Member Info for skier1

Doesn't look like Netanyahu is on the jet to Athens. It had a fighter escort, but he's not onboard.

Be very careful about what public statements you believe at the moment... Lot of fibs out there...

https://www.timesofisrael.com/how-an-israeli-american-deception-campaign-lulled-iran-into-a-false-sense-of-security/amp/

Iran quietly moved to 60%-enriched uranium earlier this year. They are but a whisker away from the 90% level needed for a nuke. They can get there by the end of summer. That's what's prompted this Israel attack. And, it was (in parts) an exceptionally accurate attack. One chap had a missile from a drone fly in thru his bedroom window on the 2nd floor of an apartment block.

Iran was roughly 10% of the way to making a nuke in the 1980s, 50% in the 1990s, and about 90% there in 2003 when it halted development. Iran has been tinkering quietly on the side since then, and is now about 95% of the way to full enrichment, full reaction, and a full missile launch. Keep in mind -- it's not just Israel at risk. Saudi Arabia, Jordan, UAE and others are no friends of Iran. Just ask Iraq how they feel about their 1980s neighbour. Ask Turkey how they feel about Hezbollah (Iran proxy) likely getting access to a nuke, and then passing on the technology to (say) IS, AQ, PKK or others. A recent poll in Egypt said 50% of the population had a negative view of Iran. And don't forget, London, Paris, Brussels and Berlin are well within range of a medium IRBM missile... This conflict is not just about Israel. It's way bigger. It's about the entire Middle East, North Africa, and all of Europe and UK.

Keep in mind that KDR has been looking for diamonds for a quarter of a century, and still hasn't dug up a single commercial sparkler. A quarter of a century. Any commercial rocks here are still years away 👍

A recent study calculated it costs around $137k of electricity to mine 1 Bitcoin in 2025. The current selling price of 1 Bitcoin is $108k.

Think 80-95% of that £86b is old existing money, just repackaged and exaggerated in a new wrapper for political purposes, possibly to try and distract from the winter-fuel allowance (WFA) debacle. Look over here, not there 👍

Yes, WPP should have delisted from London years ago, and relisted in NY or Amsterdam. Its stock price today would be in much better shape. The London stockmarket is just way too negative, with analysts, journalists and investors relentlessly talking everything down, overcalling the AI threat and undercalling the AI opportunity. WPP (London) is down -35% YTD, while OMC (NY) is down just -17% YTD. Havas (Amsterdam) is down only -5% YTD.

Looks like the end-game is coming for BP... Its reckless push into green energy has sent it crashing to the brink. Expect this to be sold off abroad to someone like Chevron, and delisted from London, by 2026. After 116 years, the end is in sight. Terrible news for both BP and the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Sad times 😔

The mega-crash will come when China starts positioning 1-5 million troops on its south-eastern border, perhaps as early as 2027, or as late as 2050.

Thr US listing is the main reason for the spike today. It's going to draw more liquidity from US index trackers, and more interest from America's tech-savvier investor base with deeper pockets. Wise needs to avoid dividends, and focus on scaling up growth by investment or acquisition. Dividends are very old-fashioned.

Bye, bye, Wise 👋

Off to list in New York, for 2026.

https://uk.investing.com/news/earnings/wise-plc-posts-17-profit-rise-crossborder-volumes-up-23-in-fiscal-2025-4120648

This is up +85% in 1 month. Chugging along quietly and nicely 👌

It's worth keeping in mind that the DCA car-loan scandal is still pending for Lloyds in 2025, while Rayner (Labour) this week is talking once again about higher bank taxes for 2026. Plenty of state-led risks out there in the near-term for LLOY.

Higher tax, higher debt, higher inflation, higher bond costs, higher unemployment, state spending out of control, state debt out of control, lower growth -- they are not the signs of UK economic health. They are the signs of the 1970s. Signs of communism. Signs of tax and waste. Signs of IMF bailouts. Labour's profligacy is endangering us all.

The Oct 2025 budget is going to raise tax (~£30b) as much as the Oct 2024 budget (~£40b). We live in communist times.

Up she goes again. Nobody paying attention to AFRN, but it keeps relentlessly climbing 👍

The "big one" is tomorrow night... Chelsea are 4/9 favourites. But Spanish teams almost always beat English teams, so there may be an upset on the cards. Let's see.

Yes, UK public-sector pensions are wildly out control. Time to stop them. Private workers receive DC pensions, that leave them at the mercy of the stockmarket. Public "workers" receive DB pensions, that are not connected to the stockmarket and are a freebie gift from taxpayer funds. Not to mention employer contributions. A private worker will typically receive 5% of their gross salary in pension contributions. A public "worker" gets up to 30-40% of free cash. Around a quarter of all your council tax is blown every day on this public-sector pension gravytrain. Public-sector pensions are wildly (wildly) out of control.

People don't realise how big Chagos is. The territory surrendered is the size of Belgium! In an era when Russia, China and others are expanding their territorial power, the UK (and no.2 in NATO) is deliberately diminishing her own territorial power. The decision is beyond staggering.

UK investors (sadly) are not very sophisticated, and it may take a few days for today's news to sink in. BSFA has invented (and patented) ultra-thin, ultra-light, ultra-strong leather. It's a technological breakthrough of global significance. Potentially worth billions. If BSFA were main-listed in New York, this would already be a billion-dollar unicorn, all day long.