Today, the National Westminster Bank Group (formerly known as the Royal Bank of Scotland) pays out its April 2024 dividend
11.5p a share.
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/NWG/total-voting-rights/16400884
8,739,749,542 shares issued.
Thus
8,739,749,542 x £0.115 = £1,005,071,197.33
That is £1.005 Billion paid to shareholders
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/NWG/natwest-group-plc/company-page
Today, Thursday 25th April HSBC plc, one of the world’s largest banks pays out its April 2024 dividend
$0.31 a share = £0.248286 per share
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/HSBA/total-voting-rights/16401126
The total number of voting rights in HSBC Holdings plc is 18,963,596,721
Thus:
18,963,596,721 x £0.248286 per share = 4,708,395,575.470206
That is £4,708 Billion paid to shareholders
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/HSBA/hsbc-holdings-plc/analysis
Peter Higgs, physicist who proposed Higgs boson, dies aged 94. Nobel-prize winning physicist who showed how particle helped bind universe together died at home in Edinburgh. Peter Higgs, the Nobel prize-winning physicist who proposed a new particle known as the Higgs boson, has died.
Higgs, 94, who was awarded the Nobel prize for physics in 2013 for his work in 1964 showing how the boson helped bind the universe together by giving particles their mass, died at home in Edinburgh on Monday 8th April 2024
After a series of experiments, which began in earnest in 2008, his theory was proven by physicists working at the Large Hadron Collider at Cern in Switzerland in 2012; the Nobel prize was shared with François Englert, a Belgian theoretical physicist whose work in 1964 also contributed directly to the discovery.
A member of the Royal Society and a Companion of Honour, Higgs spent the bulk of his professional life at Edinburgh University, which set up the Higgs Centre for Theoretical Physics in his honour in 2012.
Prof Peter Mathieson, the university’s principal, said: “Peter Higgs was a remarkable individual – a truly gifted scientist whose vision and imagination have enriched our knowledge of the world that surrounds us.
“His pioneering work has motivated thousands of scientists, and his legacy will continue to inspire many more for generations to come.”
Prof Fabiola Gianotti, the director general at Cern and former leader of the Atlas experiment, which helped discover the Higgs particle in 2012, said: “Besides his outstanding contributions to particle physics, Peter was a very special person, a man of rare modesty, a great teacher and someone who explained physics in a very simple and profound way.
“An important piece of Cern’s history and accomplishments is linked to him. I am very saddened, and I will miss him sorely.”
The evening before the discovery of the particle was announced, Peter was invited to a small celebration at the home of John Ellis, the former head of theory at Cern. “A giant of particle physics has left us,” Ellis told the Guardian. “Without his theory, atoms could not exist and radioactivity would be a force as strong as electricity and magnetism.
“His prediction of the existence of the particle that bears his name was a deep insight, and its discovery at Cern in 2012 was a crowning moment that confirmed his understanding of the way the Universe works.”
Jon Butterworth, a member of the Atlas collaboration, said Higgs was “a hero to the particle physics community”.
“Even though he didn’t much enjoy it, he felt a responsibility to use the public profile his achievements brought him for the good of science, and he did so many times. The particle that carries his name is perhaps the single most stunning example of how seemingly abstract mathematical ideas can make predictions which turn out to have huge physical consequences.”
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which awards the Nobel, said at the time the standard model of physics which underpins the scientific understanding of the universe “rests on the existence of a special kind of particle: the Higgs particle. This particle originates from an invisible field that fills up all space.
“Even when the universe seems empty this field is there. Without it, we would not exist, because it is from contact with the field that particles acquire mass. The theory proposed by Englert and Higgs describes this process.”
An immensely shy man who disliked the fuss, Higgs had left home for a quiet lunch of soup and trout in Leith on the day of the announcement, to be stopped by a former neighbour who gave him the news on his way home.
Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Higgs leaves two sons, Chris and Jonny, his daughter-in-law Suzanne and two grandchildren. His wife, Jody, a linguistics lecturer from whom he was separated, died in 2008.
Bruce Hornsby & The Range – The Valley Road (youtube.com)
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 post Covid 19 world. UK’s HM Government needs to fund many new demands.
https://dmo.gov.uk/data/pdfdatareport?reportCode=D2.1PROF7
Another deficit month, thus to bridge the gap, needs to borrow on the bond market in March 2024, 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” 3 auctions of Gilts (UK Government Bonds) by the UK Debt Management Office to raise cash for HM Treasury:-
26-Mar-2024 4½% Treasury Gilt 2028 £3,000.0000 Million
19-Mar-2024 4¾% Treasury Gilt 2043 £2,500.0000 Million
12-Mar-2024 4 5/8% Treasury Gilt 2034 £4,687.4990 Million
£3,000.0000 Million + £2,500.0000 Million + £4,687.4990 Million = £10,187.499 Million
£10,187.499 Million = £10.187499 Billion
On another way of looking at it, is in the 31 days in March 2024, HM Government borrowed:- £328.629 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 bonds maturing from 2028 to 2043. All long-term borrowings, we are mortgaging our futures, but at least “We Are In It Together……“
Tomorrow, one of the world’s largest mining and natural resource company Rio Tinto pays out its April 2024 dividend.
203.77p a share.
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/RIO/total-voting-rights/16403835
The total number of voting rights in Rio Tinto plc is 1,252,502,879
Thus:-
1,252,502,879 x £2.0377 = 2,552,225,116.5383 Million paid to shareholders
That is £2.552 Billion
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/RIO/rio-tinto-plc/company-page
The Legal & General Global Thematic Fund is a fund is designed for investors looking
for growth from an investment in global thematic equities. The fund invests 90% of its value in collective investment schemes operated by the Manager or an associate of the Manager. This includes investment in L&G index tracking exchange traded funds (ETFs) which are designed to replicate the performance of an index comprised of constituent companies that are determined to be engaged in a relevant growth theme
David M. Rubenstein
Alliance Trust aims to be a core equity holding for investors that delivers a real return
over the long term through a combination of capital growth and a rising dividend. The
Company invests primarily in global equities across a wide range of industries and
sectors to achieve its objective.
Total number of stocks 200
Market Capitalisation £3,350.8m
Total Assets £3,802.8m
Net Assets £3,561.7m
Gross Gearing4 7.2%
Net Gearing5 3.7%
Yield6 2.1%
Year End 31 December
Incorporated 21 April 1888
Dividend Paid Mar, Jun, Sep, Dec
Shares in Issue7 283,964,600
TOP 20 HOLDINGS: Name £m %
Alphabet £142.1 3.7% of fund
Microsoft £136.0 3.6% of fund
Amazon £132.9 3.5% of fund
Visa £106.2 2.8% of fund
Nvidia £103.3 2.7% of fund
Meta Platforms £63.0 1.7% of fund
UnitedHealth Group £61.1 1.6% of fund
Mastercard £57.1 1.5% of fund
ASML £45.9 1.2% of fund
MercadoLibre £45.4 1.2% of fund
Airbus £42.9 1.1% of fund
Petrobras £41.3 1.1% of fund
Diageo £41.1 1.1% of fund
Canadian Pacific £39.9 1.0% of fund
ICON £37.3 1.0% of fund
Eli Lilly £36.3 1.0% of fund
Fiserv £35.8 0.9% of fund
Safran £35.6 0.9% of fund
Novo Nordisk £35.0 0.9% of fund
Yum! Brands £34.7 0.9% of fund
Top 10 holdings 23.5%
Top 20 holdings 33.4%
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/ATST/alliance-trust-plc/company-page
The Covid19 dip of March 2020 shows the low point of 5190 points.
Today, trading over 7000 points.
Last month, on the 25th March, AstraZeneca PLC paid out its March 2024 dividend.
156p a share.
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/AZN/total-voting-rights/16358515
The total number of voting rights in AstraZeneca PLC is 1,550,205,518.
Thus:-
1,550,205,518 x £1.56 = £2,418,320,608.08 paid to shareholders
That is £2418 Million = £2.418 Billion
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/AZN/astrazeneca-plc/company-page
The L&G Global Developed Four Factor Index Fund, The objective of the Fund is to track the performance of the SciBeta Developed Low-Carbon & ESG High-Factor-Intensity Multi-Beta (vol, val, mom, pro/inv) Maximum Deconcentration Index, the “Benchmark Index” on a net total return basis.
Isaac Asimov vs Religious people 1989 (youtube.com)