Briefings Magazine: ‘It’s called commodity nationalism.’ The Global Race for Minerals

By SIMON CONSTABLE

For much of the post-WWII period, buying minerals such as copper, coal, or iron ore was simply a matter of money: Did you have it or not? If your company needed to purchase copper ore, it could get it from Chile, among other places. Likewise, the need for cobalt could be sated with supplies from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, or Australia. It more or less didn’t matter which country was selling the product. But that practice of unfettered trade seems to be disappearing, fast — and it has nothing to do with the great tariff wars of 2025. Rather, it comes down to worries about national security.

Currently, there’s a global race to secure minerals and other commodities. To ensure their own growth, as well as protect and defend themselves, countries around the world want access to vital materials. “It’s called commodity nationalism,” says Pete Earle, director of economics and economic freedom at the American Institute for Economic Research. “Control over oil and minerals is becoming more important.”

It was COVID-era changes in international trade that first put the whole issue of supply chains into focus, says Bill Stone, chief investment officer and managing principal at the Glenview Trust Company in Louisville, Kentucky. That period highlighted how susceptible global trade was to interruptions, accidental or otherwise. “When the stakes get big enough, countries will hold back from selling precious materials to other countries,” he says. “The goal is to find their vulnerabilities.” READ MORE HERE.

FOX Biz: Macron scrambles to restore stability, reappoints ex-PM amid France’s budget crisis: Déjà vu all over again as new French PM back in the saddle

By SIMON CONSTABLE 

Last Monday, France had a déjà vu moment with yet another French prime minister leaving the job. In this case, it was Sébastien Lecornu, who spent a mere 27 days in the role — a record low since 1958. By late Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron had reinstated Lecornu.

Lecornu stepped down amid a parliamentary stalemate over his inability to pass budgets and address other financial matters. It was also the day after he had established a cabinet. “One cannot serve as prime minister when the necessary conditions are not met,” he said in a speech Monday, according to Le Monde. The conditions required to get the French budget passed were absent, along with Social Security, he said. “[These are] matters that cannot wait until the 2027 presidential election,” he said.

Last Monday, France had a déjà vu moment with yet another French prime minister leaving the job. In this case, it was Sébastien Lecornu, who spent a mere 27 days in the role — a record low since 1958. By late Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron had reinstated Lecornu. Read more here.

Lecornu: U.S. Secretary of Defense, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Korn Ferry: Crying at Work: Another New Normal

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

The first year, the recent British graduate thought his job in finance was great. The London-based role was as advertised, and the pay was good.

But over time, the stress of the role ratcheted up higher and higher. One day it became too much. At his desk, he began to cry.

Weeping at work is now more common than it was a few decades ago, when it was often looked down upon. “There is definitely a generational change,” says Grant Duncan, Korn Ferry’s senior client partner, managing director and sector lead for consumer, EMEA. “Showing your emotions is more acceptable.”

Indeed, a recent survey across the United Kingdom found that one in three UK workers have cried at work over the previous 12 months. It was skewed by gender: 66% of those who cried were women, and 34% were men. “Women who cry at work often face a competence penalty, but men do not,” says Drew Hill, a senior client partner for Korn Ferry based in the firm’s London office. READ MORE HERE.

WSJ Financial Flashback: The 2005 Collapse of Refco

By SIMON CONSTABLE

 

20 YEARS AGO 

 

By SIMON CONSTABLE

 

Few people outside Wall Street pay too much attention to commodities traders. But on Oct. 10, 2005, one of the world’s largest commodities brokers, Refco, collapsed. It was shocking news about a seemingly ever-present fixture in the commodities world.

 

“It was kind of like a smaller version of the Enron collapse,” says Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth Management. It came on the heels of the 2002 Sarbanes–Oxley Act, designed to prevent accounting fraud.

 

The first news of the Refco collapse began when its CEO, Phillip Bennett, stepped down, following the firm’s discovery that another company controlled by Bennett owed Refco $430 million. The debt was described to investors as “receivables,” aka money owed to Refco. 

 

Following the discovery of the debt, Refco advised that financial statements from 2002

onward shouldn’t be relied upon. Refco stated that Bennett had repaid the debt, and the

company had notified authorities.

 

Bennett was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2008. “Despite the best of intentions, I made an unacceptable and appalling error,” Bennett said at sentencing. He was released in 2020, a judge calling him a “model prisoner.”

 

READ MORE HERE.

Briefings Magazine: ‘ It’s called commodity nationalism.’ The Global Race for Minerals

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

For much of the post-WWII period, buying minerals such as copper, coal, or iron ore was simply a matter of money: Did you have it or not? If your company needed to purchase copper ore, it could get it from Chile, among other places. Likewise, the need for cobalt could be sated with supplies from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, or Australia. It more or less didn’t matter which country was selling the product. But that practice of unfettered trade seems to be disappearing, fast—and it has nothing to do with the great tariff wars of 2025. Rather, it's worries about national security. 

Currently, there’s a global race to secure minerals and other commodities. To ensure their own growth, as well as protect and defend themselves, countries around the world want access to vital materials. “It’s called commodity nationalism,” says Pete Earle, director of economics and economic freedom at the American Institute for Economic Research. “Control over oil and minerals is becoming more important.”

Tt was COVID-era changes in international trade that first put the whole issue of supply chains into focus, says Bill Stone, chief investment officer and managing principal at the Glenview Trust Company in Louisville, Kentucky. That period highlighted how susceptible global trade was to interruptions, accidental or otherwise. “When the stakes get big enough, countries will hold back from selling precious materials to other countries,” he says. “The goal is to find their vulnerabilities.” READ more here.

Korn Ferry: Modernizing the Military: Britain's Bold Gamble

When Sarah Brown graduated this year, she surprised her friends by enlisting in the British Army. Her father had done the same two decades earlier. Yet the force she joins looks nothing like his: smaller, leaner, but wired with technology that was the stuff of science fiction in his day. “It doesn’t feel like the Army he knew,” she says. “It feels like the future.”

For many decades, Britain was NATO’s heavyweight spender, pumping more than 4% of GDP into defense every year. But after 1991 the money slowed, and with it the size of the armed forces. Today troop numbers are at historic lows. Now, the government says the pendulum must swing back — modernization and deterrence are the watchwords. “Given the threats, we can’t afford to be unprepared,” says Edward Dinsmore, Korn Ferry’s senior client partner for organizational strategy. “This is about rebuilding readiness.”

READ MORE HERE.

France: Blackberries ripe; Macron's government overripe. @REALConstable, Occitanie @BATCHELORSHOW

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Listen here.

Ambadeargentina, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

UK: MANSION TAX @REAL CONSTABLE @BATCHELORSHOW

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

Listen here.

English: NPS staff, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

FRANCE: HEAT WAVE LIFTS @REALCONSTABLE @BATCHELORSHOW

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

Listen here.

H. de Sarrepont, Hennebert Eugène (1826-1896)., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

WSJ: FINANCIAL FLASHBACK Decimal Stock Pricing

A look back at Wall Street Journal headlines from this month in history

• 25 YEARS AGO: Decimal Stock Pricing

A quarter-century ago, in August 2000, the New York Stock Exchange and the old American Stock Exchange began shifting their pricing systems to “decimals” from fractions. At the time, it was a big deal, promising benefits by lowering costs and other innovations.

“It was a watershed moment for U.S. equity markets,” says Daryl Jones, director of research at investment analysis company Hedgeye.

Shortly before the switch, The Wall Street Journal started converting its stock listings to decimal form—starting with its Nasdaq list. (It would take several months until Nasdaq itself went decimal for trading, and the NYSE and Amex fully converted for all stocks.)

The longstanding method of U.S. stock pricing—tracing to the 17th century, in fact—used fractions such as 1/8 of 1/16. For instance, a stock priced at $10 1/16 could move up to $10 1/8. But starting in August 2000, stocks began to be priced in increments of 1 cent, which could allow a price of $10.01 or $10.02, etc. READ more here.

 

Briefings Magazine: ‘We need massive amounts of electricity.’ Nuclear Power’s Sudden Comeback

By SIMON CONSTABLE

More than three-quarters of a century ago, nuclear-powered electricity was born in Chicago. A team of scientists led by Enrico Fermi created the first sustained nuclear reaction. It lit up four light bulbs, a relatively small amount of energy, but it led the way for much more. Indeed, the heyday of building atomic power plants had begun. In 1951, Russia started building a grid-connected reactor, the only one that year. And by 1979, the peak year, 234 plants were under construction globally.

But heydays don’t last forever. While nuclear energy was presented as cheap and clean, its reputation quickly got soiled after some epic disasters. The first, in 1957, was in northwest England at Sellafield nuclear reactor. In 1979, there was a partial nuclear meltdown at US-based Three Mile Island. In 1986, the Chernobyl, Ukraine, plant exploded, immediately killing 31 people. In 2011, a tsunami disabled the cooling system of a nuclear plant in Fukushima, Japan. “Everyone thought nuclear power was safe, then something happened and got everybody concerned,” says Rob Thummel, senior portfolio manager at Tortoise Capital. “That’s kept nuclear on the sidelines; people wanted to shut it down.”

So what is happening now? Read more here.

UK: POTUS ASKS PM AFTER NORTH SEA. @REALCOSTABLE @BATCHELORSHOW

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

Listen here.

British official photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

FRANCE : PLUMS AND BLACKBERRIES, @REALCONSTABLE, OCCITANIE. @BATCHELORSHOW

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

Listen here.

Bibliothèque nationale de France , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Korn Ferry: AI Job Applications Spur… In-Person Interviews?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

The candidate’s application looked great, and the firm was ready to hire her. Then came a question from one HR rep: Did the candidate actually write the résumé and cover letter, or had AI written them for her?

A new study shows that half of UK-based graduates seeking jobs are using AI to write their applications, up from 38% in 2024. And many HR pros believe the number is even higher, creating a thorny issue as firms try to figure out whether it was the candidate who wrote the great cover letter and list of suggestions—or AI. “Individuals are very cautious about revealing they are using AI, because some employers don’t respond well,” says Bryan Ackermann, Korn Ferry’s head of AI strategy and transformation.

The advantages of applying with AI are well-known. It can increase the number of job applications a person can pump out. More importantly, it may be able to defeat the automated hiring filters companies use—and that applicants need to get through. “The candidate can use AI to get data and shape their application,” says Tim Manasseh, Korn Ferry’s senior partner, EMEA, for global consumer products. READ MORE HERE.

UK: TAXING THE PENSIONERS BEYOND THE GRAVE @REALCONSTABLE @BATCHELORSHOW

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

Listen here.

State Archives of North Carolina Raleigh, NC, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons

FRANCE: THUNDERSTORMS AND COPPER TRADING ALL-TIME HIGHS. @REALCONSTABLE @BATCHELORSHOW

By SIMON CONSTABLE 

Listen here.

Maxime Raynal from France, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

UK TAXES AND INFLATION. @REALCONSTABLE CONTINUED @BATCHELORSHOW

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Listen here.

A German light cruiser in action, probably at the Battle of the Falkland Islands, 8 December 1914 

William Lionel Wyllie, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

PRICE OF COPPER: @REALCONSTABLE @BATCHELORSHOW

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

Listen here.

George Paterson Dawson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Last Minute Special Offer: Art Retreat in Southern France

Hello! Just to let you know. My wife is hosting an amazing art retreat here at our village of Cordes sur Ciel in South West France this September. There are only three spaces available to the lucky few. If you would like to join her friendly group at the stunning location of St Jean, you will be treated to a wonderful week of art and gourmet French food and wine. 

Check out the retreat here: https://www.inspirecreativeretreats.com/

Korn Ferry: A Merger Boom, An HR Headache

When it comes to mergers, the people in the human-resources department are often among the last to hear. Frequently they’re also the ones hit with an enormous workload. 

A recent report found that 54% of British companies surveyed see M&A activity increasing. That’s generally good news for a national business environment that has been struggling for growth, but it raises the bar for CHROs, who must lead their newly formed firm through a slew of talent-merging issues, as well as determine how to combine different hiring, benefits and pay policies. “HR often gets invited late in the process,” says Grant Duncan, a Korn Ferry senior client partner and sector lead in the firm’s Consumer practice. By then, the corporate decisions may already have been made. “As a result,” Duncan adds, “there is little the HR team can do to help out.” Read more here.

ENGLAND; BAYEUX COMES TO THE UK. @REALCONSTABLE @BATCHELORSHOW

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Myrabella, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

 

Listen here.

FRANCE; WILDFIRES AT MARSEILLES. @REALCONSTABLE @BATCHELORSHOW

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

Listen here.

Probably Decauville, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

WSJ FinancialFlashback: 30 YEARS AGO: Nasdaq 1000

  A look back at Wall Street Journal headlines from this month in history

By SIMON CONSTABLE

In July 1995, the Nasdaq Composite Index surpassed the 1000 level for the first time. It took a while for the index to get there, but in hindsight, breaching the 1000 level was a monumental signal that better things were coming. And it did. On average the Nasdaq index has outperformed the S&P 500 for most of the past two decades.

The Nasdaq composite launched in February 1971 with an index level of 100. At the time, Nasdaq was a fledgling stock market that could boast it was the first to be fully electronic. Initially, it was just a quotation system rather than an electronic trading platform. 

Surpassing the Nasdaq 1000 level quickly gave way to an accelerated rally that lasted until Nasdaq breached 5000 in March 2000, according to Nasdaq data. It took until May 2015 to cross the 5100 level. And those levels now look as dated as an old cellphone: The Nasdaq composite as of last week’s close was at five figures: more than 20601.

Read more here.

UK: BACKBENCHERS NIX PM STARMER & CHANCELLOR REEVES. @REALCONSTABLE @BATCHELORSHOW OCCITANIE

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

Listen here.

Diliff, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

FRANCE: BAKE OFF CONTINENTAL EUROPE. @REALCONSTABLE @BATCHELORSHOW OCCITANIE

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

Listen here.

Murray Foubister, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Kiplinger’s Retirement Report: Hiring a Financial Adviser: 10 Questions to Ask

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

Hiring a financial adviser is a key way to manage your retirement nest egg with less stress. Many people get overwhelmed when tackling retirement planning. Even those with big paychecks and a Wall Street education often seek a financial adviser to help them.

It’s a smart thing to do. You leave the investing work to experts. That gives you time and confidence to focus on important things like family and career. However, deciding which adviser to pick is a big deal. They will be looking after your financial nest egg. You will need to know a lot of things about them before deciding who to choose.

Different types of advisers have different credentials. Any financial adviser selling or recommending certain securities must pass Financial Industry Regulatory Authority exams and may need to register with federal and state regulators. Read more here.

Boaventuravinicius, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

NATO: PM STARMER STRUGGLES TO FIND THE MONEY FOR DEFENSE PLEDGE OF 5%. @REALCONSTABLE @BATCHELORSHOW

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Listen here.

unknow person, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons