Original Broadcast: The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors
Victoria Scholar of Interactive Investor looks at some of the recent indicators giving a guide to the state of the UK economy, including the Halifax house price index and the RICS's house price balance. She also looks at the recent retail sales numbers and KPMG's jobs market report. But the big driver of the market this week has been the hawkish testimony to Congress of Fed Chairman Jay Powell.
Guests: Victoria Scholar
Published:
Original Broadcast: The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors
Russ Mould of A J Bell looks at the results of Persimmon, the latest company offering a paper yield higher than 10% that turned out to be illusory. That the share price didn't fall further on terrible results shows that the market was ahead of the game. Russ looks at the sector as a whole. Some builders are trading at a discount to book value and sentiment will turn at some stage. But housebuilders are likely to be volatile and potential investors will have to be very brave.
Guests: Russ Mould
Published:
Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson examines the UK box offie, down 40% on the week. With Ant-Man 3 still #1, the much-anticipated Cocaine Bear enters at #3. Stomach-churningly violent and unsubtle, James's verdict is, "Great trailer, shame about the movie". Romcom What's Love Got To Do With It, written by Jemima Khan and starring Lily James and Shazad Latif, is #4 and James and Simon both recommend it. It's romantic, funny and even educational. South Korean Broker is #8. On Apple TV is Sharper, with Julianne Moore in a con artist film that is entertaining but also too clever for its own good.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
Published:
Original Broadcast: Gadgets and Gizmos
Steve Caplin delves into the latest tech, with the Chinese coming up with ways to stroke and kiss loved ones when not together. ChatGPT has been banned in China, there's a new AI app to try, an electronic bandage will dissolve after use, Metaverse property prices have gone south, there's a crowdfunded self-building igloo, the MoD is hiring sci-fi writers to predict the future of warfare, you can get a balloon ride to space for just £150,000 and the Kinks have asked Elon Musk to stop Twitter censoring the band's name.
Guests: Steve Caplin
Published:
Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Political commentator Mike Indian unpacks Rishi Sunak's Northern Ireland Protocol deal and explains what the Prime Minister has achieved. He believes Matt Hancock's political reputation has been trashed for good with the WhatsApp messages exposing what went on at the heart of the Pandemic response. And he gives us the lowdown on the three candidates for the SNP leadership election.
Guests: Mike Indian
Published:
Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University discusses whether Nicola Sturgeon's resignation presents Labour with the opportunity to restore its power north of the border while support diminishes for independence. Sixty years after Beeching's axe fell on the railways, are the railways dying all over again? And with cash being used less with every year and some bank branches not even accepting it, is the cashless society almost with us and what might it mean?
Guests: Professor Tim Evans
Published:
Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson marvels at a box office take up by 71%, with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania taking £8.8m over the weekend. Sarah Polley's double-Oscar-nominated Women Talking, with a stellar cast, only debuted at #8, although James was utterly transported, saying, "It's not often I forget that I'm in a cinema". He also reviews Italian film Nostalgia, at #29 which disappointed him, finding it atmospheric but hokey and predictable.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
Published:
Original Broadcast: The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors
Victoria Scholar of Interactive Investor explains why supermarkets are rationing some fruit and vegetables. She also looks at results from Rolls-Royce, the first under its new CEO, as well as from BAE Systems (increasing its dividend), Heathrow Airport, where business is picking up less quickly than hoped for, advertising giant WPP and miner Rio Tino, which has slashed its dividend.
Guests: victoria scholar
Published:
Original Broadcast: Gadgets and Gizmos
Steve Caplin discusses the latest tech with Simon Rose. Apple's most famous designer has produced Charles III's Coronation logo, Microsoft's Bing AI doesn't know what year it is, Kindle's ChatGPT authors and the best book title ever, a sign language-reading app, self-cleaning touch screens for cars, a way of telling if you're overusing your voice, an alarm clock that shocks you awake and setting a spider (or lots of them) to catch a moth.
Guests: Steve Caplin
Published:
Original Broadcast: The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors
Russ Mould of A J Bell takes a look at the banking sector. He points out that there are many similarities in the results from Barclays and Standard Chartered, with both showing the highest profits and dividends for some time. However, the market has reacted very differently, with Barclays punished and Standard boosted. He also discusses why banks might be being criticised by MPs and others for still squeezing savers.
Guests: Russ Mould
Published: