Original Broadcast: The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors
Russ Mould of A J Bell explains the impressive performance of the UK stock market, with the FTSE passing 9,000 for the first time. UK equities have outperformed those in the US this year despite the dollar having fallen 10%. As Russ has said regularly in this spot, unloved can mean undervalued and that appears to be the case. With regular M&A activity and buybacks, it's estimated the All-Share is on an effective 6.6% yield so a good deal of cash is coming back to investors. The economic picture in the UK may be dire, but don't forget that two-thirds of the FTSE's earnings come from overseas.
Guests: Russ Mould
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Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University says that we are living in changeable times and that the major political parties we have known all our lives may not hold sway for much longer. Jeremy Corbyn has finally agreed to join a new hard-left party with Zara Sultana, although the name won't be announced until its first conference. Pollsters suggest 10% of voters could support it, mirroring what is happening on the right with the Conservatives and Reform. Kemi Badenoch's reshuffle is instantly forgettable and confirms something is going seriously wrong with the Tories. Meanwhile Reform remains consistently ahead of Labour and is now trying to add form and structure, building a board and ensuring it is ready for the next election, which Tim feels could be in 2028.
Guests: Professor Tim Evans
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
With UK box office up slightly as schools break up, James Cameron-Wilson found #5, a new version, 28 years on, of I Know What You Did Last Summer wildly implausible, very silly and undermined by a limp script. He thought #15 Four Letters of Love beautifully made. Starring the likes of Pierce Brosnan, Helena Bonham Carter and Gabriel Byrne, it's a love story with a touch of Mills & Boon and, although it will have its fans, it isn't always believable. He also revisited 2007's Superbad, rereleased at #28. A time capsule with the likes of Michael Cera, Jonah Hill and Emma Stone in her first film, it's somewhat misogynistic and would never be made nowadays. But there are great performances, much about it still feels fresh and funny and it was a template for much to come.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: Gadgets and Gizmos
Steve Caplin discusses an electric MPV, an e-scooter with a treadmill, a bike charging pad, a 100 mph e-scooter with faster acceleration than a Tesla and a humanoid robot that can change its own batteries. An Instagram influencer at Wimbledon turns out to be AI-generated while AI is gradually taking over from traditional film and TV effects. Peter Jackson is spending £11m on trying to recreate the extinct 12-foot, flightless moa bird of New Zealand. And scientists claim they can use nuclear fusion to turn mercury into gold.
Guests: Steve Caplin
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Original Broadcast: The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors
Chloe Wong Yun Shing of Edison Group returns to the topic of Athens-listed energy & metals company Metlen. Expanding into the defence equipment supply chain, its stragegy remains capex-led and organically financed. Its arrival on the London market in August will be the biggest listing of the year and the £5bn company will qualify for entry to the FTSE, making it a unique and attractive new stock. Finlay Mathers of Edison highlights a relatively small labour supply company listed on AIM. Hercules is worth £34m and recently made a big acquisition. Its revenues are rising, its margins stable and the market in areas like power transmission is growing. Although little known, the company is trying to increase the level of retail interest.
Guests: Chloe Wong Yun Shing,Finlay Mathers
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson is disappointed that UK box office is down 36% but delighted with new #1 Superman, starring David Corenswet. Written and directed by James Gunn, he found it a thrilling and funny ride which is also pertinent and reckons a stale genre has been saved from the brink. Simon Rose was less enthusiastic. #26 is Modi: Three Days on the Wings of Madness, directed by Johnny Depp. Concerning Modigliani and other dissolute, starving artists in 1916 Paris it's a visual feast but also a mixed bag. On Amazon Prime, Heads of State has Idris Elba and John Cena as UK & US Premiers battling terrorists in an odd couple thriller. It's improbable and clichéd but rattles along nicely with decent banter.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: Gadgets and Gizmos
Steve Caplin discusses an app that uses AI to create illustrated books for children, as well as AI being used to mark exams. Uber is making it easier for oldies to use their service, as well as trialling robotaxis in London next year. The Chinese have come up with a self-driving motorbike. The band Velvet Sundown, fantastically popular on Spotify, turn out to be an AI creation. There's an internal music player seeking crowdfunding. Chinese scientists have found a way to create cyborg bees. And John Hopkins University has invented an autonomous robot surgeon to remove gallbladders, though it has so far only operated on dead pigs.
Guests: Steve Caplin
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Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Political commentator Mike indian discusses the removal of the whip of the four MPs who led the welfare rebellion. Despite Labour's massive majority, it is proving hard to maintain party discipline. Rachel Reeves has emerged as Starmer's co-Prime Minister with market reaction to her tears in the Commons strengthening her position, as there seems no possible alternative Chancellor. The Afghan data breach, and the superinjunction covering it up, is a spectacular blunder by the British state. It heightens the impression of incompetence at the top and the belief that civil servants are never held to account. Lastly, Mike turns to the lowering of the voting age to 16, wondering if Reform might not be the party that benefits most from it.
Guests: Mike Indian
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Original Broadcast: The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors
Fergus Caheny of Evelyn Partners says investors cannot ignore what is currently happening in the US, where Trump is unhappy with Jay Powell, the Chair of the Fed. It's a politically independent job with nine months to run and Trump cannot sack him. But there's talk of a shadow Fed chair which could challenge the incumbent. With growing unease at the growth of the US deficit, the bond markets are flashing amber at a time when more investors are turning to them as they offer better rates than for years. Bonds will be one of the most important stories over the next four years of Trump's presidency.
Guests: Fergus Caheny
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Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University says that it is now obvious that the welfare state begun by Lloyd George and Churchill in 1909 is on an unsustainable path and that the political cowardice of MPs has to end. The OBR has warned how vulnerable the UK's position is, yet not even Labour can get a grip on it. Tim discusses his own recently published "manifesto" as to how a failing state where nothing works can be rescued by private enterprise, pointing out the growing trend for people turning to private providers. And he highlights the massive sea change in the public's attitude towards private healthcare.
Guests: Professor Tim Evans
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