Daily Brief – USA-China

USA-China

In a highly anticipated summit today sees the kick-off between Presidents Xi Jinping and Trump in a return match at the White House – although the State Dinner will be held in a tent on the lawn as POTUS like all good Home Depot customers is having an extension done at the moment. Lots of guff about rare earths and the extension of the soon to be expiring treaty plus some give and take on amounts and the goods therein covered by the US tariffs, but that is all a smokescreen. President Xi wants to talk about Taiwan and POTUS wants to talk about Iran. Both need to show wins: President Xi due to the lacklustre Chinese economy and POTUS because of his slump in popularity and the fast-approaching Mid Term Elections. Meanwhile President Xi has been in Seattle having had 3 days of talks with tech titans and business leaders where doubtless the agenda will have featured data security and AI predominantly.

EUR/USD 1.1456.

EU Cyberattacks

Highly topical and this week the European Court of Auditors released their report about how well the EU reacts and would react to cyber attacks. Red faces all round as it is disclosed that after 20 months and EUR 1.4 billion there is no checking mechanism to monitor the EU’s cyber defence mechanism-in fact no-one has even checked to see if the shield is switched on. Improbably only 14 cross border cyberattack incidents were logged for the whole of 2025. Lots of dry prose and even more recommendations from the Auditors, but the fact remains that the EU is much more open to cyber attack than was appreciated.

Brent Oil USD 98.53.

UK Politics

It has been a couple of weeks since there has been any informed discussion in the news about whether the UK PM might call a General Election in the next 3 months. Smarting from accusations that he is unelected as PM and has only his much derided predecessor’s General Election manifesto from 2024 written largely by exiled Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney, let’s tot up the arguments that support the PM doing just that and calling for an electoral mandate: firstly he is on a roll despite there being more fluff than substance in his first few weeks; secondly even if he cannot admit the looming economic reality, his Chancellor John Healey is all too conscious of the UK Budget being only 5 weeks away; he will need to make some decisions that will cause uproar in the Labour ranks – think benefits cuts, scrapping the triple lock and reducing spending; his inclination to borrow more is constrained by the fact that he is running out of road exacerbated by higher interest rates and thus borrowing costs; Andy Burnham’s honeymoon period is coming to an end. Given all that, there is more than a decent case for PM Burnham calling a November election once he has returned from burnishing his diplomatic credentials with POTUS.

GBP/USD 1.3355.

Elixsea

The clue to what this is all about is in the name. Based in Spain’s Costa Brava and run by co-founder Gregory Borbely, is it a whizz marketing ploy or does it work in making the ageing and improvement of wine under the sea successful while at the same time doing something positive for the undersea world and marine life? To find out I bought a bottle of the Dry Red which is a Priorat wine from Spain from the 2024 vintage and which, after some time beneath the waves arrived at SGM-FX Malta’s offices in Valletta-delivery works well but is only available to European countries. The wine bottle looks as if it might have been liberated from an undersea shipwreck and arrived in a wooden box surrounded by straw. But what of the wine? It tasted like good Priorat but whether better than land aged Priorat, honestly, I could not say, but for sure it provided plenty of debate over the dining table. Those who want to channel their inner Captain Nemo should click on [email protected].

GBP/EUR 1.1656.

Can’t get You Out of My Head

This was of course pop pixie and global gay icon Kylie Minogue’s bestselling single ever that also went to Number 1 in the UK this day in 2001.You may find it hard to get her out of your own head after reading the lyrics.

La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
I just can’t get you out of my head
Boy, your lovin’ is all I think about
I just can’t get you out of my head
Boy, its more than I dare to think about
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
I just can’t get you out of my head
Boy, your lovin’ is all I think about
I just can’t get you out of my head
Boy, its more than I dare to think about
Every night
Every day
Just to be there in your arms
Won’t you stay
Won’t you lay
Stay forever and ever, and ever, and ever
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
I just can’t get you out of my head
Boy, your lovin’ is all I think about
I just can’t get you out of my head
Boy, its more than I dare to think about
There’s a dark secret in me
Don’t leave me locked in your heart
Set me free
Feel the need in me
Set me free
Stay forever and ever, and ever, and ever

Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder

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