September 30, 2021
Johnny Kipps
Aviation
Grounded. After Bloomberg, quoting confidential sources, reported on September 8 that easyJet was planning to raise move than £1 billion from shareholders, Johan Lundgren, its CEO, ‘fessed up the next day and said the airline was looking for £1.2 billion to help its recovery from the pandemic, according to Finance. EasyJet is back in the…
September 25, 2021
Johnny Kipps
Energy Update
An imperfect storm Wind farms stand idle in windless August. The UK’s wholesale energy markets have reached record highs in recent weeks, The Guardian said. The trouble stems from a global surge in demand for gas following a cold winter that left the UK’s gas storage facilities depleted, and, as reported in The Spectator on…
August 2, 2021
Johnny Kipps
Excel
Image Credit: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-54423988 ‘To err is human but to really foul things up requires a computer’ is attributed to Paul Ehrlich, the American scientist: Public Health England proved it to be true of Excel when details of 16,000 Covid-positive cases disappeared from its Test and Trace spreadsheets in early October last year, resulting in 1,500…
July 5, 2021
Johnny Kipps
Non-fungible tokens
Finger pointing at tablet screen with Beeple pattern EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS . Beeple’s collage digital art signed with NFT non fungible token. Concept. Stafford, United Kingdom, March 13, 2021. In February, a 10-second video clip known as “Crossroads” by the digital artist Beeple sold at auction for $6.6 million. An animated image of a flying cat leaving…
June 21, 2021
Johnny Kipps
G7 Tax agreement
Rishi Sunak boarding an RAF jet. Britain looks set to be a major beneficiary of the G7 finance ministers’ decision on June 4 to make global firms pay more tax where they operate and stop shifting profits to low tax jurisdictions. G7 reach historic agreement St Ives, near to the venue for last weekend’s G7…
June 12, 2021
Johnny Kipps
Green TEchnology
Back in 1958 when scientists at Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii started measuring the earth’s carbon dioxide levels, the few who took notice regarded them as mad at worst, eccentric at best. Now investment in companies who say they subscribe to environment and social governance (ESG) is soaring. According to The Economist of May 22,…
May 29, 2021
Johnny Kipps
Bank of England
Fact – or fiction? Would ‘a kind of financial crisis, and bond market crisis, and a sterling crisis on top of the whole health crisis’ lead to the government re-nationalizing the Bank of England? LIVERPOOL, UK – October 2020: The James Atherton Pub in Merseyside is re-named The Three Bellends in protest against the UK Government….
May 23, 2021
Johnny Kipps
Corporate Finance
Media streaming has been a major growth area in Covid-time, yet in America some of the biggest distribution networks are consolidating. Are you and your company ready for a visit from the financial sharks? #1 last week on Nathniel Berman’s rating of the best Discovery channel on Ranker.com is MythBusters, a science entertainment television…
May 17, 2021
Johnny Kipps
CovidStock on Hand
One man. A brewery. The miracle. Jester, Olicana, Goldings, Fuggles A couple of Evans-Evans best brews. Celtic to most of us, but not if you are Welsh. Simon Buckley’s family have been brewing in Wales for 253 years and now he has recovered from a 13-week stay in hospital with Covid 19, Simon intends to…
April 29, 2021
Johnny Kipps
The Economy
“Full throttle for Deliveroo” screamed the Sunday Times Business headline just before the IPO. “Online giant defies critics as investors pile into £8bn float” But within days it all turned to tears. Was it timing? Was the valuation too high? Did labour issues discourage investors? Were the firm’s entry barriers perceived as being too low?…