Editor’s Notes: The Russians swung the Brexit vote? Pull the other one, Legatum Institute experts on the theory of change and City A.M.’s 3,000th edition is coming soon November 3, 2017 We have a problem with the Russian state. Senior spooks say the Kremlin’s agents are more active in this country now than at any point since the height of the Cold War. Out of the shadows, Putin’s interference is brazen – including the Kremlin-funded ‘news’ outlets RT and Sputnik – home of conspiracy theorists, pro-Russia [...]
How the gambling industry reacted to the launch of the government’s consultation on fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) October 31, 2017 The long-awaited government review into the gambling industry finally kicked off today, as a new consultation was launched by the department of digital, culture, media and sport (DCMS) into possible measures to deal with problem gambling. Despite rumours that the chancellor was intervening to reduce the damage to the treasury’s coffers, it looks as if [...]
Why cutting through noise is a sound investment strategy October 31, 2017 Noise is the enemy of information – a premise that is especially true for investing. Cutting through the noise and listening to what matters is critical for those who want to invest with clarity and not be distracted by sounds which are irrelevant to their objective. Business TV channels, financial publications and online news and [...]
Netflix says it will end House of Cards just a day after allegations against its star Kevin Spacey October 31, 2017 Netflix has announced it will cancel House of Cards after its upcoming sixth season, just one day after a sexual misconduct allegation was brought against its star Kevin Spacey. In a statement with production studio Media Rights Capital, Netflix said it was “deeply troubled” about actor Anthony Rapp’s allegations against Spacey. Rapp said Spacey had [...]
London’s latest private equity firm FPE Capital closes its debut fund at £100m to focus on smaller UK businesses October 26, 2017 The UK's private equity market is continuing to grab attention as FPE Capital, a new firm which will focus on smaller UK businesses, has closed its first institutional fund at £100m. The firm has spun out from Stonehage Fleming, a business which makes investments on behalf of high-net-worth individuals and families. FPE will target businesses [...]
The $64 trillion question October 25, 2017 How much longer the stock market rally can continue has become the $64 trillion question. For a growing number of market observers, there’s a simple answer: not much longer at all. Markets, they argue, have becoming increasingly detached from economic fundamentals, particularly in Britain. It’s thirty years since Black Monday and while few would suggest [...]
Trading Trump October 25, 2017 In recent months President Trump has reportedly been “hell bent” on imposing huge tariffs on steel imports to bolster domestic industries, despite warnings that doing so may spark a global trade war. Treading delicately as is his custom, ‘the Donald’ has also threatened to tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta). Nafta does [...]
A Facebook news feed experiment splitting it in two is freaking out media publishers October 24, 2017 Facebook has been forced to issue an assurance to media publishers that a potentially damaging change to news feeds being tested in a handful of countries will not be rolled out globally. The controversial change splits a users news feed in two, separating posts made by family and friends from that of content from publishers [...]
Data might be like oil, but reputation is still the real black gold October 24, 2017 For those firms harbouring inordinate reserves of our personal information, despite the endless profit-churning opportunities, an unblemished corporate reputation remains priceless. Today’s internet giants were founded on our personal data. Amazon, Facebook, Google. They don’t have high street stores. There’s next-to no human interaction. It’s all data. But today, data is a democracy. Businesses in [...]
The future may be powered by data, but it must be piloted by humans October 24, 2017 Of the six most valuable companies in the world, five are tech firms, whose worth is embodied less in physical assets than in intellectual property and customer data. Apple and Microsoft provide the tools to connect people, and to collect and process data. Google, Facebook and Amazon provide services, and in return accumulate more data [...]