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Happy Friday beautiful people,

Despite the fact that half our team is suffering from severe alcohol withdrawal symptoms as a result of Sober October, we remain committed to providing the highest quality service.

Now let’s get you up to speed with what happened in the UK and beyond this week, before I give in to the intrusive thoughts and throw myself off the nearest balcony.

⏰ Today's reading time is 5 minutes

Quote of the Week

French government collapses in 14 hours, deepening political crisis

‘A French government collapsing’ kept up its rivalry with the other great certainties of (death and taxes) this week, as Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu resigned just 26 days into the job — the country’s fifth PM in under two years.

Lecornu, a close Macron ally, quit after unveiling a cabinet almost identical to his predecessor, François Bayrou’s, sparking fury in parliament and threats of another no-confidence vote.

The resignation leaves President Emmanuel Macron with few good options: appoint yet another prime minister, call fresh legislative elections or resign himself, though the last is about as likely as his wife being outed as a man.

The TLDR of it all is that the government got very comfortable spending a shittonne of money during the Covid years, and is now finding it very hard to explain to the toddlers that unlimited sweeties and iPad time is over.

Macron’s 2024 snap election gamble backfired, producing a hung parliament split between the far-right wing nuts, hard-left commies and an increasingly limp centre.

France’s debt is now the highest in Europe at 114% of GDP, and with markets reacting badly to the latest upheaval, the teacher’s pet may soon find himself running out of political allies to throw into the cauldron known as French complaining politics.

Where to Invest $100,000 According to Experts

Investors face a dilemma. Headlines everywhere say tariffs and AI hype are distorting public markets.

Now, the S&P is trading at over 30x earnings—a level historically linked to crashes.

And the Fed is lowering rates, potentially adding fuel to the fire.

Bloomberg asked where experts would personally invest $100,000 for their September edition. One surprising answer? Art.

It’s what billionaires like Bezos, Gates, and the Rockefellers have used to diversify for decades.

Why?

• Contemporary art prices have appreciated 11.2% annually on average

• …And with one of the lowest correlations to stocks of any major asset class (Masterworks data, 1995-2024).

• Ultra-high net worth collectors (>$50M) allocated 25% of their portfolios to art on average. (UBS, 2024)

Thanks to the world’s premiere art investing platform, now anyone can access works by legends like Banksy, Basquiat, and Picasso—without needing millions. Want in? Shares in new offerings can sell quickly but…

My subscribers skip their waitlist*

_{*Past performance is not indicative of future returns. Important Reg A disclosures: masterworks.com/cd.}

Chinese carmaker BYD says the UK is now its biggest market outside China, with sales up 880% year-on-year in September to over 11,000 cars — mostly its plug-in hybrid Seal U SUV.

The surge helped BYD grab 3.6% of the UK market, boosted by Britain’s lack of tariffs on Chinese EVs, unlike the EU and US.

UK EV sales hit record highs last month, nearing 73,000 pure electric cars, with plug-in hybrids growing even faster. Despite that, petrol and diesel vehicles still made up over half of new sales.

BYD’s rise puts it ahead of Tesla, Jaguar and BMW globally, even as it remains locked out of the lucrative US market.

The company criticised the UK’s £650 million EV subsidy scheme, which excludes Chinese-made cars on environmental grounds. You could potentially even throw human rights grounds in there.

Nonetheless, BYD is expanding fast — opening its 100th UK dealership and planning more hybrid and EV launches soon.

US kicks off controversial financial rescue plan for Argentina

The US Treasury has begun buying Argentine pesos as part of a $20 billion rescue plan to stabilise Argentina’s collapsing currency and support President Javier Milei, a close ally of Donald Trump.

Argentina, lest us forget, hold the unenviable record of being the only country to go from First to Third world.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who knows a thing or two about tanking a currency, said Argentina’s reform agenda was “of systemic importance” and key to US strategic interests in the Americas.

The move briefly boosted the peso and Argentine bonds but ignited fury in Washington.

Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren blasted Trump for “bailing out Argentina instead of helping Americans afford health care,” while latino-hating traditional Republicans accused him of aiding a competitor that’s stealing soybean exports from the US.

Milei, who has imposed severe austerity and deregulation to stablise the Argentine economy, thanked Trump and Bessent, promising “a hemisphere of economic freedom.”

His gratitude and ethusiasm for the “free” market even spilled over into an impromptu rock concert, which he personally headlined.

What was that about austerity, Javier?

Germany blocks ‘chat control’ bill as EU talks stall

Germany has stalled an EU push to make tech firms scan private messages for child sexual abuse material (CSAM), leaving the long-debated “chat control” bill in limbo.

The proposal, backed by Denmark and France, would compel platforms like WhatsApp, Signal and X to detect and report illegal content — but critics warn it would break encryption and enable mass surveillance.

And governments have a notoriously good track record of not engaging in mass surveillance.

Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig said Germany “will not agree” to blanket message scanning and the SPD have urged a firm rejection, arguing it violates the constitutional right to confidential communication.

With Germany’s position pivotal, the law’s future is uncertain. Talks will continue into December, but for now, Europe’s battle between ‘child protection’ and digital privacy remains unresolved.

Because it’s definitely about child protection.

On the bright side, if it does eventually pass, maybe we’ll finally get a peek at EU commissioner Ursula von der Leyen’s text messages.

Global renewable power output overtakes coal for the first time

Renewables took a significant step in proving they aren’t as “gay and useless” as my wingnut grandfather claims (love ya gramps), overtaking coal as the world’s top source of electricity for the first time this year.

Solar and wind growth met 100% of rising electricity demand, even trimming coal and gas use slightly, according to Ember. The gains, however, were a bit uneven.

China and India led the clean energy charge, cutting fossil fuel use thanks to huge solar and wind expansions, while the US and EU backslid, relying more on coal and gas amid weaker renewables output and policy shifts.

Drill, baby, drill.

The IEA has halved its forecast for US renewable growth this decade, citing Trump-era rollbacks, even as c h i n a cements dominance in clean tech exports.

Solar now supplies the bulk of new power globally, especially across Asia and Africa, where costs have plunged 99.9% since 1975.

Renewables are certainly far from perfect, but there is no doubt that they are certainly getting better.

Israeli cabinet ratifies Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire and hostage deal, hailed as the closest step yet to ending the two-year Gaza war.

The deal, negotiated in Egypt with heavy involvement from Donald Trump, will see all remaining hostages freed, the release of around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, partial Israeli troop withdrawals and an increase in humanitarian aid.

Trump’s personal pressure — reportedly extending to threats against both Hamas and Benjamin Netanyahu — was key to breaking years of deadlock.

The US president, who travels to the Middle East this weekend for the signing, has called the agreement a “momentous breakthrough” and “the first steps toward everlasting peace.”

Far-right wingnut ministers in Netanyahu’s coalition have threatened to rebel, while Palestinians and moderate Israelis, devastated by 67,000 deaths and a drawn out hostage crisis, can cautiously celebrate what may finally mark the beginning of peace.

We give the Orange Maniac a hard time here at times, but you got to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.

He must be feeling a bit hard done by with not getting the Nobel Peace prize today.

He definitely won’t tweet about it…

Your career will thank you.

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🍻Half Pints

Quick-fire news you might have missed

Meme of the Week

Girlboss moment of the Week

Sanae Takaichi’s election is not only a pivotal moment in Japanese politics, but a crucial step towards having all woman reunion of the old Axis powers.

Over to you Germany…

That’s all for today, but before you go…

We’re always open to feedback (and hate-mail), so feel free to reply and we’ll get back to you within 5 “working” days.

Barring an act of god or being kidnapped by the deep state, we’ll see you next week.

Thanks to Jeff