Business Opportunities

China has itself to blame as time runs out for Tiktok

By Linda J. Dodson 3 hours ago

It was a misconcocted scheme from the start, but it is now deeply weird to think that less than a year ago a Hong Kong company made an attempt to take over London Stock Exchange Group.

Cast your mind back to the innocent pre-Covid days of September 2019, when HKEX shocked the City with a £30bn hostile bid for a British keystone of global financial infrastructure. The approach inevitably and swiftly failed for an array of financial and political reasons. LSEG boss David Schwimmer was left free to continue to pursue his own questionable megadeal with Blackstone for the data

… Read More

Gold is once more the glittering prize

By Linda J. Dodson 3 hours ago

And it is not just the absolute level of alternative income streams that matters. If the perception increases that inflation is back on the radar, then the real, price-adjusted value of a bond’s coupon, is reduced yet further. It might, as now, even turn negative, making gold’s zero return look positively generous. Now, clearly, inflation is not a problem today, but the measures employed by governments and central banks to support economies through the pandemic are a step into the unknown. Inflation could well be a big problem tomorrow.

These factors explain the performance of gold to date. They probably

… Read More

How Regent’s Canal turned from a dirty, stagnant corridor to a prime piece of London’s real estate

By Linda J. Dodson 3 hours ago

“They were trade wharfs that hadn’t been used for some time,” says Symonds. “The developer has been very careful about the way they look because they are in conservation areas. They have discreet storage spaces that look like beach huts. We encourage all developers to really think about how they can contribute positively to the canal.”

John Nash recognised this from the outset. He wanted to string 56 neo-classical houses together, overlooking the canal from inside Regent’s Park. Eight were built, two of which remain: Nuffield Lodge and Hanover Lodge. 

Nash’s dream was resurrected in 1988 by architect Quinlan Terry

… Read More

Why Tuesday’s unemployment figures will tell investors what to buy

By Linda J. Dodson 4 hours ago

Tuesday August 11: Derwent London, first-half results

With a broad spread of tenants between the media industry, corporate head offices and retail and leisure sites, Derwent London looks a good litmus test of how the capital’s commercial property landlords are faring during the pandemic.

The real estate investment trust’s largest tenants include the Government, Burberry, Expedia, Publicis, WPP, Ticketmaster and Sony Pictures. It has a £5.5 billion portfolio split across the West End of London (63pc) and borders of the City of London (35pc).

In July, Derwent revealed it had received 81pc of the rent due in the first three

… Read More