Whoops 📉

Happy Monday. And good luck to any of you with WH Smith stock last week!

Last week shares tumbled more than 40% after an accounting whoopsie meant that their profit expectations had been overstated by about £30 million. A big chunk of supplier income had been incorrectly forecasted to land in this year, rather than recognised over the number of future years it is earned. Understandably, the stock market didn’t take the news well. But hey, we all make mistakes.

MARKETS

Data: Google Finance, 5-day Market Close

Notable UK earnings this week: Prudential (PRU), Hochschild Mining (HOC), PPHE Hotel Group (PPH).

Notable US earnings this week: Nvidia (NVDA), Alibaba (BABA), PDD (PDD), Crowdstrike (CRWD), Dell (DELL), Snowflake (SNOW).

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PROJECT WATCH

🔌 National Grid hands out £12 billion of HVDC supply chain agreements. Read more

💧 Strabag bag £3bn contract for Haweswater Aqueduct Resilience Programme. Read more

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Your old friend Inflation, back with a bang
If your wallet's been feeling lighter lately, it’s not just the summer hols-UK inflation's back on the rise, hitting 3.8% in July. According to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), skyrocketing air fares and food prices have sent the Consumer Prices Index soaring to its highest since January 2024. That’s still nearly double the Bank of England’s modest 2% target-an aim that’s starting to feel more like wishful thinking than financial strategy.

Air fares alone jumped 30.2% between June and July, the biggest rise since records began in 2001. Blame the school holidays, which landed right on the ONS's data collection window-parents clearly aren’t the only ones caught off guard by term dates. The price of petrol and diesel also crept up, in a charming reversal from last year when they mercifully dipped. Every little helps? Not anymore.

Meanwhile, food and drink inflation climbed for the fourth month running, now at 4.9%. Beef, chocolate, instant coffee, and fresh orange juice are leading the charge-apparently a full English (or even just a brew and a biscuit) is becoming a bit of a luxury experience.

Some good news, as government borrows less than expected
The government actually borrowed less money last month than it has in the last three years. Yes, even Rachel Reeves looked surprised. July clocked in at £1.1bn in public sector net borrowing, the lowest since the mask-wearing, banana-bread-baking days of July 2021. Apparently, a little tax here (cheers, self-employed lot) and a bit more national insurance there added up to a nice surprise for the Treasury.

Economists had expected a £2.6bn-shaped hole in the state’s wallet, so this little £1.1bn gap actually counts as a win - economically speaking, anyway. That extra £600m from self-assessed income tax was the equivalent of finding a crumpled fiver in last year’s winter coat. But before you start planning tax cuts or a round at the pub, let’s not forget: government borrowing from April to July is still £6bn up on the same period in 2024.

And here’s the sting in the tail - the state might be borrowing less, but it’s paying more to do it. The interest on all that debt hit £7.1bn in July alone, up £200m from the year before.

POLITICS

Stadium snubs
This September, Parliament will return from its recess with a justice shake-up big enough to rattle the prison bars. From bars to barred, short custodial sentences (12 months or less) are on the chopping block, replaced with tougher community punishments designed to bite where it hurts.

Forget cosy community service; offenders could soon face bans from pubs, stadiums, gigs, and even certain streets - a punishment that hits both their pint and playlist. Inspired by a Texan model, the new “earned release” scheme means well-behaved prisoners may get out early, while troublemakers will sit tight.

Ministers argue this overhaul is essential to stop prisons bursting at the seams (the system is forecast to run out of male spaces by November). The Ministry of Justice insists this isn’t a “soft touch”, but rather a smarter way to punish - making life outside as restrictive as life inside.

Buses, beats & byelaws
Meanwhile, the Tories have set their sights on a different form of antisocial behaviour: the headphone-dodger. A new proposal would criminalise blaring music on buses and trains, with on-the-spot fines dished out to offenders. While train passengers already face penalties (though rarely enforced), buses have so far remained a sonic free-for-all.

Shadow transport secretary Richard Holden declared that no Brit should be forced to endure “somebody else’s crap music” on their commute - perhaps the most relatable campaign line of the summer. The plan folds neatly into the Railways Bill and a forthcoming Buses Bill, making quiet travel a legal right rather than a lucky accident.

The Lib Dems will be muttering “been there, banned that”, having floated £1,000 fines for the same nuisance earlier this year. Whether voters see this as sound policy or just political noise remains to be heard - preferably through headphones.

ACROSS THE POND

Uncle Sam takes a nationalised chunk of Intel
Donald Trump has plunged the stars and stripes into the silicon trenches. The Trump administration has snapped up a 10% stake in Intel, the American chipmaker that’s spent the past few years trying valiantly (and not always successfully) to claw back its crown in the AI arms race. Apparently, national security now resembles a shareholder portfolio.

Now, don’t worry – there’s no cigar-smoking, red-faced uncle from Washington marching into Intel board meetings. The US won’t be muscling in with direct say-so, according to a joint release from Team Trump and the company. But there are “limited exceptions,” which in Washington speak is code for “keep an eye on your briefcase.”

And the price for this slice of silicon pie? Technically, zilch. Trump, never shy of a good gloat, strutted onto his Truth Social pulpit (because of course he did) to boast about “paying nothing” for shares now worth $11bn. Nothing, of course, except for $11.1 billion in grants and cloaked programmes – so not so much a free lunch as a lavish banquet someone else footed the bill for, possibly your grandchildren.

The cash came from the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act and something called Secure Enclave – a name that sounds more like a dystopian Netflix thriller than a spending initiative. Intel’s conveniently been the biggest benefactor of the CHIPS gravy train – which might explain why they’ve rolled out the red carpet for Uncle Sam.

FBI raid Bolton (not that one, Wanderers fans)
It’s not just the August bank holiday that’s heating up - the FBI’s been busy too. This past Friday, they popped round to the Maryland home of John Bolton, the former US National Security Adviser turned Donald Trump detractor, for what’s being described as a “national security investigation” involving classified documents. No surprise Prosecco with the neighbours this time - just agents and boxes. Classic American hospitality.

The raid, reportedly greenlit by a court under the banner of national security, raises fresh questions about Bolton's handling of sensitive material - with murmurs that he may have leaked intel to journalists.

TECH

Moons, mega melting, and MacArthur
Astronomers with the James Webb Space Telescope unveiled a new moon orbiting Uranus - a pint-sized pebble just 10km wide, provisionally named S/2025 U1. It joins 28 other Shakespearean satellites and hints there may be more hiding in Uranus’ shadow.

On the topic of space, up on China’s Tiangong space station, astro-scientists just heated tungsten alloy to a world record-breaking 3,100°C - nearly half the surface of the Sun. Think of it as cosmic blacksmithing, paving the way for spacecraft armour tough enough to survive re-entry.

Back on Earth, another reveal: a dinosaur with a sail-shaped spine, dug up on the Isle of Wight and christened Istiorachis macaruthurae in honour of yachtswoman Dame Ellen MacArthur. With a dorsal fin fit for a regatta, this 125-million-year-old beast may have used its flamboyant back as a prehistoric billboard for courtship.

Codes, courts & cyber canines
In the present day, discovery is less about fossils and more about firewalls. The UK has quietly dropped its controversial demand for Apple to build a “backdoor” into encrypted iCloud data, following stern words from US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard, who called it a grave threat to civil liberties.

But the tussle over tech didn’t end there: 4chan is refusing to cough up Ofcom’s £20,000 fine for flouting the Online Safety Act, claiming the UK has no authority over American servers. If ignored, regulators could ask ISPs to block access - though given 4chan’s chaotic history, that may simply redirect its users elsewhere.

Meanwhile, in Nottinghamshire, police are trialling a robot dog that can climb stairs, scan rooms, and talk to suspects through a speaker. Nicknamed Watson, the barking bot could save lives in sieges and hostage situations - though officials insist it won’t replace real police dogs or sprout weapons any time soon.

WORLD

Kingdoms & crossed lines
Quite a scoop, in Poland, archaeologists excavating beneath an ice cream shop in Gdańsk stumbled upon the lavish limestone tomb of a 13th-century knight, quickly dubbed the “Gdańsk Lancelot”.

The slab depicts him in chainmail, sword and shield intact - the medieval equivalent of a LinkedIn headshot. His skeleton was found beneath, remarkably preserved, though sadly with no treasure chest or holy grail. Researchers are now scanning the tombstone and plan a facial reconstruction to reveal what this seaside swordsman looked like when alive.

Fast-forward a few centuries and a few borders east: South Korea fired warning shots at North Korean soldiers this week who wandered across the DMZ, sparking accusations of “deliberate provocation” from Pyongyang. The soldiers quickly retreated, but the timing was notable - coinciding with South Korea’s new president’s diplomatic debut.

Spies, secrets & sundaes
While one knight kept his secrets sealed under stone, another story proves that loose lips still sink ships. In California, US Navy sailor Jinchao Patrick Wei was convicted of espionage for selling information about the USS Essex to a Chinese handler he affectionately called “Big Brother Andy”.

Over 18 months, Wei pocketed $12,000 for classified ship photos, weapons details, and fleet movements - even joking to his mother that while other Chinese-Americans in the Navy were “driving cabs”, he was “just leaking secrets”. She texted back, “Good job!” (Mum of the year?).

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