Awks #MyFTReadingReview

Both Dark and The OA landed their endings with aplomb.

🚨 State-controlled investors own a quarter of private credit www.ft.com/content/0004...

"As a source of shock value, easy mission accomplished and moneymaking, Trump always has Greenland. His temptation is only likely to grow." My column on why I don't think Trump is trolling. as.ft.com/r/a343beca-d...

Who’s who at X, the deepfake porn site formerly known as Twitter. Featuring illustrations by Grok, because “pixels 🟰 zero harm” apparently. www.ft.com/content/ad94...

Reform UK voters stand out for their firm belief that white men are victimised & that minorities are subject to positive discrimination. Had missed this blog by @benansell.bsky.social last year. benansell.substack.com/p/odd-ones-out

One example of how Grok is being used to target women. Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch being sexualised, degraded, and humiliated step-by-step by Grok. All the images accurately reflect the prompts provided.

NEW: In a phone call this morning, I asked President Trump why Venezuelan regime change was different from Iraq. “I didn’t do Iraq. That was Bush. You’ll have to ask Bush that question, because we should have never gone into Iraq," he told me. Here is the story: www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

Is it just my FT mobile front page that won’t update beyond 9.14am? Have closed/ reopened/ updated app and everything.

🚨 Want a long-term equity market return forecast? Just think of a number between six and seven www.ft.com/content/534a...

Well said by @robertshrimsley.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/8d1f...

American followers can order this now. Out in less than a week. I’d really appreciate it if they did.

Amongst a dislikable field Starmer & Reeves still stand out www.ft.com/content/1995...

Searching (fruitlessly, for something else in) the IMF's Oct GFSR, I can see why this chart gives them the heebie-jeebies. UST mkt has flunked both its last two tests as global risk-free asset. www.imf.org/-/media/file...

Can’t immediately find the Kings New Year Honours list, but guessing it’s still not Lord @samuelmarclowe.bsky.social ?

I get that the UK Natl Wealth Fund has THREE objectives (generate growth & clean energy; crowd in private capital; generate a return for the taxpayer) — and also that it is still scaling up — but reporting a 14.2% loss is a very bad look: www.nationalwealthfund.org.uk/media/zygibc...

Hadn’t seen this surveyed before www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Imagine Musk will be quick to condemn Saudi’s latest crackdown on freedom of speech www.ft.com/content/e8e2...

“You know the difference between cannibals and liberals? Cannibals eat only their enemies.” LBJ, quoted in Zbig by @edwardluce.bsky.social

My word of 2025:: Lollification

Google has promised it is working on a “fix” for spam sites in its Discover app after more fake news stories topped the rankings in the UK pressgazette.co.uk/platforms/go...

Huh - on a tax-equivalent yield basis US munis yield more than EM corporate bonds. am.jpmorgan.com/us/en/asset-...

The best of FT Alphaville, 2025 edition (some amazing posts here) www.ft.com/content/c5e1...

Happy Friday, we got you a long read on where Handel, Keynes, Newton, Turner and Darwin might day-trade if they'd been born in a different century and chosen to waste their lives. www.ft.com/content/5d21...

🚨Which hedge funds might’ve lured away geniuses of yesteryear? @alphaville.ft.com investigates. Free-to-read. www.ft.com/content/5d21...

Beautifully put by @matt-levine.bsky.social www.bloomberg.com/opinion/news...

Have enjoyed Reith Lectures, incl Q&A. Esp exchange starting 44:30 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Totally missed the brief period in which Warsh > Hassett on Polymarket. He now lags Waller. polymarket.com/event/who-wi...

According to GS, 30% of total USD credit net supply in 2025 has been AI-related.

The FT's favourite non-FT articles of 2025 www.ft.com/content/72d0...

🚨A new angle on private equity’s volatility laundering www.ft.com/content/ff83...

Going through Churchill's financial history. Slightly taken aback that the going rate for one of his freelance articles in the 1920s was £750.

🚨A new angle on private equity’s volatility laundering www.ft.com/content/ff83...

An obituary to the IMF's chief nemesis and a lovely caring man, Peter Doyle . Thanks to my co-author and substack host @generaltheorist.bsky.social moneyinsideout.substack.com/p/peter-doyle

Bonus weekend @alphaville.ft.com content from George Steer www.ft.com/content/6d6c...

Kevin’s odds of being next Fed chair slashed/ lengthened. www.wsj.com/economy/cent...

Jamie Lee Curtis wraps her Christmas presents in pages of the FT tied with tartan ribbon. Why does she make this superb style choice? Why because Martha Stewart told her to of course! Find a more iconic sentence in a newspaper today. I DARE YOU. as.ft.com/r/8f38ca55-1...

I may be biased, but this Substack is great open.substack.com/pub/ftav/p/s...

I've got to say, I'm not sure why this has become such a big media story. I might be wrong but my current view is that it's overblown. Flu arrived early, which is why it's breaking 'time of year' records, but it's only in the medium threshold and could peak lower than last year, let alone 2022-23.

Post's here: as.ft.com/r/9aaeb116-2...

🚨Does the Bank consider taxpayer value for money when setting the pace of QT? Of course. But doesn't the MPC set the pace? Why, yes. And does the MPC consider value for money when making these decisions? Nope. Confused? www.ft.com/content/84e7...

Measured in a hard currency like <checks notes> GBP, S&P500 is actually down today* *This is bound to be wrong almost immediately after I post.

Hadn't seen this new index of Evergreen funds from Cliffwater. Boasts 2.2% pa outperformance of ACWI since end-09. Weirdly, the release omits that it has underperformed US stocks by 1.8%pa. A real headscratcher. cliffwater.com/ResourceArti...

Top post from Ludovic Phalippou & William Magnuson on the class action lawsuits that could accompany the democratisation of private equity www.ft.com/content/c460...

'We will never fucking trust you again' www.readtheline.ca/p/matt-gurne...

Correlation ≠ causation Causation = Succession? as.ft.com/r/3b25aeae-c...

This is a good thread! Every week someone reads out a London Centric story on TikTok without credit and does big views. This isn’t a wah wah moan… more that when a big news outlet steals, they know what they’re doing. I think a lot of content creators sincerely think “reading words” *is* reporting?

I would say this because I edited it but @mshannahmurphy.bsky.social's piece on tech bros founding their own for-profit cities really is unmissable reading www.ft.com/content/b127...

Here's this week's Substack wrap. It has links to all the FTAV posts you may have missed, as well as a bunch of other stuff. substack.com/home/post/p-...

Following grizzled markets veteran @mpaulmcnamara.bsky.social's observation earlier today on this platform, we took a look. www.ft.com/content/c403...