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 Never Have Stocks Owed So Much to So Few It’s a Churchillian moment as the market narrows with each new record. Market breadth has never been this narrow, and yet the domination by a handful of stocks continues to intensify. Half of Tuesday’s rise in the Nasdaq was attributable to four chipmaking companies — Micron., Sandisk, Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia Corp. Getting back to Churchill, it’s worth listening to the audio of his speeches from 1940, when he was new to the job and defeat looked very likely. They’re familiar but still extraordinary. Listen to “Blood, toil, tears and sweat,”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80_HXIHa724 “We will fight them on the beaches,”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_LncVnecLA and “Their finest hour.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jjhxeHIjvU In contemporary parlance, he held barely any cards, but nobody ever talked a better fight. John Authers Bloomberg September 23, 2026 https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/newsletters/2026-09-23/s...

Many countries now spend more on debt servicing than defence, including the US, France and the UK. That number is set to rise in the coming years. “These massive sovereign debts are having to get refinanced at ever-increasing rates,”   The summer rout in the global bond market has only augmented the post-Covid surge in yields triggered by inflation shocks, increased government borrowing and the end of central banks’ “quantitative easing” bond-buying programmes. In UK and France,and in many others across the world, politicians face a fundamental choice on whether to raise taxes or shrink the state to get themselves out of the corner they find themselves in.  The sheer scale of debt-servicing costs also makes it supremely difficult for countries to raise spending for strategic priorities such as national defence and energy security.  Financial Times 8 September 2026 https://www.ft.com/content/4f28ef6c-f727-4d36-88a3-bbdbd13ddfbf?syn-25a6b1a6=1 RE: Mer bekymer med föret...

Annika Ström Melin: Sluta hymla om att Sveriges riksdag inte är landets enda lagstiftare. QMV (Qualified Majority Voting)  QMV (Qualified Majority Voting) is the standard voting method used by the Council of the European Union for approximately 80% of all legislation. https://englundmacro.blogspot.com/2025/12/meloni-ryska-pengar-till-ukraina.html China buys around 90% of Iran’s oil  Blacklisting Chinese companies risks opening a new economic confrontation with Beijing. Doing so now would fracture US-China ties just weeks before Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to meet in September. Asked directly about hitting China with new economic measures on Monday, Bessent said “no one is above the reach of US sanctions” but that he preferred “quiet diplomacy,” adding “we’re not going to name names.” Bloomberg 25 August 2026 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-25/trump-s-iran-pivot-from-war-to-sanctions-will-hit-china-or-fail Reports that the Treasury Department ...

  Varför lyckades inte den förment intellektuella eliten att snabbt genomskåda det uppenbara – att Arday var en bluff? Jason Arday 2023 utsågs till professor i sociologi vid det anrika universitetet i Cambridge i Storbritannien blev han snabbt en internationell akademiker med rockstjärnestatus, med en minst sagt anmärkningsvärd livshistoria.  Under 2026 hamnade Arday i centrum för en omfattande debatt kring sin doktorsavhandling, efter att ett stort antal textlikheter med en tidigare avhandling uppmärksammats offentligt.  Universitetet i Cambridge genomförde en intern utredning vilken friade honom från forskningsfusk. Att hans universitet beskrev kritiken som en del av en kampanj mot hans trovärdighet har dock inte tystat de kritiska rösterna. Att han var verksam inom ett fält där möjligheterna att komma med obevisade påståenden är relativt goda kan säkert ha spelat in. Om han försökt göra en karriär inom naturvetenskap, särskilt en disciplin där man gör experiment, skull...

A mobile game made by a developer in Manchester has recently beaten the global phenomenon Minecraft to top Apple's paid games chart.  Its success is perhaps even more surprising given its subject matter - UK politics. No 10: Full Confidence by Benjamin Brewis sees players take on the role of prime minister, making decisions through a wave of parliamentary scenarios and trying to remain in power for as long as possible. BBC 16 August 2026 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq56pzqy6jvo https://fullconfidence.co.uk/

The UK has had six prime ministers in the past 10 years and is about to anoint a seventh without scrutiny, with each premiership ending in humiliation. Keir Starmer entering 10 Downing Street as the new  Labour Prime Minister 5th July 2024 The country is pioneering a new form of rule called "government by emotional spasm", where politicians are fixated on and then quickly discarded in favor of new ones. This system is alarming because it is incompatible with good government, requiring consistent policies and effective rule, but instead leads to short-lived enthusiasm followed by long-term disappointment and disintegration.  Brexit bears some of the blame for this. It was the ultimate emotional spasm — a revolt against the status quo in the name of national identity and giving the establishment a kicking.  Adrian Wooldridge Bloomberg June 25, 2026 https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2026-06-25/starmer-burnham-britain-is-a-victim-of-government-by-emotional-spasm ...

  Det är under närmast kuppartade former som Andy Burnham, borgmästare i Manchester, nu tar ytterligare ett steg mot att utmana Keir Starmer om premiärministerposten.  Vinsten innebär att han tar en plats i det brittiska parlamentet – något han som borgmästare inte haft men som i praktiken krävs för att bli partiledare och premiärminister. Den tidigare parlamentsledamoten från Makerfield lämnade för några veckor sedan sin post i syfte att kratta manegen för Burnham. SvD 19 juni 2026 https://www.svd.se/a/n14kkB/anyd-burnham-kan-utmana-starmer-sa-kan-han-ta-makten We shouldn’t overlook what the Makerfield by-election means for Reform UK and its leader Nigel Farage.  The by-election result may be the moment that Reform UK's march to power is arrested, as the party failed to win despite leading every opinion poll since April 2025. If, as seems possible, this is the moment that the hard-right populist party’s march to power is arrested, that would ultimately be just as histori...

Keir Starmer says Labour should "pull together" following Andy Burnham's win in the Makerfield by-election. In a call with Labour staff, the PM warns against "turning on each other and tearing apart our party and our movement" BBC 19 June 2026 https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c3928mlyle8t Allan Monks at JP Morgan said: “We see a high risk that he would consider a change to the fiscal rules, despite appearing to rule this out in recent weeks.” This would risk delaying interest rate cuts by the Bank of England, which it expects to resume next year. Telegraph 19 June 2026 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/06/19/pound-burnham-gilts-bond-markets-borrowing-costs-ftse-100/ MMT Statens underskott är ditt överskott https://englundmacro.blogspot.com/2026/02/statens-underskott-ar-ditt-overskott.html Regeringen kritiseras av Riksrevisionen https://englundmacro.blogspot.com/2026/01/regeringen-kritiseras-av-riksrevisionen.html

Trump Cancels Iran Strikes, Says Tehran Has ‘Approved’ Talks President says Tehran’s leadership and other parties are negotiating a deal to end the conflict approved ‘discussions and points’ https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/trump-threatens-new-strikes-on-iran-says-u-s-will-seize-its-oil-and-gas-markets-38996e77 Donald Trumps besked om att ställa in de planerade anfallen mot Iran möttes av glädjeskutt på de ledande indexen på Wall Street.  Vid 21.30-tiden uppgav Donald Trump vid Vita huset att USA ”just nått en fantastisk uppgörelse om kriget med Iran, och väntar på att dokumenten ska färdigställas”, skriver Bloomberg. ”Vi bör vara klara under de närmaste dagarna. Sannolikt blir det ett undertecknande, kanske i Europa”, https://www.di.se/live/breda-uppgangar-efter-trumps-utspel-oracle-mot-strommen/ Presidenten skriver att USA ska slå till hårt mot Iran under natten och att man ”vid någon tidpunkt” ska ta över ön Kharg, som har beskrivits som en viktig del av Irans oljeexport. h...

Nine decades ago, George Orwell spent several months living among the mining communities around the bleak, impoverished town of Wigan.  In two weeks, a special election taking place in the same corner of northwest England could determine the course of British history for decades to come. When I visited on a squally day last week, obviously much had changed since Orwell’s time, yet the arguments playing out ahead of the June 18 by-election in the Makerfield constituency bear striking similarities to those set out in his seminal work, The Road to Wigan Pier.  A special election is taking place in the Makerfield constituency in northwest England, which could determine the course of British history for decades to come. The area's voters have a choice between electing Andy Burnham, the popular mayor of Manchester, to Parliament  or voting for the populist Reform UK party, which seeks to exploit racial division and blame immigration for the north's woes. The election is seen as...

Bosses at the time told the stock market, “We don’t make cars, we make dreams”, a nod to their belief that Aston Martin was more like a luxury goods producer in the mould of a Gucci, Burberry or LVMH than a boring old carmaker.  Sean Connery with an Aston Martin DB5 in 1964.  His character James Bond is perhaps the brand’s most famous customer  Chinese car giant Geely among Aston Martin’s three biggest shareholders. Though Geely has received plaudits for its careful stewardship of Swedish car-making royalty Volvo, its ownership of UK-based Lotus sports cars has been less successful, and has resulted in some of its models being made at a factory in Wuhan. Telegraph 10 May 2026 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/05/10/aston-martin-could-soon-become-chinese/ Daniel Craig Launches New Range for Byd Denza https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG29NgOqV7s 1965 Världshistoriens bästa år https://englundmacro.blogspot.com/2026/05/1965-varldshistoriens-basta-ar.html

Medierna och det politiska etablissemanget beskriver Reform UK som högerpopulistiskt.  Etiketten fungerar som ett språkligt verktyg som förskjuter fokus från sakfrågor till värdering och placerar politiska motståndare utanför det legitima samtalet.  Därmed formas både opinionen och gränserna för det offentliga språket. Dick Holmgren Epoch Times 10 maj 2026 https://www.epochtimes.se/nar-orden-tappar-kraft-och-verkligheten-segrar

In rich and established democracies, what people want from life goes up until no conceivable government can provide it.  Notice that one of the few major western countries to have a popular leader right now is Spain. It is a place with recent memories of dictatorship.   Low expectations, born of a low starting point, is most of the trick to happiness.  Sir Keir Starmer. No UK leader has collapsed from landslide-winner to national joke with such speed.  The trouble is that, if I am right, almost nothing can be done.  Britain cannot choose to have a Franco in its recent past to make it grateful for a well-meaning plodder /someone who works slowly and continuously, but without imagination, enthusiasm, or interest/   like Starmer. Janan Ganesh Financial Times 9 May 2026 https://www.ft.com/content/14152ab1-864d-4ff7-8524-afc7b08821b3?syn-25a6b1a6=1

 Jamie Dimon, chef för  JP Morgan varnar för ny inflationsvåg Även om han under sin karriär har suttit mitt i en rad kriser, tvekar han inte om sin bedömning av de samlade riskerna i världen just nu. ”Det är den högsta nivån som jag någonsin har sett”, säger han. https://englundmacro.blogspot.com/2026/05/jamie-dimon-chef-for-jp-morgan-varnar.html https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2026-05-07/why-private-credit-is-facing-its-biggest-test-yet-video Förnyad oro i Mellanöstern sänker Asienbörserna inför eftermiddagens amerikanska jobbsiffra. Även Europaterminerna pekar mot en röd öppning. DI 8 maj 2026, 06:39 https://www.di.se/live/morgonkoll-sma-rorelser-i-asien-trots-skakig-vapenvila/ Deppigt slut på börsveckan https://www.di.se/live/deppigt-slut-pa-borsveckan-silex-rusade-vidare/ Bubblespotting is a lot harder than it seems. It’s easy to misinterpret overpricing for part of the market as an indication that everything is a bubble.  https://englundmacro.blogspot.com/2026/...

  Finland Is Ready for Russia. Is Anyone Else? https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2026-opinion-finland-is-ready-russia-arctic/?srnd=phx-opinion US Waits for Iran’s Peace Deal Response as Israel Hits Lebanon https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-07/us-iran-deliberate-peace-deal-with-nuclear-breakthrough-distant Markets care far more about the Strait than Iran’s nuclear program. John Authers boomberg May 7, 2026  https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/newsletters/2026-05-07/oil-and-stocks-depend-on-how-serious-trump-deal-is President Trump’s advisers are worried that Republicans  will pay a political price for the rising fuel costs. Many of those advisers are eager to end the war in hopes that prices  will begin moderating before November’s midterm elections. https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/jet-fuel-prices-are-spiking-and-trumps-advisers-are-worried-b0932f3c Demokratins seger och Kris 2,0 Olof Petersson Börsen tyngs – Saab leder nedgångarna 7 maj 2026, 15:57 h...