By SIMON CONSTABLE
Black Friday is almost here. But how much do you know about it?
For decades, the day after Thanksgiving has marked the start of the shopping rush for the holiday season. What was once a single-day event has now grown to include Thanksgiving Day, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday.
Over the years, Black Friday has been surrounded by little-known details—and common misperceptions. Take our quiz and find out how much you really know.
Figures suggest there may be a light at the end of the tunnel for Britain’s manufacturing sector, which has faced years of struggles.
By SIMON CONSTABLE
It’s a sector that has been blindsided again and again. First, manufacturing firms were hit with COVID-19 lockdowns. Then came a surge in energy prices after Russia invaded Ukraine. Supply chain-issues followed, along with higher interest rates and ultimately inflation. What else could go wrong?
Perhaps the sector has found a way to bounce back. One measure of its health, the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), has steadily improved over the last 12 months, according to new data. As of October, the PMI was at 49.7, up from around 45 in March. While manufacturing slumped, executives were less willing to invest in new projects, says Ben Frost, a Korn Ferry senior client partner, EMEA. “There hasn’t been a positive outlook for a while,” he says. “But many executives are currently saying we need to activate these plans, and the time is now.”
Part of the turnaround has come from an increase in passenger-vehicle production following an interruption at one UK automaker. Still, experts forecast that the PMI is ripe to surpass 50 before year’s end. A PMI reading of 50+ indicates economic growth in the sector. The UK’s defense and aerospace subsector is also a bright spot, says Rory Singleton, a Korn Ferry senior client partner for the global industrial market. “We have world-leading companies in the subsector that should be seeing investment,” he observes. READ MORE HERE.
By SIMON CONSTABLE
Britain’s reputation as a country full of get-up-and-go seems to have got up and left the kingdom. Much of the blame for that falls on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his colleagues, who led the left-leaning Labor Party to an epic victory in the middle of last year, but the landslide win hasn’t been good for the British economy.
The truth is that Britain’s primary income deficit — the difference between what the government raises from taxpayers compared to what it spends, excluding debt payments — has deteriorated rapidly over the last few years. In this year’s second quarter, the primary deficit totaled 16.8%, more than double the deficit in the fourth quarter of last year and the worst showing since the second quarter of 2023, according to government dat
"The biggest problem is the current British government is remorselessly negative," said Alan Mendoza, executive director of the Henry Jackson Society, a London-based think tank. "That’s not an environment to encourage investment." READ MORE HERE
By SIMON CONSTABLE
Warren Buffett, 95, the so-called Oracle of Omaha, is set to step down by year-end as CEO of investment company Berkshire Hathaway. Over 60 years, he and his deputy, Charlie Munger, who died in 2023 at the age of 99, produced outstanding investment returns that made other investors’ returns pale in comparison.
Look at the numbers: From 1965, the year Buffett took over a struggling textile company, through the end of 2024, Berkshire’s shares rose 5,502,284%. That’s an annual compounded return of 19.9%. Over the same six decades, the S&P 500 index rose just 39,054% or 10.4% annually.
“Buffett is the most legendary investor in the history of investing,” says Adam Patti, CEO of exchange-traded fund company VistaShares. “And he has changed the way people invest.” Read more here.
@BatchelorShow and @RealConstabke reported on market trends among many other things.
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By SIMON CONSTABLE
By SIMON CONSTABLE
@RealConstable and @BatchelorShow analyze rare earth markets, noting China’s dominance is achieved through undercutting prices and buying out competitors. Prices for key industrial commodities like copper and aluminum are up. Listen here.
By SIMON CONSTABLE
After passing the 4000 threshold in February 1995, the Dow industrials took only nine months to pass and close above 5000 — bringing cheers from the New York Stock Exchange floor.
