Member Info for skier1

To be fair, there is now very little difference between Labour and Tories on UK economic policy. They are both hurtling down the communist track of high tax, high state waste, high debt. Just a straight extrapolation shows 300% debt-to-GDP in a few decades is very possible, up from 100% today, and 50% just a few years ago. UK is among the poorest countries in the industrialized world, and debt has become a state tool for free handouts to sustain the illusion of UK wealth. We are like the Smiths, who borrow big on credit cards, to keep up with the richer Joneses next door...

The bookies yesterday had Sunak down as the next PM, at 5-1. But the papers overnight have reminded everyone of his family's tax status.

Wallace is now the clear favourite, at 4-1.

Sadly, the AZN vaxx only grabbed a tiny 3% share of worldwide vaccine dollars and 0% of profits in 2021, it is completely banned in the giant US and China markets, while the EU has almost completely stopped using it today. Beyond the hype, it was a flop.

People support Boris because he has charisma, he won Brexit for the silent majority, and the alternative politicians just don't bear thinking about. A scenario where red Labour and their extremist unions gain control of the UK in 2024 is a worst nightmare.

To be fair, the UK had / has one of the worst Covid outcomes on the entire planet, a huge death toll, a homemade jab that flopped globally, plunging GDP, and a communistical health "service" where it now takes a month to see a doctor. Wouldn't call Boris a Covid success, at all.

Yup. Contrast steely Zelensky with quitter Boris. Like night and day.

Be careful what you wish for...

End Boris, end Brexit.

The process to rejoin the EU starts today.

Highest levels of peacetime taxation ever in history, ugly decaying grey towns, selling off the family silver to take IP and factories abroad, collapsed manufacturing sector, GDP per-head among the lowest in the Western world. UK is no paradise.

UK today is a communist state in all but name. Greedy tax snatch of people's money, unprecedented state surveillance, extreme punishment for wrongspeak, grey weather, ugly derelict towns across 90% of the state, miserable people, intensive media propaganda, failing Institutions, months of queuing to get healthcare. Anyone who lived or worked in Soviet Russia or East Germany will spot the signs. The UKSSR.

"...you will be feeling the financial impact of leaving the EU for decades to come"...

To be fair, UK average GDP growth before joining the EEC-EU was +3% per year. After joining, in the next five decades, it slumped to an average of just +2% per year. Joining the EEC-EU caused UK growth to decline.

"...Boris Johnson is a big fat liar, he will ruin this country beyond belief , come autumn he will be gone"...

Plenty of studies show that "truthful" politicians rarely win. Voters forget or don't care what politicians say, as long as they have charisma and keep on handing out free cash to shouty pressure groups from the magic money tree. Boris wins on both counts.

Boris is now a hardworking family man, parachuting into Ukraine as a world statesman, with a young baby and wife to support. Voters love those optics.

To be fair, the UK has been in steep economic decline for 100+ years. There is probably nothing Boris (or anyone) can do to stop the rot. The country, at this point, is probably unfixable.

Folks have been saying "Boris will be gone" for the past 20 years... And he keeps on winning the big votes... London Mayor, Brexit, PM -- he keeps on winning... The bookies today have the Tories as clear favourites, at 4/7, to win the next 2024 election...

Boris should easily be able to keep the Tories in power until well into the 2030s. He is the least-worst option. His competition for No.10 is very weak. Starmer and Hunt are like watching paint dry. Everyone else is a non-runner. Most people are now starting to tune out the Remainer hysteria every time Boris opens his mouth. Voters are wise to the bitter histrionics. Boris has got tax cuts plus a recovering economy coming in 2023, which will be more than enough to win the next election in 2024. Voters have short memories. Boris has plenty in the tank to win until the 2030s.

UK house and rental prices -- by international standards -- are still fairly affordable. Bloomberg ranks them among the cheapest in the Western world. With the weak pound, UK property is at bargain-basement levels for American shoppers with spare dollars (see Chelsea FC). It is good to see Proportunity helping folks on the housing ladder with their low-barrier mortgage. Other banks should copy them.

Theosus
Boris will be fine. He has a huge 80-seat majority at the polls. His votes among MPs are getting larger in 2022. And everyone is getting wise to the Remainer hysteria every time Boris says or does something, and most people are starting to tune it out. Boris just has to stay calm, wait for base inflation to fall by Xmas, slash taxes in 2023, and he will win the big one again in 2024.

Ukraine is a proxy-war between the world's biggest economic superpower and the world's biggest landmass superpower.

The Great Game.

US is winning the propaganda war. Russia is (just about) winning the land-air-sea war and has gone from 0% to 20% of Ukraine's territory in the past decade.

Not nice. But them's the facts.

Grim numbers today, from Kantar, for the UK grocery market in Q2 2022.

The total UK online grocery market is declining sharply. Ocada is also falling. That makes Ocado a shrinking firm in a shrinking industry. Never a good look for the share price...

The RNK share price has collapsed -90% in the past quarter of a century. One of the worst shares of all time. Time for an overseas bidder to jump in, break it up, and put shareholders out of their misery.

The timid 0.25% UK rate rise was because...

1. The economy had already started to shrink in Apr 2022
2. Taxes are soaring already from Apr-May 2022
3. M4 money supply is slowing down for Q4 2022

Those factors mean people are already losing cash from their paypackets, losing confidence about the near future, and inflation has mostly peaked (even if few realize it yet). The 0.25% rise was about right.

"...It's not a small start up company"...

Ocada is -99% smaller by marcap than Amazon and has lost money for almost all of its entire lifespan.

Huge discount on the placing overnight. Yet another red flag to add to the list, which is getting longer and longer.

Will keep an eye on this one, and may buy in if it dips down to the £1-3 level, as it could then become a takeover target for a foreign firm to snap it up and break it up.

Falling sales, shrinking growth, soaring costs, surprise placing, extra bank debt, negative credit rating. More red flags here than you can shake a stick at. Wouldn’t be a surprise to see this tumble under £5.