT. Their investment and strategic partnership with Safe Security will further accelerate our vision of making SAFE scores the industry standard for measuring and mitigating cyber risks. By aligning BT’s global reach and capabilities with SAFE’s ability to provide real-time visibility on cyber risk posture, we are going to fundamentally change how cyber security is measured and managed across the globe.”
As part of this investment, BT will be granted exclusive rights to use and sell SAFE to businesses and public sector bodies in the UK, and will incorporate the platform within its wider global portfolio. In recognition of its experience in providing security solutions to organisations across the world, BT will be designated as the recommended global partner for improving a customer’s SAFE score. BT will also work collaboratively with Safe Security to develop future products.
About BT
BT Group is the UK’s leading telecommunications and network provider and a leading provider of global communications services and solutions, serving customers in 180 countries. Its principal activities in the UK include the provision of fixed voice, mobile, broadband and TV (including Sport) and a range of products and services over converged fixed and mobile networks to consumer, business and public sector customers. For its global customers, BT provides managed services, security and network and IT infrastructure services to support their operations all over the world. BT consists of four customer-facing units: Consumer, Enterprise, Global and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Openreach, which provides access network services to over 650 communications provider customers who sell phone, broadband and Ethernet services to homes and businesses across the UK.
For the year ended 31 March 2021, BT Group’s reported revenue was £21,331m with reported profit before taxation of £1,804m.
British Telecommunications plc is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
For more information, visit www.bt.com/about
About Safe Security
Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Safe Security is a pioneer and leader in the “Cyber security and Digital Business Risk Quantification” (CRQ) space. It helps organizations measure and mitigate enterprise-wide cyber risk in real-time using its ML Enabled API-First SAFE Platform by aggregating automated signals across people, process, and technology, both for first & third party to dynamically predict the breach likelihood (SAFE Score) & dollar risk of an organization.
The SAFE scoring model is built as joint research at MIT that incorporates cyber security sensors data, external threat intelligence, and business context and places it together in a Bayesian Network of a Supervised Machine Learning scoring engine to give out scores and dollar value risk that the organization faces. The scores are calculated both at a macro and micro level and can also be measured for particular Lines of Business / Crown Jewels / Departments.
The SAFE Scores will enable the organization to have a “common language” across teams, from the board all the way down to an analyst to be aligned with a consistent risk metric along with justifying investments in cyber security and purchase of cyber insurance for the organization.
For more information, visit https://www.safe.security/
BT Contact:
media@bt.com
Mining in the Pacific Ocean.
Mining in the Pacific Ocean.
Miners are pushing hard to extract metals from the ocean floor, but there is mounting concern about what it might do to the marine environment. Travel thousands of metres below the surface of the ocean, and you reach the seabed. Pitch black and quiet, it is largely unexplored, untouched, unknown.
What is known is extraordinary. The landscape at the bottom of the sea is as varied as the earth surface: 4,000m (13,000ft) down, abyssal plains stretch for miles like deserts; there are trenches large enough to swallow the Earth’s largest mountains; venting chimneys rise in towers like underwater cities; seamounts climb thousands of metres. Hot thermal vents – believed by some to be the places where all life on Earth started – gush highly acidic water at temperatures of up to 400C, drawing in an array of creatures.
So little is known about what happens this far under the sea that in the 25 years following the discovery of the hydrothermal vents, an average of two new vent species are discovered every month. They include the yeti crab, a ghostly white crustacean with silky-blonde bristles on its claws that give it a resemblance to the Abominable snowman. Others discovered in the last 20 years include the beaked whale and the Greenland shark, which dives to around 1,200m and has a lifespan of close to 400 years, making it one of the world’s longest-living organisms.
“Every time you go down into the deep, you see something incredible and often new,” says Diva Amon, a deep sea biologist and fellow at the Natural History Museum in London who has undertaken 15 deep sea expeditions.“There’s a bone-eating worm called Osedax, which lives on the bones of dead whales in the deep … Another special one was … an anemone whose tentacles were 8ft long.”
Anna Metaxas, professor of oceanography at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada, recalls the first time she travelled to the deep sea, in waters near the Bahamas. “The most spectacular part of that dive was the bioluminescence. Because it gets dark at 1,000m they all light up, they all flash. I was in a submersible that had a plexiglass sphere, it was like flying through space.”
Mining’s new frontier
Ninety percent of the ocean – and 50% of the Earth’s surface – is considered the deep sea (areas deeper than 200m). Only 0.0001% of the deep seafloor has been investigated. Doing so is perilous, technically challenging and expensive. But despite these obstacles, companies have set their sights on the seabed as the new frontier for mining.
Since 1982, the International Seabed Authority (ISA), which is charged with regulating human activities on the deep sea floor, has issued 30 contracts for mineral exploration, taking in an area of more than 1.4m sq km. Most of these sites are in the Pacific Ocean, in the Clarion-Clipperton fracture zone (CCZ)
In particular, companies have their eyes on polymetallic nodules – bundles of ore that resemble potatoes, which litter the surface of the deep sea and are rich in manganese, nickel, cobalt and rare earth metals. The nodules are up to 10cm in diameter and are thought to form at the staggeringly slow rate of just a few centimetres every one million years.
A battery in a rock,” is how DeepGreen, one of the big players in the nascent industry describes the polymetallic nodules. It touts deep-sea mining as a less environmentally and socially damaging alternative to terrestrial mining, and says it is crucial for affecting a transition to a greener economy, with the nodules containing the minerals needed for the batteries used in electric vehicles.
“Society has an urgent, growing need for battery metals to enable a full transition to clean energy and electric vehicles. We believe that polymetallic nodules are the cleanest source of these metals, with by far the lightest planetary touch,” says the company on its website.
Its proposal is to dispatch ships to the CCZ and suck up the nodules through long pipes that stretch to the seabed. The nodules would be processed on the ship, with excess sediment pumped back into the sea.
So far, licenses in international waters have only been issued for exploration and not mining, but the ISA is working on a regulatory framework for mining of the deep sea, with DeepGreen saying it will be ready to begin the work by 2024.
Our largest ecosystem
There are concerns about the environmental impact deep sea mining could have on marine ecosystems, particularly given how little is known about them and the very slow pace of reproduction and growth at those depths.
Osedax mucofloris, which feeds on the bones of dead whales.
Osedax mucofloris, which feeds on the bones of dead whales. Photograph: The Natural History Museum/Alamy
An experiment in 1978, which involved the extraction of nodules from the seabed in the CCZ, pointed to how long-lasting the damage can be. The area was revisited in 2004, and researchers found the tracks made by mining vehicles 26 years earlier were still clearly visible on the seabed. There was also a reduced diversity of organisms in the disturbed area.
“You are talking about the destruction of the habitat on the seafloor. Any area you are mining will be destroyed,” says Duncan Currie, an international lawyer who has worked in oceans law for 30 years. He represents the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition which is calling for a moratorium on deep sea mining.
Amon was part of a project that conducted baseline surveys in the area of the CCZ that the UK has a licence to explore for potential mining.
“As part of the work we were doing out there, we found that of the megafauna, the larger animals, more than half of them were completely new to science, and more than half of them relied on the nodules as a surface to attach to. Things like corals, sponges, anemones – they actually need the nodules. So potentially mining in that area could have quite a drastic impact.”
“It’s also our largest ecosystem so it provides about 96% of all habitable space on earth,” says Amon. “I think most people still assume that that space is just sort of empty or there’s not a lot happening. But actually, it couldn’t be further from the truth, the deep ocean is a vast reservoir of biodiversity.”
“The deep sea has a PR problem,” says Amon. “It’s not something that people think about. There are some cute things, but there aren’t adorable pandas, but that doesn’t mean that those species aren’t important.”
Other environmental concerns range from worries that noise pollution will interfere with deep sea species’ ability to communicate and detect food falls, increased temperature from drilling and vehicle operation, materials being discarded and heavy vehicles crushing seabed organisms and compacting the seabed.
Most concerning, Currie says, is the potential impact of sediment plumes. After the minerals are processed on ships, the proposal is to return the non-useful sediment into the ocean via long pipes, or risers, depositing them at a depth of 1,500m.
“The return sediment plume will be almost 24/7 – a continuous plume pumped into the ocean. No one has any idea what it will do: will it go up, go down? Will it interfere with the breeding of squid? We know fish migrate up and down, will it affect that? It’s incredibly important and we know almost nothing about it,” he says.
DeepGreen disputes this saying its modelling and experiments show that the spread of the plumes is far smaller and the amount of sediment injected into the mid-water column is far less than is often cited by campaigners.
“The anti-DSM [deep-sea mining] community consistently catastrophises and misrepresents the impact assessments that don’t support their narrative,” said a spokesperson for DeepGreen, who added “we welcome and share many of the environmental concerns about the impact of nodule collection on the marine environment”.
“Our goal is to make sure that our activity does not cause any large-scale disruptions to ecosystem services and that we minimize the risk of biodiversity loss. That’s why we have partnered with the world’s leading academic and research institutions to baseline and better understand the entire water column, from seabed to surface.”
Concerns in the Pacific
Caught up at the centre of this huge push for a new extractive industry are Pacific island nations. Nations must sponsor companies that want to explore for minerals and among the countries that have issued licences are the tiny Pacific Island countries of Tonga, Cook Islands, Nauru and Kiribati.
DeepGreen holds rights to the exploration contracts sponsored by the Pacific countries of Nauru, Tonga and Kiribati and is one of the operators making the most noise about starting commercial mining in the near future. DeepGreen, a Canadian firm with an Australian chief executive, is in the process of being acquired by the Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp. Once merged the company will be known as The Metals Company.
The relationship between DeepGreen and Nauru is of particular concern to observers of deep-sea mining. Observers have warned about an imbalance of power between the company and the tiny nation, which has a population of around 12,000.
Currie recalls an incident at the 2019 International Seabed Authority meeting in Kingston, Jamaica, when Gerard Barron, the Australian chief executive of DeepGreen (and now boss of The Metals Company) spoke for Nauru. “[There was] surprise, some shock among some of the seasoned NGO delegates. It’s just not done,” he said.
“Everybody was taken aback,” says Metaxas of the incident. “That doesn’t happen that a contractor takes the chair of a member state.”
A spokesperson for DeepGreen said that “Mr Barron was attending the ISA meeting as a member of the Nauruan delegation and Nauru chose to offer him the opportunity to address the Council…. There is nothing uncommon about this practice.” It said that on the same day, Belgium allowed the chairman of a company that holds two exploration contracts the opportunity to address the council.
“The Pacific nations I think are particularly vulnerable,” says Metaxas. “They have vulnerable economies, this is an opportunity for an economic boom in a country if it’s done right, if it’s successful. I’m sure it’s quite tempting, but I sure hope that there’s also some advice about how much to risk and how to manage it all.”
There are still questions to be resolved about whether the company or sponsoring state would be liable in the event of environmental damage or other harm.
DeepGreen says that its subsidiary NORI has indemnified Nauru for liability under both the sponsorship agreement and its Nauru’s International Seabed Minerals Act.
However, according to an advisory opinion issued by the International Tribunal for the Law in 2011, states can still be liable if there is a “causal link between the failure of that state to meet its responsibilities and the damage caused by the sponsored contractor.”
Some have voiced concerns about the capacity of small developing nations to monitor the work done by their partner companies, which could lead to liability.
“If Nauru is the sponsoring state, they have obligations under the law of the sea convention to exercise due diligence, they have to make sure that their contractors operate appropriately and if they don’t do that work properly, international law says they are liable,” says Currie.
But Ralph Regenvanu, the opposition leader of Vanuatu, says “there’s absolutely no capacity” of states like Nauru to do this monitoring. “We’d be interested to know what are the measures they’re taking, what are the safeguards they’re taking.”
In 2014, when he was minister for lands and natural resources, Regenvanu led a months-long consultation on the subject of deep sea mining in Vanuatu. “People thought basically it was too early to do anything, we shouldn’t do anything. There were calls even then for a moratorium,” he said.
Vanuatu’s government, along with the prime ministers of Fiji and Papua New Guinea, have called for a regional moratorium on deep-sea mining while more can be learnt about potential environmental harms and how to protect against them. “Pacific peoples are indigenous peoples. All countries of the Pacific have some of the highest rates of indigenous people as part of population in the whole world. Pacific peoples’ views towards our Earth, our resources, are very special ones,” says Regenvanu.
What next?
Before mining can commence, the ISA needs to release a code for the exploitation of the deep sea. This was due to be released and adopted in July 2020, but was delayed due to Covid. The ISA announced this week that it aimed to resume face-to-face meetings this year.
“It is not implausible to expect that the ISA will be in position to finalise the code by 2023,” said the DeepGreen spokesperson, who added the company expects submit their environmental impact statement in 2023 for review in the hope of beginning commercial mining in 2024.
Meanwhile, others are urging caution. This month the EU parliament advised the European Union to promote a moratorium on deep seabed mining until its environmental impacts could be better understood and managed. But DeepGreen’s boss, Gerard Barron, has suggested that if the ISA moves slowly on developing a regulatory framework, the company might invoke the so-called two-year rule, which allows a country sponsoring a mining contractor to notify the ISA that the company intends to begin mining. The ISA then has two years to finalise the regulations for deep sea mining. If it is unable to do so, the ISA is required to allow the contractor to begin work under whatever regulations are in place at the time.
“It’s something that’s consistently under review – it’s not off the table, that’s for sure,” Barron told China Dialogue Ocean about triggering the two-year rule.
In response to the Guardian’s questions on the subject, DeepGreen said the two-year rule is “only available to sponsoring states to use, not contractors like DG, which cannot invoke it” but that it was a “a valid option available to all member states of the International Seabed Authority.”
Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger
The Dangers of Capital Punishment
40 Years of the S&P 500 Index
A good bench mark to follow is the the S&P 500 Index. This is the index by Standard and Poors’, of America’s 500 largest corporations.
In July 1981 (Just 40 years ago) the index as show below….
was at 130 points.
Fast forward 40 years from then, to now.
The index is at 4297 points.
Imagine buying an S&P Index fund in 1981, when it was at 130 points……
The WorldCom Fraud. When Greed Goes Too Far
Vodafone PLC Debt.
Today Vodafone PLC, owes over $40bn.
https://investors.vodafone.com/debt-investors/financing-strategy
The chart below shows that debt pile grow.
However, some interesting things to note.
In 2008, during the height of the financial crisis, when stability and solvency of banks was questioned, Vodafone was able to borrow €186,350,000, (€186 Million) for 20 years, via this bond issue at ZERO percent interest.
In o
The rush for Lithium: Will green technology kill Chile’s deserts
The Atacama in northern Chile is the driest desert in the world, and may be the oldest. It also holds 40% of the world’s lithium – an essential ingredient in the rechargeable batteries used in green technology. Indigenous leaders and scientists say Chile’s plans to feed a global green energy boom with Atacama lithium will kill the desert
100 Years of the Dow Jones 30 Index
The graphs below explain the logic behind index funds.
In June 1921, the Dow Jones Industrial Index which is made up of America’s 30 largest companies, was at 68 points.
In June 2021, 100 years later, the Dow Jones Industrial Index which is made up of America’s 30 largest companies, was at 34,502 points……
So, 68.45 points in June 1921…..
Fast forward 100 years…..
it is at 34,502.51 points. Imagine buying an index fund 100 years ago in the Dow 30….
M&G Better Health Solutions Fund
M&G Investments PLC, have launched a new investment fund, the M&G Better Health Solutions Fund.
https://www.mymandg.co.uk/better-health-solutions-fund
The Fund will invest in impactful companies whose solutions help to save lives or encourage better health, offering a powerful dual proposition for investors:
The potential for competitive, long-term financial returns. The opportunity to make a positive impact on people and communities around the world.
The fund stands apart from other health-focused global equities funds as it looks beyond the healthcare sector, to invest in companies that deliver better well-being too.
The fund embraces the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework and invests in companies that generally contribute most clearly to SDG 3: good health and well-being, but also;
SDG 2: zero hunger
SDG 6: clean water and sanitation
SDG 8: decent work and economic growth
SDG 11: sustainable cities and communities
SDG 12: responsible consumption and production
Tesco PLC July 2021 Dividend
Yesterday, Tesco PLC the UK’s largest supermarket group paid out its July 2021 dividend.
5.95p a share.
total number of voting rights in the Company as at 15 February 2021 is 7,731,707,820.
Thus:-
7,731,707,820 x £0.0595 = £460,036,615.29
That is £460 Million
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/TSCO/tesco-plc/company-page
HICL Infrastructure Dividend: June Dividend.
Yesterday, Wed 30th June, HICL Infrastructure (HICL) paid out its quarterly dividend
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/HICL/hicl-infrastructure-plc/company-page
2.07p a share.
The total issued share capital with voting rights is 1,936,813,501.
the total voting rights in HICL is 1,936,813,501
Total Voting Rights – 07:00:05 31 Jul 2020 – HICL News article | London Stock Exchange
Thus:-
601,392,027 x £0.0207 = £40,092,039.4707
That is £40 million
US Federal Reserve Balance Sheet: $8 Trillion
The Central Bank of the USA, The US Federal Reserve has grown its balance sheet since the start of the pandemic from $4 Trillion to $8 Trillion.
https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/bst_recenttrends.htm
John Laing Environmental Assets Group: June Dividend.
On Friday 25th June, John Laing Environmental Assets Group (JLEN) paid out its quarterly dividend
1.69p a share.
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/JLEN/total-voting-rights/14982129
the total voting rights in JLEN is 601,392,027
Thus:-
601,392,027 x £0.0169 = £10,163,525.2563
That is £10million
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/JLEN/jlen-environmental-assets-group-limited/company-page
Inflation: examples of rising commodity prices.
There is huge demand for wood. (Lumber). This video shows that inflation is here.
The reason for price rises in wood is that people changed their homes due to the pandemic. As people moved out of cities, and that has resulted in a new construction boom. Also has restaurants and cafes are building out door areas for eating, this needs new construction. All a result of Covid19.
HM Government Borrowings: May 2021
Another month, guess what, take a lucky guess, it is the same old story, HM Government, spends more money than it receives via taxes and duties.
Now we are in a Covid 19 world. UK’s HM Government needs to fund many new demands. [www.dmo.gov.uk]
Another deficit month, thus to bridge the gap, needs to borrow on the bond market In April 2021 , the HM Government had to borrow money to meet the difference between tax revenues and public sector expenditure. The term for this is The PSNCR: The Public Sector Net Cash Requirement. There were “only” 7 auctions of Gilts (UK Government Bonds) by the UK Debt Management Office to raise cash for HM Treasury:-
19-May-2021 0 5/8% Treasury Gilt 2035 £3,093.7490 Million
18-May-2021 0 1/8% Treasury Gilt 2024 £4,062.4950 Million
18-May-2021 1¼ % Treasury Gilt 2041 £2,812.4990 Million
11-May-2021 0 3/8% Treasury Gilt 2026 £3,283.7500 Million
11-May-2021 0½% Treasury Gilt 2061 £1,500.0000 Million
05-May-2021 0¼% Treasury Gilt 2031 £2,750.0000 Million
05-May-2021 0 7/8% Treasury Gilt 2046 £2,000.0000 Million
Thus:-
3,093.7490 Million + 4,062.4950 Million + 2,812.4990 Million + 3,283.7500 Million + 1,500.0000 Million + 2,750.0000 Million + 2,000.0000 Million = £19,502.493 Million
Another way of looking at it, is in the 31 days in May 2021, HM Government borrowed:£629.11267741935483870967741935484 Million each day for the 31 days. We are fortunate, while the global banking and financial markets still has the confidence in HM Government to buy the Gilts (Lend money to the UK), the budget deficit keeps rising. What is also alarming, is the dates these bond mature from 2026 through to 2061. All long term borrowings, we are mortgaging our futures, but at least “We Are In It Together…“
Royal Dutch Shell June Dividend.
Today, one of the world’s energy companies, pays out its quarterly dividend.
Shell PLC is a dual listed company, it has two share classes, Shell A and Shell B.
It is paying out $0.1735 or 12.26p per share on Shell A and Shell B shares.
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/RDSA/total-voting-rights/14997114
Royal Dutch Shell plc’s capital as at May 28, 2021, consists of 4,101,239,499 A shares and 3,706,183,836 B shares, each with equal voting rights. The total number of A shares and B shares in issue as at May 28, 2021 is 7,807,423,335
Thus:-
7,807,423,335 x £0.1226 = £957,190,100.871
That is £957million paid to shareholders.
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/RDSA/royal-dutch-shell-plc/company-page
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/RDSB/royal-dutch-shell-plc/company-page
Investment in Natrium (Sodium) Nuclear.
BP June 2021 Dividend.
Tomorrow BP PLC, one of the world’s largest energy companies, pays out its June quarterly dividend.
$0.0525 a share = 3.7118p
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/BP./total-voting-rights/14997281
The total number of voting rights in BP p.l.c. is 20,242,824,246
Thus:-
20,242,824,246 x £0.037118 = £751,373,150.363028
That is £751 million
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/BP./bp-plc/company-page
Scion Capital Management: Michael Burry
Roubini: Inflation Risks
Vanguard: LifeStrategy® 100% Equity Fund
The Vanguard LifeStrategy® 100% Equity Fund is a fund of funds from Vanguard, on the largest money managers.
The Fund seeks to hold investments that will pay out money and increase in value through a portfolio comprising approximately 100% shares. The Fund gains exposure to shares by investing more than 90% of its assets in Vanguard passive funds that track an index
BT PLC: One Year
British Telecommunications PLC is the UK’s premier voice and data communications provider.
The Vanguard U.S. Equity Index Fund
The Vanguard U.S. Equity Index Fund is a passive investment fund. The Fund seeks to track the performance of the Standard and Poor’s Total Market Index (the “Index”).
The Index is comprised of large, mid, small and micro-sized company shares in the US. It holds 3746 stocks in the fund.
[2021-2022] ISA Selection-20 Funds (nearly all Index Funds)
Gresham House Energy Storage Fund PLC: June Dividend.
The Gresham House Energy Storage Fund tomorrow pays out a dividend.
1.75p a share.
348,556,364 are the total voting rights.
Thus:
348,556,364 x £0.0175 = £6,099,736.37
That is £6 million.
Warren Buffett: Inflation Risks.
Greencoat UK Wind May Dividend.
Greencoat UK Wind May Dividend.
On Friday the 28th May, Greencoat UK Wind PLC pays out its quarterly dividend.
https://www.greencoat-ukwind.com/
The total voting rights are be 1,975,291,746
Thus:-
1,975,291,746 x £0.01795 = £35,456,486.8407
That is £35million
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/UKW/greencoat-uk-wind-plc/analysis
Legal and General May 2021 Dividend.
On Thursday 27th May, Legal and General paid out its May dividend.
www.legalandgeneralgroup.com
12.64p a share.
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/LGEN/total-voting-rights/14963236
The total number of voting rights in the Company is 5,967,612,282
Thus:-
5,967,612,282 x £0.1264 = £754,306,192.4448
£754million
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/LGEN/legal-general-group-plc/analysis
Standard Life Aberdeen PLC May 2021 Dividend.
Standard Life Abderdeen, the Edinburgh asset manager paid out its May 2021 dividend.
https://www.standardlifeaberdeen.com/
it is 7.3p a share.
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/SLA/total-voting-rights/14962648
The total number of voting rights in the Company, as at 30 April 2021, is therefore 2,180,723,378.
Thus:-
2,180,723,378 x £0.073 = £159,192,806.594
That is £159 million
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/SLA/standard-life-aberdeen-plc/company-page
Lloyds Banking Group May 2021 Dividend.
Today, Lloyds Banking Group PLC pays out its dividend.
0.57p a share.
https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/
Total rights to vote which are exercisable in all circumstances at general meetings is 70,954,353,687
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/LLOY/total-voting-rights/14960100
Thus
70,954,353,687 x £0.0057 = £404,439,816.0159
That is £404 Million
JPMorgan Asia Growth & Income Trust.
The JPMorgan Asia Growth & Income Trust is a London listed investment trust.
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/JAGI/jpmorgan-asia-growth-income-plc/company-page
Top Ten holdings:-
Taiwan Semiconductor Information Technology 8.7% of the fund
Tencent Communication Services 8.0% of the fund
Samsung Electronics Information Technology 7.8% of the fund
Alibaba ADR Consumer Discretionary 6.7% of the fund
AIA Financials 4.3% of the fund
Ping An Insurance H Financials 3.1% of the fund
China Resources Land Real Estate 2.8% of the fund
HDFC Bank Financials 2.5% of the fund
SK Hynix Information Technology 2.4% of the fund
Yum China Consumer Discretionary 2.2% of the fund
Gross assets of £463.49 Mn
Billionaire Ray Dalio discusses the stock market, stimulus, bitcoin, China, and taxing the wealthy
The US Federal Reserve Balance Sheet: Approaching $8 Trillion
The US Federal Reserve Balance Sheet is now at $7,830,663 Million = $7.830 Trillion
Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting 2021 featuring Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger
Aviva May 2021 Dividend
Yesterday Aviva PLC paid out its May dividend.
https://www.aviva.co.uk/services/about-our-business/about-us/
It was 14p a share.
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/AV./total-voting-rights/14959468
The total number of voting rights in Aviva plc is 3,929,172,817.
Thus:-
3,929,172,817 x £0.14 = £550,084,194.38
That is £550m.
Commodities.
Their could be a commodity boom. The need for raw materials for electric cars or to build out power lines to the new off shore power station such as windfarms. We are going to need more Lithium, Copper, Coltan etc.
BCOG is something to look at, the L&G ALL COMMODITIES GO UCITS ETF. The graph below shows a trend.
The ascent of Helium One PLC
A stock that is climbing is Helium One PLC. It is exploring for Helium in Tanzania.
HM Government Borrowings: April 2021
Another month, guess what, take a lucky guess, it is the same old story, HM Government, spends more money than it receives via taxes and duties.
Now we are in a Covid 19 world. UK’s HM Government needs to fund many new demands. [www.dmo.gov.uk]
Another deficit month, thus to bridge the gap, needs to borrow on the bond market In April 2021 , the HM Government had to borrow money to meet the difference between tax revenues and public sector expenditure. The term for this is The PSNCR: The Public Sector Net Cash Requirement. There were “only” 8 auctions of Gilts (UK Government Bonds) by the UK Debt Management Office to raise cash for HM Treasury:-
28-Apr-2021 0 1/8% Index-linked Treasury Gilt 2031 3 months £1,113.6500 Million
21-Apr-2021 0 5/8% Treasury Gilt 2035 £3,124.9990 Million
20-Apr-2021 0 1/8% Treasury Gilt 2024 £4,062.4980 Million
14-Apr-2021 0 1/8% Index-linked Treasury Gilt 2051 3 months £713.8250 Million
13-Apr-2021 1 5/8% Treasury Gilt 2071 £1,000.0000 Million
08-Apr-2021 0¼% Treasury Gilt 2031 £3,437.5000 Million
07-Apr-2021 0 3/8% Treasury Gilt 2026 £3,394.0000 Million
07-Apr-2021 0 7/8% Treasury Gilt 2046 £2,000.0000 Million
Thus:-
£1,113.6500 Million + £3,124.9990 Million + £4,062.4980 Million + £713.8250 Million + £1,000.0000 Million + £3,437.5000 Million + £3,394.0000 Million + £2,000.0000 Million = £18,846.472 Million.
£18,846.472 Million = £18.846 Billion
Another way of looking at it, is in the 30 days in April 2021, HM Government borrowed:£628.21573333333333333333333333333 Million each day for the 30 days. We are fortunate, while the global banking and financial markets still has the confidence in HM Government to buy the Gilts (Lend money to the UK), the budget deficit keeps rising. What is also alarming, is the dates these bond mature from 2024 through to 2071. All long term borrowings, we are mortgaging our futures, but at least “We Are In It Together…“
Fed Chair Jerome Powell
NatWest Dividend May 2021
Yesterday, NatWest Group (formerly Royal Bank of Scotland) paid out its May 2021 dividend.
3p a share.
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/NWG/total-voting-rights/14959882
46,307,677,708 are the total voting rights in NatWest Group PLC.
Thus:-
£0.03 x 46,307,677,708 = £1,389,230,331.24
Was paid to shareholders yesterday.
£1.389 Billion.
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/NWG/natwest-group-plc/company-page
Why Index Funds Are AWESOME
Investment in Sailing
HSBC Holdings April 2021 Dividend.
Today HSBC, plays out its first dividend, since the dividend was suspended due to Covid19 in April 2020.
It is paying out $0.15 or 10.7923p a share.
The total number of voting rights in HSBC Holdings plc is 20,423,842,747
Thus:-
20,423,842,747 x £0.107923 = £2,204,202,380.784481
That is £2.204 Billion.
Investment in Leadership
Warren Buffet: Why Index Funds are Amazing
In the 20th century, the United States of America endured two world wars and other traumatic and expensive military conflicts; the Depression; a dozen or so recessions and financial panics; oil shocks; a flu epidemic; and the resignation of a disgraced president. Yet the Dow rose from 66 to 11,497.
Just over 20 years later, today the Dow is now at over 31,000 points.
Investment in Low Flying Aircraft
HM Government, March 2021 Borrowings.
Another month, guess what, take a lucky guess, it is the same old story, HM Government, spends more money than it receives via taxes and duties.
Now we are in a Covid 19 world. UK’s HM Government needs to fund many new demands. [www.dmo.gov.uk]
Another deficit month, thus to bridge the gap, needs to borrow on the bond market In March 2021 , the HM Government had to borrow money to meet the difference between tax revenues and public sector expenditure. The term for this is The PSNCR: The Public Sector Net Cash Requirement. There were “only” 10 auctions of Gilts (UK Government Bonds) by the UK Debt Management Office to raise cash for HM Treasury:-
24-Mar-2021 0 1/8% Index-Linked Treasury Gilt 2056 3 months 357.2500 Million
23-Mar-2021 1¾% Treasury Gilt 2049 2,250.0000 Million
17-Mar-2021 0 5/8% Treasury Gilt 2035 2,500.0000 Million
16-Mar-2021 0 1/8% Treasury Gilt 2024 4,375.0000 Million
16-Mar-2021 1 5/8% Treasury Gilt 2054 1,633.0000 Million
10-Mar-2021 0 1/8% Index-linked Treasury Gilt 2031 3 months 878.9750 Million
09-Mar-2021 1¼ % Treasury Gilt 2041 2,812.5000 Million
04-Mar-2021 0¼% Treasury Gilt 2031 3,437.5000 Million
02-Mar-2021 0 3/8% Treasury Gilt 2026 3,147.3510 Million
02-Mar-2021 0½% Treasury Gilt 2061 1,562.4990 Million
Thus:-
357.2500 Million + 2,250.0000 Million + 2,500.0000 Million + 4,375.0000 Million + 1,633.0000 Million + 878.9750 Million + 2,812.5000 Million + 3,437.5000 Million + 3,147.3510 Million + 1,562.4990 Million = 22,954.075 Million
22,954.075 Million = £22.954 Billion
On another way of looking at it, is in the 31 days in March 2021, HM Government borrowed:£740.45403225806451612903225806452 Million each day for the 31 days. We are fortunate, while the global banking and financial markets still has the confidence in HM Government to buy the Gilts (Lend money to the UK), the budget deficit keeps rising. What is also alarming, is the dates these bond mature from 2024 through to 2061. All long term borrowings, we are mortgaging our futures, but at least “We Are In It Together…“
Bill Gates and Hank Paulson on climate change
Legal & General Future World Multi-Index 5
The Legal & General Future World Multi-Index 5 is a multi-asset index fund from Legal and General Investment Management (LGIM)
The fund provides exposure to a welldiversified range of index tracker funds and individual investments,
within a pre-determined risk profile, while integrating environmental, social and corporate governance factors.
The TOP 10 HOLDINGS (%)
L&G Future World ESG Developed Index Fund 27.3% of the fund
L&G FW ESG UK Equity Index Fund 12.0% of the fund
L&G UK ESG Corporate Bonds ETF 9.0% of the fund
L&G Global Emerging Markets Index Fund 5.0% of the fund
L&G Japan Index Trust 4.3% of the fund
L&G European Index Trust 4.0% of the fund
L&G Global Infrastructure Index Fund 4.0% of the fund
L&G Future World Global Credit Fund 3.5% of the fund
L&G ESG Eemerging Markets Government Bond (USD) Index Fund 3.5% of the fund
L&G Pacific Index Trust 3.0% of the fund
The Legal & General Future World Multi-Index 4 Fund
The Legal & General Future World Multi-Index 4 Fund is a multi-asset index fund from Legal and General Investment Management (LGIM).
The fund invests in a risk-profile targeted range of index tracker funds and individual investments including property. Typically has higher exposure to bonds than to shares in companies, relative to other funds in the Multi-Index Fund range.
The TOP 10 HOLDINGS (%)
L&G Future World ESG Developed Index Fund 17.8% of the fund
L&G UK ESG Corporate Bonds ETF 11.0% of the fund
L&G FW ESG UK Equity Index Fund 9.3% of the fund
L&G Future World Global Credit Fund 5.0% of the fund
Cash 4.5% of the fund
L&G Japan Index Trust 4.0% of the fund
L&G Global Infrastructure Index Fund 4.0% of the fund
L&G ESG Emerging Markets Government Bond (USD) Index Fund 4.0% of the fund
L&G Global Inflation Linked Bond Index Fund 3.5% of the fund
L&G Short Dated Sterling Corporate Bond Index Fund 3.0% of the fund
The Legal & General Future World Multi-Index 3 Fund
The Legal & General Future World Multi-Index 3 Fund is a multi-asset index fund from Legal and General Investment Management (LGIM)
The Future World philosophy encapsulates how we identify long term themes and opportunities, while managing the risks of a changing world. LGIM use our scale and influence within the market to propel positive change on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, at the same time as seeking to achieve financial success
https://fundcentres.lgim.com/uk/en/fund-centre/Unit-Trust/Future-World-Multi-Index-3-Fund/
The find provides exposure to a well diversified range of index tracker
funds and individual investments, within a pre-determined risk profile,
while integrating environmental, social and corporate governance factors
TOP 10 HOLDINGS (%) are:-
L&G UK ESG Corporate Bonds ETF 14.0% of the fund
Cash 11.8% of the fund
L&G Future World ESG Developed Index Fund 11.3% of the fund
L&G Global Inflation Linked Bond Index Fund 9.3% of the fund
L&G Future World Global Credit Fund 7.0% of the fund
L&G High Income Trust 5.0% of the fund
L&G FW ESG UK Equity Index Fund 5.0% of the fund
L&G All Stocks Gilt Index Trust 4.8% of the fund
LEGAL & GENERAL UT GLOBAL REAL ESTATE DIVIDEND 3.5% of the fund
L&G Global Infrastructure Index Fu
Digital 9 Infrastructure plc
Digital 9 Infrastructure plc is a newly established, externally managed investment trust which will invest in a range of digital infrastructure assets which deliver a reliable, functioning internet.
“Digital infrastructure” refers to the critical infrastructure required for the internet to operate and, essentially, refers to everything from fibre networks that connect continents, businesses and homes (the very “backbone” of the internet), to the data centres that organisations use to house their critical networks of computer and storage resources, and to the towers and small cells that carry data traffic wirelessly to the end user
Digital 9 Infrastructure plc (DGI9) is a newly established, externally managed investment trust. It will invest in a range of digital infrastructure assets which deliver a reliable, functioning internet. The portfolio will comprise future proofed, non-legacy, scalable platforms and technologies including (but not limited to) subsea fibre, data centres, terrestrial fibre, tower infrastructure and small cell networks (including 5G). DGI9 will focus, primarily, on digital infrastructure investments which are operational and with an existing customer base.
Following the completion of the offer, DGI9 will acquire Aqua Comms, a platform owning and operating some 14,300km of the most reliable and resilient trans-Atlantic sub-sea fibre systems – the very “backbone” of the internet.
DGI9’s investment manager is Triple Point Investment Management LLP, an experienced manager with over £1.8 billion of private, institutional, and public capital and has extensive experience in asset and project finance, portfolio management and structured investments
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/DGI9/digital-9-infrastructure-plc/company-page
DGI9’s shares started trading on the London Stock Exchange on Wed 31st March 2021, after which it will complete the acquisition of Aqua Comms, which owns and operates America Europe Connect-1 (AEC-1), America Europe Connect-2 (AEC-2), and CeltixConnect-1 (CC-1), which run between key hubs in the US and Europe (UK, Ireland, Scandinavia). DGI9 aims to build a portfolio of companies primarily related (but not limited) to subsea fibre, data centres, terrestrial fibre, tower infrastructure and small cell networks (including 5G). Its primary focus will be digital infrastructure investments that are already operational and with an existing customer base.
Investment in “reaching out and touching the flame”
HICL Infrastructure Quarterly Dividend.
On Wednesday 31st March, HICL Infrastructure paid out is latest quarterly dividend.
2.06p a share
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/HICL/total-voting-rights/14635932
The total issued share capital with voting rights is 1,936,813,501.
Thus:-
1,936,813,501 x £0.0206 = £39,898,358.1206
That is £39m
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/HICL/hicl-infrastructure-plc/company-page
Green Energy ETF
Legal and General Annual Results
The UK’s largest money manager, Legal and General announced its annual results earlier in the week
Some salient points from the results:-
-Full year dividend of 17.57p per share (2019: 17.57p) (maintaining the dividend year on year)
-Assets Under Management up 7% at £1,279bn (2019: £86.4bn; £1,196bn)- -That is £1.279 Trillion. (yes TRILLION)
-Our traded credit portfolio (excluding gilts), which is actively managed, has had no defaults
-That means all the debt it owns (bonds) have not defaulted, thus Legal and General as a creditor to large companies, those large companies have paid all debt repayments to Legal and General.
Robert G. Allen Quote
“How many millionaires do you know who have become wealthy by investing in savings accounts? I rest my case.” — Robert G. Allen
The Keystone Positive Change Investment Trust
The Keystone Positive Change Investment Trust aims to generate long term capital growth with the aim of the NAV total return exceeding that of the MSCI AC World Index in Sterling terms by at least 2% per annum over rolling five-year periods and contribute towards a more sustainable and inclusive world by investing in the equities of companies whose products or services make a positive social or environmental impact.
Run by the highly regarded Baille Gifford investment house of Scotland.
Its top ten holdings are:-
Tesla 9.7% of the fund
M3 7.6% of the fund
TSMC 6.1% of the fund
ASML 5.5% of the fund
MercadoLibre 5.2% of the fund
Moderna 4.3% of the fund
Illumina 4.1% of the fund
Dexcom 3.6% of the fund
NIBE 3.1% of the fund
Umicore 3.0% of the fund
Top Ten holdings make up 52.2% of the fund
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/KPC/keystone-investment-trust-plc/company-page
Royal Dutch Shell: March Dividend.
Today, Royal Dutch Shell PLC paid out its March 2021 dividend.
11.96p a share.
Shell PLC is made of 2 share classes, Shell A and Shell B
Royal Dutch Shell plc’s capital as at 26 February 2021, consists of 4,101,239,499 A shares and 3,706,183,836 B shares, each with equal voting rights. Royal Dutch Shell plc holds no ordinary shares in Treasury. The total number of A shares and B shares in issue as at 26 February 2021 is 7,807,423,335
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/RDSA/voting-rights-and-capital/14880793
Thus:-
7,807,423,335 x £0.1196 = £933,767,830.866
That is £933million.
Total cash paid to shareholders today is £933million.
The Budget: Green Bonds
On Wed 3rd March, HM Treasury issues the 2021 UK Budget.
Budget 2021 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
What was interesting, was the news that UK Domestic Investors can save with Green Bonds.
Green saving – coming soon | NS&I (nsandi.com)
“Green saving – coming soon, We’re offering a green savings product on behalf of government. Coming later in 2021”
BP’s PLC’s March 2021 Dividend.
Tomorrow, BP one of the world’s largest oil majors, pays out it March 2021 Dividend.
3.7684p
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/BP./total-voting-rights/14881231
The total number of voting rights in BP p.l.c. is 20,352,302,626
Thus:-
20,352,302,626 x £0.037684 = £766,956,172.158184
That is £766 Million
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/BP./bp-plc/company-page
BHP PLC’s March 2021 Dividend.
Today, BHP the world’s largest miner, pays out it March 2021 Dividend.
72.987426p a share
Total voting rights in BHP is 2,112,071,796 shares.
Thus:-
2,112,071,796 x £0.72987426 = £1,541,546,839.172371
That is £1.541 Billion
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/BHP/bhp-group-plc/company-page
Investment in Facts
5G Radio Spectrum Auction.
The UK Government on Wednesday 17th March, auctioned off some radio spectrum:-
A total of 200 MHz of spectrum was available to bid for in the auction, split across two bands:
80 MHz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band. These airwaves consist of 2×30 MHz of paired frequency spectrum, and 20 MHz of supplementary downlink spectrum. The 700 MHz airwaves are ideal for providing wide area coverage – including in the countryside.
120 MHz of spectrum in 3.6-3.8 GHz band. These important airwaves are part of the primary band for 5G and capable of boosting mobile data capacity, carrying lots of data-hungry connections.
The winners were:-
EE Limited has won 2×10 MHz of paired frequency spectrum in the 700 MHz band at a cost of £280,000,000; 20 MHz of supplementary downlink spectrum in the 700 MHz band at a cost of £4,000,000; and 40 MHz in the 3.6-3.8 GHz band at a cost of £168,000,000.
Hutchison 3G UK Limited has won 2×10 MHz of paired frequency spectrum in the 700 MHz band at a cost of £280,000,000.
Telefónica UK Limited has won 2×10 MHz of paired frequency spectrum in the 700 MHz band at a cost of £280,000,000; and 40 MHz in the 3.6-3.8 GHz band at a cost of £168,000,000.
Vodafone Limited has won 40 MHz in the 3.6-3.8 GHz band at a cost of £176,400,000.
The total revenue raised from the principal stage is £1,356,400,000. The money raised by this auction will be passed on to HM Treasury.
For EE (A wholly owned subsidiary of BT, the UK’s premier telecommunications and media company), spent in total, £280,000,000 + £4,000,000 + £168,000,000 = £452,000,000 = £452 Million.
For EE, the lower-frequency 700MHz spectrum is seen as crucial for wider and better indoor coverage It will also be useful for expanding the reach of 5G across rural areas in the years ahead. Meanwhile, the mid-range 3.6GHz spectrum will help to deliver greater capacity and speed, both of which are vital in supporting the growing use cases associated with 5G technologies.
Keep in mind that that EE’s investment is approx £5.7 Million per MHz
Globally,
In India recommended price £49.2 Million per MHz as base price.
In Italy was £18.2 Million per MHz,
In Australia was £3.5 Million per MHz,
Unilever PLC’s March 2021 Dividend.
Today, Unilever PLC pays out is March 2021 dividend.
37.6p a share.
The total number of shares with exercisable voting rights in Unilever PLC is 2,627,860,535
Thus:-
2,627,860,535 x £0.3760 = £988,075,561.16
That is £988 million.
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/ULVR/unilever-plc/company-page
Investment in Innovation
DigiTech Centre | University of Suffolk (uos.ac.uk)
BT’s Research and Development HQ is at the world famous site of Martlesham Heath, BT Adastral Park.
https://www.uos.ac.uk/digitech
Now BT has brought on site an academic parter.
Adastral Park is BT’s global Research and Development centre and has played a pivotal role in telecommunications research, such as the commercialisation of single-mode optical fibre. The DigiTech Centre will lead to a unique partnership uniting our young, and modern University with a world leading telecommunications company in BT. In a rapidly developing technological age, we want the DigiTech Centre to be a state of the art ‘solution centre’ for SMEs and other businesses as well as research and knowledge transfer hub. The Centre will have world-class co-working specialist laboratories and will make Suffolk a recognised destination for industry-focused ICT and Digital Creative study programmes and an internationally recognised destination for continuous professional development in digital technologies
Wise Quote from J. Paul Getty
Buy when everyone else is selling and hold until everyone else is buying. That’s not just a catchy slogan. It’s the very essence of successful investing. –J. Paul Getty
HM Government Borrowings Feb 2021
Another month, guess what, take a lucky guess, it is the same old story, HM Government, spends more money than it receives via taxes and duties.
Now we are in a Covid 19 world. UK’s HM Government needs to fund many new demands. [www.dmo.gov.uk]
https://www.dmo.gov.uk/dmo_static_reports/Gilt%20Operations.pdf
Another deficit month, thus to bridge the gap, needs to borrow on the bond market In Feb 2021 , the HM Government had to borrow money to meet the difference between tax revenues and public sector expenditure. The term for this is The PSNCR: The Public Sector Net Cash Requirement. There were “only” 8 auctions of Gilts (UK Government Bonds) by the UK Debt Management Office to raise cash for HM Treasury:-
23-Feb-2021 0 5/8% Treasury Gilt 2050 £2,499.998 Million
17-Feb-2021 0 5/8% Treasury Gilt 2035 £2,500.0000 Million
16-Feb-2021 0 1/8% Treasury Gilt 2024 £3,250.0000 Million
16-Feb-2021 1¾% Treasury Gilt 2057 £1,250.0000 Million
10-Feb-2021 1¼ % Treasury Gilt 2041 £2,000.0000 Million
03-Feb-2021 0¼% Treasury Gilt 2031 £3,143.0000 Million
02-Feb-2021 0 1/8% Treasury Gilt 2026 £3,000.0000 Million
02-Feb-2021 1 5/8% Treasury Gilt 2071 £1,071.2500 Million
Thus:-
£2,499.9980 Million + £2,500.0000 Million + £3,250.0000 Million + £1,250.0000 Million + £2,000.0000 Million + £3,143.0000 Million + £3,000.0000 Million + £1,071.2500 Million = £18,714.248 Million
£18,714.248 Million = £18.714248 Billion
On another way of looking at it, is in the 28 days in Feb 2021, HM Government borrowed:- £668.366 Million each day for the 28 days.
We are fortunate, while the global banking and financial markets still has the confidence in HM Government to buy the Gilts (Lend money to the UK), the budget deficit keeps rising. What is also alarming, is the dates these bond mature from 2024 through to 2071. All long term borrowings, we are mortgaging our futures, but at least “We Are In It Together….”
Bitcoin and Robinhood will end badly for those who can least afford it: Nouriel Roubini
Millions in precarious jobs are betting scant savings on worthless stocks and cryptocurrencies via share-dealing apps
The US economy’s K-shaped recovery is under way. Those with stable full-time jobs, benefits, and a financial cushion are faring well as stock markets climb to new highs. Those who are unemployed or partially employed in low-value-added blue-collar and service jobs – the new “precariat” – are saddled with debt, have little financial wealth, and face diminishing economic prospects.
These trends indicate a growing disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street. The new stock market highs mean nothing to most people. The bottom 50% of the wealth distribution holds just 0.7% of total equity market assets, whereas the top 10% commands 87.2%, and the top 1% holds 51.8%. The 50 richest people have as much wealth as the 165 million people at the bottom.
Rising inequality has followed the ascent of “big tech”. As many as three retail jobs are lost for every job that Amazon creates, and similar dynamics hold true in other sectors dominated by tech giants. But today’s social and economic stresses are not new. For decades, strapped workers have not been able to keep up with the Joneses, owing to the stagnation of real (inflation-adjusted) median income alongside rising costs of living and spending expectations.
For decades, the “solution” to this problem was to “democratise” finance so that poor and struggling households could borrow more to buy homes they couldn’t afford, and then use those homes as cash machines. This expansion of consumer credit – mortgages and other debt – resulted in a bubble that ended with the 2008 financial crisis, when millions lost their jobs, homes, and savings.
Now, the same millennials who were shafted over a decade ago are being duped again. Workers who rely on gig, part-time, or freelance “employment” are being offered a new rope with which to hang themselves in the name of “financial democratization.” Millions have opened accounts on Robinhood and other investment apps, where they can leverage their scant savings and incomes several times over to speculate on worthless stocks.
The recent GameStop narrative, featuring a united front of heroic small day traders fighting evil short-selling hedge funds, masks the ugly reality that a cohort of hopeless, jobless, skill-less, debt-burdened individuals is being exploited once again. Many have been convinced that financial success lies not in good jobs, hard work, and patient saving and investment, but in get-rich-quick schemes and wagers on inherently worthless assets such as cryptocurrencies (or “shitcoins” as I prefer to call them).
Wall Street versus the Redditors: the GameStop goldrush
Make no mistake: The populist meme in which an army of millennial Davids takes down a Wall Street Goliath is merely serving another scheme to fleece clueless amateur investors. As in 2008, the inevitable result will be another asset bubble. The difference is that this time, recklessly populist members of Congress have taken to inveighing against financial intermediaries for not permitting the vulnerable to leverage themselves even more.
Making matters worse, markets are starting to worry about the massive experiment in budget-deficit monetisation being carried out by the US Federal Reserve and Department of the Treasury through quantitative easing (a form of Modern Monetary Theory or “helicopter money”). A growing chorus of critics warns that this approach could overheat the economy, forcing the Fed to hike interest rates sooner than expected. Nominal and real bond yields are already rising, and this has shaken risky assets such as equities. Owing to these concerns about a Fed-led taper tantrum, a recovery that was supposed to be good for markets is now giving way to a market correction.
Meanwhile, congressional Democrats are moving ahead with a $1.9tn rescue package that will include additional direct support to households. But with millions already in arrears on rent and utilities payments or in moratoria on their mortgages, credit cards, and other loans, a significant share of these disbursements will go toward debt repayment and saving, with only around one-third of the stimulus likely to be translated into actual spending.
Why the GameStop affair is a perfect example of ‘platform populism’
This implies that the package’s effects on growth, inflation, and bond yields will be smaller than expected. And because the additional savings will end up being funneled back into purchases of government bonds, what was meant to be a bailout for strapped households will in effect become a bailout for banks and other lenders.
To be sure, inflation may eventually still emerge if the effects of monetized fiscal deficits combine with negative supply shocks to produce stagflation. The risk of such shocks has risen as a result of the new Sino-American cold war, which threatens to trigger a process of deglobalization and economic Balkanisation as countries pursue renewed protectionism and the re-shoring of investments and manufacturing operations. But this is a story for the medium term, not for 2021.
When it comes to this year, growth may yet fall short of expectations. New strains of the coronavirus continue to emerge, raising concerns that existing vaccines may no longer be sufficient to end the pandemic. Repeated stop-go cycles undermine confidence, and political pressure to reopen the economy before the virus is contained will continue to build. Many small- and medium-size enterprises are still at risk of going bust, and far too many people are facing the prospects of long-term unemployment. The list of pathologies afflicting the economy is long and includes rising inequality, deleveraging by debt-burdened firms and workers, and political and geopolitical risks.
The GameStop affair is like tulip mania on steroids
Asset markets remain frothy – if not outright bubbly – because they are being fed by super-accommodative monetary policies. But today’s price/earnings ratios are as high they were in the bubbles preceding the busts of 1929 and 2000. Between ever-rising leverage and the potential for bubbles in special-purpose acquisition companies, tech stocks, and cryptocurrencies, today’s market mania offers plenty of cause for concern.
Under these conditions, the Fed is probably worried that markets will instantly crash if it takes away the punch bowl. And with the increase in public and private debt preventing the eventual monetary normalization, the likelihood of stagflation in the medium term – and a hard landing for asset markets and economies – continues to increase.
Nouriel Roubini is professor of economics at New York University’s Stern School of Business. He has worked for the IMF, the US Federal Reserve and the World Bank.
Bill Gates
US Federal Reserve Response to Covid-19
US Central bank undertook a huge quantitative easing programme of expanding the money supply in the US Economy. So nearly 12months on since the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world, I thought I would look at how much the US Federal Reserve has grown its balance sheet in the pandemic. So the numbers are vast, in March 2020 the assets on the balance sheet was $4,241,507 Million ($4.2 Trillion) and has now grown to $7,557,402 Million ($7.5 Trillion) worth of assets, that is an increase of $3,315,895 Million ($3.3 Trillion) assets, just huge asset purchase programme by the Fed, buying assets off the US commercial banks. As you can see from the pictures below, that mass expansion of the balance sheet is much larger than the US Federal Reserve’s response to the Global Financial Crisis of 2008. The damage done by the pandemic is clearly more worse than the insolvency and collapse of Lehman Brothers.
Investment in Poetry: Stairway to Heaven
There’s a lady who’s sure all that glitters is gold
And she’s buying a stairway to heaven
When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for
Ooh, ooh, and she’s buying a stairway to heavenThere’s a sign on the wall, but she wants to be sure
‘Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings
In a tree by the brook, there’s a songbird who sings
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven
You knowThere’s a feeling I get when I look to the west
And my spirit is crying for leaving
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees
And the voices of those who stand looking
That’s youAnd it’s whispered that soon, if we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter
Remember laughter?Oh yeah, yeah, yeah…And it makes me wonder
If there’s a bustle in your hedgerow, don’t be alarmed now
It’s just a spring clean for the May queen
Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run
There’s still time to change the road you’re onYour head is humming and it won’t go, in case you don’t know
The piper’s calling you to join him
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind?And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to goldAnd if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last
When all is one and one is all, that’s what it is
To be a rock and not to roll, oh yeahAnd she’s buying a stairway to heaven
Clever Quote from Henry Ford
- It’s not the employer who pays the wages. Employers only handle the money. It’s the customer who pays the wages. –Henry Ford
HM Government Borrowings: Jan 2021
Another month, guess what, take a lucky guess, it is the same old story, HM Government, spends more money than it receives via taxes and duties.
Now we are in a Covid 19 world. UK’s HM Government needs to fund many new demands. [www.dmo.gov.uk]
https://www.dmo.gov.uk/dmo_static_reports/Gilt%20Operations.pdf
Another deficit month, thus to bridge the gap, needs to borrow on the bond market In October 2020 , the HM Government had to borrow money to meet the difference between tax revenues and public sector expenditure. The term for this is The PSNCR: The Public Sector Net Cash Requirement. There were “only” 8 auctions of Gilts (UK Government Bonds) by the UK Debt Management Office to raise cash for HM Treasury:-
27-Jan-2021 0 1/8% Index-linked Treasury Gilt 2031 3 months £1,036.3000 Million
26-Jan-2021 0 5/8% Treasury Gilt 2035 £2,936.2500 Million
26-Jan-2021 0 5/8% Treasury Gilt 2050 £1,750.0000 Million
21-Jan-2021 0 1/8% Treasury Gilt 2024 £3,250.0000 Million
13-Jan-2021 0 1/8% Index-linked Treasury Gilt 2065 3 months £375.0000 Million
12-Jan-2021 0 1/8% Treasury Gilt 2028 £3,000.0000 Million
12-Jan-2021 1 5/8% Treasury Gilt 2054 £1,450.6240 Million
06-Jan-2021 0¼% Treasury Gilt 2031 £3,749.9990 Million
Thus:-
£1,036.3000 Million + £2,936.2500 Million + £1,750.0000 Million + £3,250.0000 Million + £375.0000 Million + £3,000.0000 Million + £1,450.6240 Million + £3,749.9990 Million = £17,548.17 Million
£17,548.17 Million = £17.54817 Billion
On another way of looking at it, is in the 31 days in Jan 2021, HM Government borrowed:- £566.0700968 Million each day for the 31 days.
We are fortunate, while the global banking and financial markets still has the confidence in HM Government to buy the Gilts (Lend money to the UK), the budget deficit keeps rising. What is also alarming, is the dates these bond mature from 2024 through to 2054. All long term borrowings, we are mortgaging our futures, but at least “We Are In It Together….”
Tesco Feb 2021 Dividend.
Tomorrow Tesco PLC pays out a special dividend
www.tescoplc.com
Its dividend is 50.93p a share
https://otp.tools.investis.com/clients/uk/tesco/rns/regulatory-story.aspx?cid=55&newsid=1448957
The total number of voting rights in the Company is 9,793,496,572.
Thus:-
9,793,496,572 x £0.5093 = £4,987,827,804.1196
That is £4,987 Million = £4.987 Billion.
Just shy of a £5 Billion dividend to shareholders. Every Little Dividend Helps.