By SIMON CONSTABLE
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Thursday, February 20, 2025
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Thursday, February 13, 2025
WSJ: Office Technology Comes to the Movies: Test Your Knowledge With Our Quiz
By SIMON CONSTABLE
Workplace technology has been featured in movies for longer than you might imagine—think silent films. From the familiar to the futuristic, it often serves to advance a film’s plot and help deliver its message.
So, how much do you know about workplace technology in movies? Find out by taking our quiz.
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Fritz Lang. Joost Evers / Anefo, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
#POLAND: Prospering and arming. @RealConstable @BatchelorShow Occitanie
By SIMON CONSTABLE
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Fox Business Digital: Europe’s best kept secret: Poland, the region’s economic tiger
By SIMON CONSTABLE,
Nothing seems to get in the way of Poland going from strength to strength despite being part of the sluggish European Union. There are multiple reasons why and many facets, including the country’s outstanding defense spending and its conservative Donald Trump-like approach to illicit immigration.
Late last month, Poland’s economy was estimated to have grown by 2.9% last year, according to the country’s StatOffice. That performance trounces Europe’s single currency area, also known as the eurozone, by more than threefold; it eked out a mere 0.7% over the same period.
Poland’s growth also overtook the U.S., which grew a robust 2.5% in the 12 months through December.
“The last year or two has seen a boom, and it’s getting publicity,” says Mateusz Urban, a senior economist at Oxford Economics in Warsaw, Poland, told FOX Business. “There really is a European tiger right at Germany’s door.” Read more here.
The flag of Poland at the cemetery of the Polish refugees in Koja, Uganda.
RomanDeckert, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Wednesday, February 12, 2025
Fox Biz: France, Europe attempt to flex tech muscles at Paris AI summit in clash of civilizations
By SIMON CONSTABLE
FRANCE – Without a doubt, this week’s artificial intelligence summit in Paris was to showcase how Europe intends to catch up with the U.S. and China, the leaders in the field. But that’s not all.The summit was also aimed at bringing together the major players in this new technology. But in reality, it looks more like a clash of civilizations, cultures and national priorities. In simple terms, the main players are at substantial odds with each other.
Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday presented the keynote address at the plenary session. The Trump administration "will ensure that American AI technology continues to be the gold standard worldwide," he said. American AI tech is "the partner of choice for others, foreign countries, and certainly businesses, as they expand their own use of AI." The administration also wants AI to create jobs. Read more here.
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Monday, February 10, 2025
WSJ Financial Flashback: 40 YEARS AGO: The Dollar’s ‘Volcker Rally’
By SIMON CONSTABLE
After World War II, the U.S. dollar became the world’s top reserve currency, and the global economy flourished. But fast-forward to 1985, and things got a bit out of control.
The dollar index—a measure of the greenback’s value against a basket of major currencies such as the British pound and the German mark—hit an all-time high of 160. There seemed to be “no end in sight to the dollar’s strength,” as The Wall Street Journal quoted one banker in late February of 1985.It was called the Volcker Rally, recalls Win Thin, chief strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman. Paul Volcker headed the Federal Reserve and successfully crushed U.S. inflation by raising short-term interest rates to 20%.
Deregulation from the Reagan administration and corporate tax cuts helped boost stocks. And higher U.S. rates meant the dollar became a magnet for foreign capital, sending the dollar sky-high, Thin says. “It was sort of exceptional.” Read more here.
Sunday, February 9, 2025
Fox Business Digital: Europe’s best kept secret: Poland, the region’s economic tiger
By SIMON CONSTABLE,
Nothing seems to get in the way of Poland going from strength to strength despite being part of the sluggish European Union. There are multiple reasons why and many facets, including the country’s outstanding defense spending and its conservative Donald Trump-like approach to illicit immigration.Late last month, Poland’s economy was estimated to have grown by 2.9% last year, according to the country’s StatOffice. That performance trounces Europe’s single currency area, also known as the eurozone, by more than threefold; it eked out a mere 0.7% over the same period.
Poland's growth also overtook the U.S., which grew a robust 2.5% in the 12 months through December.
"The last year or two has seen a boom, and it's getting publicity," says Mateusz Urban, a senior economist at Oxford Economics in Warsaw, Poland, told FOX Business. "There really is a European tiger right at Germany’s door." Read more here.
The flag of Poland at the cemetery of the Polish refugees in Koja, Uganda.
RomanDeckert, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Thursday, February 6, 2025
Mr Market: Investment quiz to fail. @RealConstable @WSJ @BatchelorShow
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Tuesday, February 4, 2025
WSJ: How Much Do You Know About Alternative Investments? Take Our Quiz and See
By SIMON CONSTABLE
There’s more to investing than stocks, bonds and cash. There are a host of alternative investments—alts for short—ranging from hedge funds and venture capital to precious metals and commodity futures.
In general, these investments aren’t as liquid or easily traded as mainstream assets, but proponents say they help diversify portfolios and some alts, like private equity, have historically high risk-adjusted returns.
Find out how much you know about alts by taking our quiz.
Read more here.
Thursday, January 30, 2025
Korn Ferry: Britain’s Gen Z: ‘No, Thanks’ on Job-Hopping
By SIMON CONSTABLE
If you’d asked a Gen Zer a few years ago about how long they wanted to stay at one company, you’d likely have heard comments like “as short a time as possible.” Most saw job-hopping as a path to pay raises; most regarded corporate loyalty as a joke.
But guess who’s had a change of heart? In a remarkable finding, almost nine out of 10 Gen Zers rank stability as a priority, alongside financial security and a sense of community and belonging. That’s according to a recent study by UK-based insurance company Admiral. On average, Gen Z wants to stay with one company for seven years, the report says. That’s more than double the average of 3.5 years reported by workers overall. Read more here.
Thursday, January 23, 2025
#France: Starmer's failure to lead. @RealConstable @BatchelorShow Occitanie
By SIMON CONSTABLE
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Undated engraving depicting the executioner after the beheading of Charles I of England, 1649. Portrait File, Harvard University. Houghton Library , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
Kiplinger: 2025 Stocks Forecast: What Stock Pros Expect This Year
By SIMON CONSTABLE
Landing on a 2025 stocks forecast is a tricky business. Both 2023 and 2024 were some of the best times for investors. Each of those years produced total returns in double digits. But will 2025 also be a booming year for equities? History says it’s unlikely, while analysts hold differing positions.
Since 1942, three-year annual gains of 10% have occurred just three times. Only twice have there been four consecutive years of double-digit gains and only once has there been a five-year run.
“There is certainly a possibility that we have another gain that’s double-digit,” says Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA. “The problem is how do we know if we will have a gain or a loss.” Read more here.
HitomiAkane, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Thursday, January 16, 2025
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Tuesday, January 14, 2025
Briefings Magazine: Suddenly, Global Defense Spending Booms
By SIMON CONSTABLE
It was 1962, and tensions were rising as the Soviet Union began a buildup of nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles south of the United States. Worries of a nuclear Armageddon were palpable. Fortunately, the crisis was averted—and so was the military buildup. Over the next six decades, in a remarkable string of declines, global defense spending (including military equipment, war matériel, personnel, and weaponry) would fall from 6.3 percent of global GDP in 1962 to a low of 2.1 percent in 2018, helped in part by the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union.
But that was then. In a turnabout whose magnitude may surprise you, global defense spending rose a whopping 6.8 percent in 2023 from the previous year to a staggering $2.4 trillion, the largest annual increase since 2009. Read more here.
Thursday, January 9, 2025
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