Sunday, April 12, 2026

CBS: Fragmentation of British Politics Guest: Simon Constable who analyzes the fragmentation within the UK's Labor majority and the emergence of the Green Party.

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

Personal archive of Abdulhamid II, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Fragmentation of British PoliticsGuest: Simon Constable who analyzes the fragmentation within the UK's Labor majority and the emergence of the Green Party. Polling suggests voters are divided among tactical coalitions, making leadership challenges difficult for Prime Minister Starmer.




CBS: Global Commodities and Energy Shifts Guest: Simon Constable. Simon Constable reports on volatile energy markets and falling gold prices as the Strait of Hormuz enters a ceasefire.

 Meanwhile, high copper prices have triggered a surge in organized theft

By SIMON CONSTABLE




Naval History & Heritage Command, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons


Global Commodities and Energy Shifts Guest: Simon Constable. Simon Constable reports on volatile energy markets and falling gold prices as the Strait of Hormuz enters a ceasefire. Meanwhile, high copper prices have triggered a surge in organized theft in cities.





FOX News Digital: Hungarians vote in record numbers as Trump-ally Viktor Orbán faces biggest electoral threat since 2010

By SIMON CONSTABLE 

The U.S. and Europe are watching closely as Hungarians turned out in record numbers to vote Sunday in a high-stakes election that sets up Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, supported by President Donald Trump, against his former political ally, Péter Magyar.

Trailing in the opinion polls, Orbán received a major boost earlier this week when Vice President JD Vance visited the country, making clear what the administration’s position was on the importance of having a pro-U.S. candidate in the heart of Europe, as so many of its continental allies have proven lackluster, most notably for a lack of help in the war against Iran.

In his remarks, Vance made clear why he was there. "The reason why we're doing it is because we thought there was so much garbage happening against Viktor in this election that we had to show that there are actually a lot of people and a lot of friends across the world who recognize that Viktor and his government are doing a good job, and they're important partners for peace," he said at the Mathias Corvinus Collegium, a private university in Budapest, the capital of Hungary. "That's why we're here, but ultimately the Hungarian people are going to be sovereigns because that's how it should be." READ MORE HERE.





WSJ: FINANCIAL FLASHBACK A look back at Wall Street Journal headlines from this month in history

  35 YEARS AGO: The Dow’s 3000 Milestone

By SIMON CONSTABLE

When President Ronald Reagan took office in 1981, America’s economy and stock market began to bounce back. By the summer of 1990, some investors were concerned that the long rally and economic growth were coming to an end. During that time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average bashed through the 3000 level on July 13 and July 16, but only intraday. Shortly after that, in October, the market retreated to a low of 2365.10 on the Dow.

By April 17, 1991, with the first Gulf War in the rearview mirror, Wall Street was betting on an economic recovery. And that day, the Dow reached the 3000 milestone—closing at 3004.46. The six-month 27% rally was dominated by growth stocks and, to a smaller level, cyclical stocks. 

“What you are seeing here is a market moving on the expectation of economic recovery and being buoyed by lower interest rates,” Edward Kershner, a market strategist at PaineWebber Group, told The Wall Street Journal. READ MORE HERE.

Newspaper clipping with headlines "Market Milestone," "At 3000, Dow Reflects A Very Different Rally From One Last July," "People Are Talking of When Economy Will Recover, Not of Expansion's End," and "The Fed's Different Stance."



Saturday, April 11, 2026

FOX Business Digital: Time to ditch AI anxiety — experts say there’s a lot less to fear than we think Experts

By SIMON CONSTABLE 

More than two thousand years ago, Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus coined the phrase, "Change is the only constant." That observation has remained true since his death, but now change is happening even faster, largely due to generative artificial intelligence (Gen-AI) technology such as ChatGPT or Claude. And that is making many workers even more anxious than usual. But there’s also some good news for people willing to learn.

"Change is always stressful," Liz Bentley, a workplace and career consultant at Liz Bentley Associates in New York, told FOX Business.  Britain’s Industrial Revolution in the 1700s was stressful, too. New industries put people out of work, but new jobs were created. "At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, people didn’t know there would be new jobs," she says. We now know the 1700s inventions, including steam trains and mechanical weaving, brought prosperity to the U.K. then to other economies. READ MORE HERE.


Adobe Inc., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons





Thursday, April 9, 2026

Pay Transparency: Britain and the EU on Divergent Routes As a key deadline for EU firms approaches, UK firms take a different approach toward pay disclosures. Which will work better?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Businesses have long been less than transparent about who gets paid what. But back in 2018, Britain broke the mold and led the way on mandatory gender-pay-gap reporting. It was a landmark step toward pay equity. And at the time, the UK was the largest economy to have embraced such rules. 

But the world of pay is changing fast. The UK is reconsidering its existing pay-transparency rules, which are largely voluntary. And the neighboring European Union is attempting to leapfrog the UK with tighter rules.

Meanwhile, many states and cities in the US have put laws on the books requiring job postings to list pay ranges. “The EU saw what Britain did and copied it, then went further,” says Ben Frost, Korn Ferry’s senior client partner in EMEA.

READ MORE HERE.



Monday, April 6, 2026

STREAMING THE MAKING OF THE JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW, FEATURING SIMON CONSTABLE, JIM MCTAGUE, SNSTOL LIEVRN, THURSDAY 4-2-2026.

 By SIMON CONSTABLE




This transcript from The John Batchelor Show features a series of discussions regarding the global impacts of ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine. Batchelor and his colleagues examine how these wars have triggered a commodity crisis, specifically noting the sharp rise in oil, diesel, and fertilizer prices affecting farmers in both France and Pennsylvania. The dialogue critiques President Trump’s recent address, with analysts suggesting his rhetoric failed to stabilize volatile global markets or clarify American war aims. Additionally, the speakers explore the strain on NATO, observing that European allies are increasingly hesitant to support U.S. military actions as they prioritize their own energy security. The program concludes by highlighting the interconnected nature of modern warfare, where regional disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz directly threaten the economic stability of the entire Western world.

صانع القوالب, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons