Morning Brief – UK Post Christmas Sales

UK Post Christmas Sales

Despite rail strikes and more expensive fuel costs, shoppers were back in force not only in the two strongest retail areas of the South east and London but across the country as a whole. Despite the best efforts of the online commentators to pour cold water on this boost to retail sales, the fact is that in Northern Ireland footfall was 5 times that of the same period last year and in London more than 130%. The proof as ever of course will be in actual cash sales given some of the heavily discounted sale prices, but we will not know that until the December and Q4 figures are released. GBP/USD 1.2050.

China

With China relaxing restrictions-inbound travellers will no longer have to quarantine post 8-1-23, the two CNY proxy currencies strengthened with AUD up 0.5% and NZD up 0.7% yesterday. USD/CNY 6.9685.

McDonalds: Bits and Bites

A heart warming story from a fast food addict who used to eat 3 McDonald meals every day for a total of 7,000 calories and weighed in at 27 stone or 171.45 KG. Having kicked the habit, he not only lost half his body weight, but, shock horror, felt a lot better. His profession? I.T. Consultant. SGM-FX’s I.T. supremo, Michael shaken but not stirred by this tale being a committed Vegan.

Who?!

This day in 2005 the British radio station asked its listeners to name their picks for the best rock bands ever. 58,000 stalwart listeners responded as follows: 1. Pink Floyd. 2. Led Zeppelin. 3. Rolling Stones. 4.The Who. 5. AC/DC. The result speaks plenty for the listenership dynamic and the question is if the same poll was held today, what the responses would be now. Meanwhile here is Money from the Floyd’s, Dark Side of the Moon:

Money, get away.
Get a good job with good pay and you’re okay.
Money, it’s a gas.
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash.
New car, caviar, four star daydream,
Think I’ll buy me a football team.

Money, get back.
I’m all right Jack keep your hands off of my stack.
Money, it’s a hit.
Don’t give me that do goody good bullshit.
I’m in the high-fidelity first class travelling set
And I think I need a Lear jet.

Money, it’s a crime.
Share it fairly but don’t take a slice of my pie.
Money, so they say
Is the root of all evil today.
But if you ask for a raise it’s no surprise that they’re
giving none away.

“HuHuh! I was in the right!”
“Yes, absolutely in the right!”
“I certainly was in the right!”
“You was definitely in the right. That geezer was cruising for a
bruising!”
“Yeah!”
“Why does anyone do anything?”
“I don’t know, I was really drunk at the time!”
“I was just telling him, he couldn’t get into number 2. He was asking
why he wasn’t coming up on freely, after I was yelling and
screaming and telling him why he wasn’t coming up on freely.
It came as a heavy blow, but we sorted the matter out”

Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder

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