Daily Brief – Hungary

Hungary

Whether it is wishful thinking or informed speculation on the part of the EU, Sunday’s Election in Hungary could see PM Viktor Orban – long time super irritant to Brussels voted out of office after 16 years. With a Debt to GDP ratio of 73% and a budget deficit of more than 5% Hungary is more than on the naughty step with Brussels and that’s not to mention VO’s refusal to sanction a held-up EU loan to Ukraine and his ties with Russia. So, it’s not just the domestic opposition, it’s the EU and Ukraine that are hoping for what until recently was deemed to be unthinkable: a Hungary without Viktor Orban at the helm.

EUR/USD 1.1675.

UK Pump Prices

The local Texaco filling station to SGM-FX symbolically knocked 1p off the price of a litre of unleaded to GBP 1.589 last night, but even that reduction may be short-lived looking at the price of Brent which has risen to over USD 98 on the back of the news that while the Strait of Hormuz may be technically open, it is only open to the handful of ships that are permitted to pass by Iran rather than the 130+ daily flow that used to transit the Strait before March 1. The current queue of ships waiting outside the Strait would take 10 days to clear to give an idea of just how much traffic is subject to the whims of both Iran and Israel despite the USA declaring success, victory, and peace.

GBP/USD 1.3405.

Niedersachsen

This is the name given to the newest supersized German F-126 frigate that is being developed by the German navy and is set to depart from the traditional high intensity close combat role traditionally undertaken by such a craft. The Germans envisage a ship of 10,000 tons that can hunt submarines, transport special forces, undertake drone operations, and be on station for up to 2 years with changing crews. Maybe due to the complicated multi-purpose spec, the F-126 is years behind schedule and it is still unclear when it will be commissioned with the best guess being 2029 – anyway far too late to be deployed as part of a Euro Strait of Hormuz task force despite being billed as being on course to be the largest frigate in the world.

GBP/EUR 1.1482.

Penis-Gate

Just 6 months ago on October 18 2025 as part of the No Kings protests in America, a 62 year old woman was arrested in Fairhope Alabama for sporting a placard with the words  No Dick Tator while dressed in a 7 foot inflatable penis costume. If that sounds improbable, what started out as a minor misdemeanour resulting in the confiscation of the inflatable costume has morphed into the perpetrator Renea Gamble being prosecuted in what is now dubbed Penisgate and due to appear in court next Wednesday on charges which are unclear. Meanwhile, Ms Gamble is keeping a relatively low profile and can now be seen dressed down as an aubergine at No Kings protests while still carrying the No Dick Tator placard.

EUR/JPY 185.85.

Wuthering Heights

This day in 2013, Kate Bush was awarded the CBE for services to music by Queen Elizabeth ll. 35 years after bursting on to the music scene with Wuthering Heights the raven-haired, arty, dancing, screaming banshee-like chanteuse sometimes unkindly dubbed the oil slick from Bexleyheath was finally recognised. Kate Bush informed the listening journalists that she would stick her CBE on the top of her Christmas tree, which even for someone as eccentric as herself was a surprise that she still had her Christmas tree up on April 10.

Out on the wily, windy moors
We’d roll and fall in green
You had a temper like my jealousy
Too hot, too greedy

How could you leave me
When I needed to possess you?
I hated you, I loved you, too

Bad dreams in the night
They told me I was going to lose the fight
Leave behind my Wuthering, Wuthering
Wuthering Heights

Heathcliff, it’s me, I’m Cathy
I’ve come home, I’m so cold
Let me in your window

Heathcliff, it’s me, I’m Cathy
I’ve come home, I’m so cold
Let me in your window

Ooh, it gets dark, it gets lonely
On the other side from you
I pine a lot, I find the lot
Falls through without you

I’m coming back love, cruel Heathcliff

Have a Great Weekend!

Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder

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