Author: Jordan

The big development in oil markets yesterday was news that the UAE is set to leave OPEC from 1 May. This is a significant move and will be a big blow to OPEC. It’s the highest-profile exit from OPEC in recent years. Prior to the Iran war, the UAE was pumping 3.4m b/d of crude oil (February 2026), making up around 12% of total OPEC output and the third-largest producer within the group. The UAE’s departure will reduce OPEC’s effectiveness in managing and influencing the global oil market through supply measures. The UAE’s exit will increase output, with current production…

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Virgin Money has pulled all buy-to-let new business deals as of Tuesday 28 April, removing its full range of fixed rate options across multiple fee structures. The lender confirmed that fixed rates with a 3% fee, £2,195 fee, 1% fee and £995 fee have all been withdrawn. Fixed rate fee-saver products have also been removed from the new business range. The move comes amid continued volatility in swap rates and wider mortgage pricing, with lenders across the market frequently repricing or temporarily withdrawing products in response to changing funding costs. PRODUCT TRANSFERS REMAIN IN PLACE Virgin Money confirmed that its…

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Special Report: The scale of Terra Metals’ potentially game-changing Southwest platinum group metals discovery at its Dante project in WA continues to grow with a new drill hole linking what was thought to be two separate zones.Infill sampling links 172m zone of high-grade platinum group metals mineralisation at Terra’s Southwest discovery Mineralisation expected to continue along strike and at depth Continues to shape as major Australian nickel-copper-PGE discoveryAnd it includes a section running at an ounce to the tonne of 3E PGEs, the high value precious metals platinum, palladium and gold.Infill sampling between Terra’s (ASX:TM1) discovery holes SWRC031 and SWDD006,…

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People often think investment philosophy comes from textbooks, models, or complex theories. In my experience, it doesn’t. It comes from life. Research in behavioural finance supports this. The way individuals manage money is strongly influenced by their personal background, especially their early experiences with financial security or loss. People who have lived through financial hardship tend to be more cautious. They focus more on protecting capital and are less likely to take speculative risks. Family environment also plays an important role. How money is treated at home shapes how it is treated later in life. These influences are not temporary.…

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FIFA has tweaked World Cup rules on yellow cards to ensure fewer players are suspended for key elimination games.An extra amnesty for yellow cards — wiping player disciplinary records twice during the expanded tournament in North America — was proposed to a meeting Tuesday of FIFA’s ruling council. Later FIFA issued a statement confirming the change.“Reflective of the expanded format with an extra knockout round, the FIFA Council confirmed an amendment to the regulations for the FIFA World Cup 2026 whereby single yellow cards in the final competition will be canceled after the group stage and then again after the…

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Molo, the specialist mortgage lender serving UK and overseas landlords, has announced pricing improvements across its UK resident, non-UK resident and expat buy-to-let (BTL) product ranges, enhancing choice for brokers working with professional and portfolio landlords. The latest pricing strengthens Molo’s proposition for brokers supporting a broad spectrum of landlord clients, from UK-based individual and limited company borrowers to internationally based investors. Effective immediately, Molo’s UK resident buy-to-let rates now start from 2.98% on a two-year fixed at 55% LTV, available to both individual and limited company borrowers. Five-year fixed rates start from 4.73%, providing longer-term certainty for landlords seeking…

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Investors eye AI spending returns and Powell’s final meeting outcome this week. US stocks pulled back from record levels Tuesday while futures steadied early evening, as investors weighed renewed concerns about AI growth alongside a critical stretch of earnings and a closely watched Federal Reserve decision. During the regular session, equities moved lower, led by technology shares. The S&P 500 fell 0.49%, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.9% (its sharpest daily percentage decline in a month) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 25.86 points, or 0.05% The selling pressure followed a report that OpenAI missed internal targets for both revenue…

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Meeting the Sustainable Development Goals requires trillions of dollars of investment in developing economies each year, far exceeding what official aid budgets can provide. The answer, according to a broad policy consensus, is blended finance: the deliberate use of concessional public money to crowd in much larger flows of private capital. Development finance institutions now deploy over $250 billion annually through these operations, roughly four times what they mobilised a decade ago.Yet for all its prominence, blended finance rests on surprisingly thin analytical foundations, and while the grey literature on the topic is large, academic work is much more limited…

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Diverging strategiesRathi explained that the contrasting behaviour across segments highlights how different pools of capital operate. Mutual funds, guided by liquidity constraints and governance filters, are leaning more towards mid-caps where visibility and scale are better. Retail investors, on the other hand, are more active in small-caps, where potential returns are higher but risks are also elevated. Source link

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