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Its a similar story over at THG where Ingenuity has recently doubled in value along of course with THG.

Softbank gave up their option on Ingenuity couple of years back, also sold their stake in parent group THG itself, big loss on both..

The US Senate has approved a compromise that would end the longest government shutdown in US history, breaking a weeks-long stalemate that has disrupted food benefits for millions and left hundreds of thousands of federal workers unpaid.

In other news, Softbank sells entire stake in NVIDIA..

Yep, that has been the case for sometime now, maybe over a year with increased demand for whey protein.

Its going to affect the smaller players much harder as unable to buy in bulk so less competitive still, meanwhile MP strategy is going for market share getting the name out there in the process ...but at a cost with margins held low..

The futures market doesn't seem to correlate to the two weekly or end of month whey prices reported by USDA, Glanbia didn't say too much on this but I think we can agree prices are still elevated.

Having looked at food trends from the past none of them last, with the most recent being 'beyond meat' - if correct all THG have to do is ride it out until the market picks up on a new trend, that's the theory anyway..

Earlier post asked when will things improve, easy answer is when economic backdrop returns to where it was four years ago, notably:

- Low interest rates

- Low inflation

- Stronger dollar

- Stronger Yen

-low(er) whey prices

Tick all f those boxes and we're sailing..

Since drafting that post its moved back a tad https://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=USD&to=GBP&view=1M

It would be great to see SMS joining his colleagues with a few market purchases..

Don't forget the impact of FX, since the end of Q3 dollar has moved up by 2.3% which adds around £3m to S4's bottom line if maintained.

This is not something within S4's control, similar to THG neither hedge..

The tide is well and truly going out on the Ai hype train but markets may have to endure the headache of excess, the upside is central banks will have to move, yesterdays split by BoE looks good for another 0.25% before year end.

UK’s Rightmove stock tumbles 28% as AI investments expected to weigh on 2026 profit

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/07/rightmove-shares-plummet-as-ai-investments-to-hit-2026-profit-.html

Cheers for that Poker, viewing the two ads side by side is a good idea as mine was just the original recollection from memory.

For me and perhaps a lot of people there is something missing, hard to put your finger on it but if I were to sum it up 'its too digital'', YouTube is laden with polarising views but would be interested to hear others take on it now we have both side by side..

Need to listen to the call over weekend but happy enough to add a few this am..

Buy backs tend to work well with dividends as they go hand in hand to return cash to shareholders, provided of course the business can balance the books which seems it can do.

SMS knows all to well these cycles with shiny new things taking away focus and spending from traditional sectors, yes, its a gamble that tech spending will return but there are early signs that the Ai revolution is not the panacea everyone had hoped for, once this is widely recognised I think spending will come back across the board..

Paying investors a dividend while we wait helps take the sting out..

On another note, mentioned sometime ago the image Ai can attract if not implemented correctly..take a look at the backlash Coco Cola is receiving with their Xmas ad..

Its poorly done losing a lot of the classic appeal, this at a crucial Xmas period run up..it will be interesting to see how other retailers fair, no doubt with their own Ai offering..or not as the as maybe..

As always a bit of a curates egg but for my own perspective there is more good than bad, billings are up but margins remain subdued.

Maintaining guidance along with a possible dividend is a win for me, as is the expanding opportunities with new Ai tools, outlook is encouraging too.

''and now two unannounced leading US-based Global FMCG Companies, which are ramping up significantly in the second half of the year.''

That's just my take, market may have other ideas..

..if nothing else its going to be an interesting few months.

'Palantir CEO Alex Karp ranted against short sellers, calling out specifically Michael Burry after a filing revealed the investor of “The Big Short” fame had bets against the artificial intelligence software company, as well as Nvidia , at the end of the last quarter.'

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/04/karp-big-short-burry-palantir-nvidia.html

Always truck me as an odd name, Brave Bison fro a media company.

Maybe they just like being part of the herd..

: ))

This is by far the most upbeat I have ever heard Hutchmed, each release seems more positive than the last in tone - that's just my take though, anyone else agree?

'Breakthrough ATTC Platform and Lead Candidate HMPL-A251

The ATTC platform represents potentially a groundbreaking approach to precision oncology, integrating monoclonal antibodies with proprietary small-molecule inhibitor payloads to deliver dual mechanisms of action.

The ATTC platform integrates monoclonal antibodies with proprietary small-molecule inhibitor payloads to deliver dual mechanisms of action. In contrast to traditional cytotoxin-based antibody-drug conjugates (“ADC”), ATTCs leverage targeted therapies to achieve synergistic anti-tumor activity and durable responses, as demonstrated in preclinical models. These conjugates have shown superior efficacy and safety profiles compared to standalone antibody or small molecule inhibitor components.'

Not new as announced earlier in the year, but amongst all this doom and gloom thought it worthwhile to post a video which highlights the NVIDIA and Monks partnership in greater detail.

The video is knee deep in superlatives but the content is top notch with representations from both sides rather than a regular company pitch, if you want to jump past a lot of the introductions Susan Foley puts the monks case forward at 12.40

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5RDk__x8uE&t=795s

https://www.monks.com/partners/nvidia

Its the best video I have seen which defines clearly monks Ai solution's, at 14.30 there is a road map followed by Peter broadening the topic out.

The whole Ai model is settling down now with Ai companies either agreeing settlements or doing deals to avert legal issues, maybe this was part of their strategy all along, who knows but its another huge obstacle on the road to profitability for Ai companies.

'Getty Images stock pops 19% on deal with Perplexity AI'

It feels like much of the hype is fading away where companies can make sensible decisions without fear of being ridiculed for not being on the Ai bandwagon.

Could be a fair bit of pent up demand...

Forgot about this from earlier in the year, you would think a bit of NVIDIA's $5t valuation might rub on old S4..: )

S4 Capital’s Monks Launches NVIDIA Foundry & Agentic AI Advisory Group

''The Monks Agentic Advisory will consist of an approximately 50-person advisory team that operates as a nimble advancement and consulting team for the Monks Foundry, which is tracking to have 150 certified engineers fully dedicated to building and deploying custom generative AI models tailored to enterprise data and domain-specific knowledge within the year.''

https://www.monks.com/articles/s4-capitals-monks-launches-nvidia-foundry-agentic-ai-advisory-group

Yep, agreed 25 looks likely but heading the right way..

I am encouraged by how fast the Ai consultancy market is growing which is kind of how S4 might find itself being tech led, which then leads to other opportunities.

At the moment none of the ETF/trackers seem convinced, really need return to growth to get them onboard again.

6pm GMT fed speaks..

Keeping a mince pie on what the competition is up to..

Glanbia protein Water

https://youtube.com/shorts/pYzDPIcweqE?si=5dhk1RNX5LQ7RoLJ

Odds on fed will cut today, but by how much..

Government shutdown might make forecasts a bit cloudy from fed, could surprise with 0.5% due to regional banks wobbling..

This was the part of the call posted by Crafty, didn't get a chance to listen over weekend but will try this week.

I might be tempted to drop Global a line and see if they respond, just ask them whats, what..

'The position, as we understand it well, is that HMRC have been refused their right of appeal against the decision. As a result, they've now got another week or so left — maybe two weeks — to come back and see whether they're going to try and fight this in the highest courts or not.'

Wondering if its Pepsi's recent announcement that has caused volatility in the US whey market?

PepsiCo’s new portfolio strategy aims to redefine protein boom

https://www.foodbev.com/news/pepsico-s-new-portfolio-strategy-aims-to-redefine-protein-boom

July 25

MyProtein debuts brand’s ‘lightest-tasting clear protein yet

https://www.foodbev.com/news/myprotein-debuts-brand-s-lightest-tasting-clear-protein-yet

The big thing for markets in 2026 is Trumps appointment of a new Chair, that in itself guarantees lower interest rates which will be hard for markets to bet against..

If we can have a blow-out before hand and lose some of this excess then we could see a more even recovery rather than just mag 7 and a few others, we need a catalyst though which could be the regional banks.

If anyone has taken their PPL, you know the bit where you pull the joystick back and the siren goes of in your ear..''stall...stall.stall..''