Original Broadcast: The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors
Neil Shah of Edison Group explains to Simon Rose that, as Albert Einstein remarked, compound interest is the eighth Wonder of the World. He discusses two companies that exhibit the same characterics. Games Workshop, with its niche Warhammer figurines has international scalability and over the long term produces a sustained return on equity while DiscoverIE has transformed itself and is another self-sustaining business with free cash flow generation. Compared to their peers, both look to be at a discount and they could be good "buy and forget" investments.
Guests: Neil Shah
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Original Broadcast: The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors
Russ Mould of A J Bell, ever the contrarian, finds oil of interest because it is currently viewed so negatively. But he points out that, while supply is not growing, the world is still addicted to the stuff and that if demand keeps growing, it must have an effect on the price. For interested investors, he suggests sticking to the majors, a specialist fund or passive instrument, or a combination without going overboard. He also gives us advice from Benjamin Graham: The best investment returns are reaped by realists who buy from pessimists and sell to optimists.
Guests: Russ Mould
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson takes Simon Rose through the UK box office figures, up 68%, with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse taking a whopping £9.1m over its opening weekend. Despite the success of this, the longest animated movie ever, James hated it, praying for it to end within 10 minutes of its 140 minute running time. At #5 is The boogeyman, a clichéd and unscary haunted house horror. To his surprise James found Guy Ritchie's The Covenant on Amazon Prime, a character-driven two-handed war movie, impressive and moving.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: Gadgets and Gizmos
Steve Caplin guides Simon Rose through the latest tech developments, majoring on Apple's new AR headset bringing "spatial computing" to the world. But at $3,500, who is going to buy it? He explains the latest features of iOS 17, how driverless cars might let pedestrians know that they have been seen, why AI might read T&Cs on your behalf to check there's nothing fishy in the small print and wonders where the truth lies with a report that an AI drone tried to kill its operator because it didn't like the instructions it was given.
Guests: Steve Caplin
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Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Political commentator Mike Indian looks at the Prime Minister's attempts on his US visit to make the UK the hub of AI regulation, highlighting the dangers of the fast-developing technology if it isn't controlled. He also discusses Labour's plans for social care reform, finding them rather lacking in detail. And, discussing the reluctance of ministers to hand over WhatsApp messages, he explains why it should not be up to the Government to decide what is relevant and why it is imperative we get an interim Covid Inquiry report as soon as possible.
Guests: Mike Indian
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Original Broadcast: Gadgets and Gizmos
Steve Caplin delves into the world of tech where driverless car rental has just been introduced in Milton Keynes, the cars being delivered by a remote operator. Sweaters are giving robots the sense of touch, Dyson's robot vacuum has 6 times the suck, there's a solution to mice devouring wheat seeds, a great new bird app, a smart cane for the blind, beaming energy from space to earth and progress towards getting astronauts to hibernate.
Guests: Steve Caplin
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Original Broadcast: The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors
Neil Shah of Edison Group talks to Simon Rose about the general state of the markets, where the US and UK are lagging Europe and parts of Asia. The UK is held back by an absence of decent growth while investors are nervous of a possible American recession, deflation and banking problems. In the UK, though, there are always going to be interesting companies able to react to difficult conditions and Neil highlights what is happening at Topps Tiles and Gregg's.
Guests: Neil Shah
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Original Broadcast: The Business Of Film
James Cameron-Wilson discusses the state of the UK box office where the live-action version of The Little Mermaid is in pole position. With some of the CGI making it feel animated, James thought it a mixed bag. He was no more impressed with the Ben Affleck thriller Hypnotic at #5, which he found silly and unworthwhile. He was, though, keen on the French drama Full Time, with Laure Calamy as a harrassed mother coping with a transport strike, which only made #13 in the chart.
Guests: James Cameron-Wilson
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Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University gives a fascinating analysis of Latin America's problems, with political instability and a growing macro-economic crisis. He also looks at the under-reported Vortex of Doom in South Africa, where there's a huge energy crisis and law and order is breaking down. Lastly, he turns to the UK, which now appears to be one of Europe's most nannying states when it comes to food, drink and health; is it a case of NHS demand management, he wonders?
Guests: Professor Tim Evans
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Original Broadcast: The Financial Outlook for Personal Investors
Russ Mould of A J Bell looks at the rise of the Japanese stock market, which has hit a 33-year-high. He points out that it is still a quarter below its all-time high, hit on the last day of 1989. After debt-fuelled craziness saw the land of the Imperial Palace worth more than all of California before a collapse, and with decades of QE since, foreign investors have long neglected the market. Japanese companies have become more shareholder-friendly than they used to be. Russ explains that it could be wisest for UK investors, if considering Japan, to use active or passive collective investments, rather than relying on individual shares.
Guests: Russ Mould
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