Downing Street discussed diplomatic role for Starmer aide, says ex-Foreign Office head ft.trib.al/9VKVPyV

For @alphaville.ft.com, I had a look at this controversial investor's portfolio, and the fact that his stocks all seem to go ... down That'll be the death spiral financing, I guess Scenic route via Trump Media and John Fife's premium quality shrimp investment www.ft.com/content/2215...

Great piece from @rachel-rees.bsky.social that sums up this very normal market www.ft.com/content/bb8d...

Come for the controversial investor whom the SEC described as a "recidivist violator of the federal securities laws" (charge now dropped), stay for the CEO karaoke pics and the short seller named after a scene from The Wolf of Wall Street as.ft.com/r/b97be4c7-e...

Not so whizzy: Wizz Air has become the UK's most shorted stock after warning that the Iran war would wipe out its profits this year as.ft.com/r/bb255a27-8... data viz by @raydouglas.bsky.social

Earnings and AI fears drive ‘extreme’ churn in US stock market ft.trib.al/Cm7yRGi

More lovely charts by @jonathanvincent.bsky.social, showing the huge rotation in US stocks as the anything-but-tech trade gathers momentum. Tech was the main driver in US stocks until Oct — now it's last among the S&P 500's 11 sectors as.ft.com/r/a3d9e607-f...

Retail investors just keep buying silver, even after it plunged 27% in one day and deepened its falls last week Great chart by @jonathanvincent.bsky.social, showing how retail poured $430mn into the metal's ETF as & after the price collapsed, drawn by its "sex appeal" as.ft.com/r/415c75be-1...

Nice hit from @rachel-rees.bsky.social on retail investors pouring into silver despite those massive price falls www.ft.com/content/3183...

but they’re stopping knife crime by employing young people to stand outside stations and ask for donations to stop knife crime by employing young people to stand outside stations and… (Ironically such a successful model that it now has tons of copycats - www.londoncentric.media/p/inside-suc...)

Memory chipmakers are the new hot stocks in the AI trade as the Mag 7 rally fizzles Supply shortages have unleashed "eyewatering" gains for the once unsexy sector — and billions in profits for some hedge funds Read here: as.ft.com/r/fabb2746-3... with @tim.fo, charts by @raydouglas.bsky.social

Memory stocks soar as investors hunt for new AI winners ft.trib.al/WZitrcL

The Stoxx Europe Aerospace and Defence index has surged nearly 15% this month as investors bet that domestic military spending will have to keep rising. ft.trib.al/OcrKrVp

Amid all the Venezuela fallout, spare a thought for the poor Barclays analyst who downgraded Venezuelan debt a mere 14 hours before Maduro was ousted, citing the low likelihood of a political transition. full alphaville here: www.ft.com/content/bbc4... with help from @robinwigglesworth.ft.com

Re-tweet? Rees-tweet? Reeves-tweeves?

Rees writing on Reeves? Reeves writing on Rees! read my @financialtimes.com story on FTSE 100 hitting 10k here - or via the chancellor's X account if that's your preferred medium (analysts disagree with the whole 'vote of confidence in uk economy' thing, but anyway...) as.ft.com/r/aa19ad04-c...

This amazing animation by @raydouglas.bsky.social shows just how many $tns in value US big tech companies gained this year - and how Nvidia doubled its market cap April-Oct to leapfrog to the top More @financialtimes.com 2025 markets charts to go with your mince pies here as.ft.com/r/d8b0748f-6...

2025's big winners and losers in the stock market -- and not a US tech company among them chips! metals! guns! banks! robinhood! ads! yoga pants! from me and a collection of the @financialtimes.com's finest, with lovely data viz by @jonathanvincent.bsky.social as.ft.com/r/441bc00c-0...

Asian chipmakers and European defence companies are among the biggest winners on stock markets in 2025 while US consumer stocks have suffered, as the artificial intelligence boom and Donald Trump’s trade war became major dividing lines for global equities. ft.trib.al/nTKDvuD

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

Pulling out all the stops... asset managers' cash holdings fall to a record low, report @rachel-rees.bsky.social + @emilydherbert.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/3502...

How is untreated sewage from this upmarket Crouch End street polluting a Tottenham park -- and threading its way via the Walthamstow Wetlands & Hackney Marshes to the Thames? In today's London Centric, my deep dive into a small cog in one of the capital’s worst sewage scandals: misconnections.

big banks say big US stocks will get bigger! despite recent AI jitters Binky Chadha, chief US equity strategist at Deutsche Bank, told me yday: “Everyone characterises my forecast as bullish — I’m concerned it’s not bullish enough” With great data vis by @jonathanvincent.bsky.social

Sterling jumps as business survey triggers unwinding of negative bets on.ft.com/3Y5qjbr

Traders gobble up sterling puts as they position for a Budget that will add to downward pressure on the pound. By @rachel-rees.bsky.social + me www.ft.com/content/fefd...

The tax-efficient wheels of British government on.ft.com/49kjud8

vital public interest stuff from me & @ramshodgson.bsky.social a gov figure told FT that the Cycle to Work scheme was "tax breaks to high earners buying £4,000 e-bikes for weekend rides in the Surrey Hills" so for fun here's some charts on the £120 to £2,996 bikes being bought by gov employees

NEW: The End of the Line: the centrepiece of Saudi Arabia’s Neom gigaproject - a 500m tall, 170km long wall-like building intended ultimately to house 9 million people - can’t get out of the ground, say more than 20 former Neom architects, engineers and senior executives. ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...

I’m delighted to have been nominated for New Journalist of the Year at the British Journalism Awards, for my work with @jim.londoncentric.media at London Centric (who also got 3 noms!), and alongside multiple of my new colleagues at the @financialtimes.com I’m v grateful to Jim for all his help!

I think this is the weirdest story I've ever reported. www.londoncentric.media/p/terry-ball...

These chocolate bars have had an unfortunate character arc www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

The UK's lossmaking money-maker, "collector fatigue", and real life monopoly money on.ft.com/4nwi8j3

HMRC lost hundreds of millions of pounds more than previously estimated to phoenixing, an insolvency practice open to abuse by tax evaders Sound familiar? @jim.londoncentric.media on Piccadilly Circus' phoenixing gift shops (and Asif Aziz) www.londoncentric.media/p/asf-aziz-l... on.ft.com/4nzqlmU

It's been really exciting to see where London Centric is going from the inside. I've had a lot of fun and I'm hugely grateful to Jim for all his guidance and ideas. If you're not already a subscriber and you care about London, do check it out!

A final little bit from me in today's edition: the south London flagger who told the BBC he was one of many “hardworking business people” hanging British flags -- and his £98,000 false injury claim When I called him, he gave this gem of a quote

Here's something a bit different. We've been reporting from Edinburgh to try to get to the bottom of a mystery in London. Princes Street is the Scottish capital's most famous shopping street — and it's gaining the *exact same* tatty gift shops as London. www.londoncentric.media/p/edinburgh-...

Moments before the dog was handed over, captured in grainy iPhone SE glory. The pet does seem to be a crucial part of the protest. The man’s banner says “Dictators Fear Freedom, Even For Animals” with an icon of a dog. Earlier this year, Iran banned dog-walking in cities including Tehran.

THE DOG IS DOWN Latest update from an anti-Iran protest at King’s Cross, where a man with a Pomeranian scaled the 34m clocktower at 8. He just handed over the dog to firefighters on a cherry-picker, to scattered cheers from onlookers. The man remains at the top and seems to be arguing with LFB.

One of the capital's worst high-rise fires since Grenfell was just over a year ago; residents still have almost no answers. London Centric's investigation into the devastating fire, from May: londoncentric.media/p/spectrum-h...

Nitrous oxide driving, with drivers using balloons behind the wheel, feels like it’s on the rise in London - backed up by what medical experts told us about referrals. But the scale of the issue is obscured because of how crashes are recorded in police stats. www.londoncentric.media/p/nitrous-ox...

Today: wildfire risk in central London's parks/palaces also - 1 in 8 Notting Hill carnival arrests based on facial recognition tech - Soho pedicab crash - airport security vs wet-wipes - headphones on the tube - the cricket team and the zoo www.londoncentric.media/p/will-wildf...

Another fun part of this edition is the Qatari-royal-owned, mould-infested, ceiling-falling-down, £7.95m Mayfair townhouse that reminded me (already resigned to not owning in London for about 11 decades) just how outrageous London’s property market is.

Spoiler: like all good things it’s tax related

Asif Aziz almost forced out London’s Prince Charles Cinema earlier this year. Is he trying the same again with Picturehouse Central - and is another major central London cinema under threat from the same landlord? www.londoncentric.media/p/picturehou...

Ever wondered what the deal is with the InsideSuccess kids outside London stations who tell you they are raising money to stop knife crime? I have. Well @jim.londoncentric.media of London Centric has done the leg work, as ever. substack.com/inbox/post/1...

Today's story: how a Wimbledon LTN led a man down a online rabbit hole, via a 6 hour lamppost sit-in. also featuring anti-ULEZ bladerunners, a hardline vicar, flat-earthers, and conspiracy theorists quoting the Magna Carta www.londoncentric.media/p/anti-ltn-p...

He's one of Britain's richest men. So why does Asif Aziz's property company keep leasing London gift shops to overseas students based in abandoned offices or flytipped car parks — before vanishing without paying millions of pounds in taxes? www.londoncentric.media/p/asf-aziz-l...

Today on London Centric: those blue jacket knife-crime fundraisers (Inside Success) and why no one seems to be able to get rid of them www.londoncentric.media/p/inside-suc...

Fun fact: this is the *second Lego-linked debacle* for the London Tories this decade. At a Partygate lockdown party in 2020, assembly member Lord Bailey — then running for mayor — reportedly received a Trafalgar sq Lego set from billionaire property developer (& now Reform treasurer) Nick Candy.

Real screenshot (of non-real tweet) from the real Conservative video.