Mortgage rates ended last week on an optimistic note, as markets were encouraged by news of peace talks between Washington and Tehran. The conversation this week is much more dour. On Wednesday, the Senate blocked efforts to end the war, the seventh such measure put forth by Democrats. Tuesday saw the release of the April consumer price index (CPI), which showed that inflation accelerated at its fastest pace since May 2023. This spike was driven largely by increased energy costs as a result of the conflict in Iran.
With the Middle East conflict ratcheting up cost pressures, this was a critical opportunity to deliver meaningful change and give companies the certainty they urgently need. Businesses will be disappointed to see no clear progress on reforming business rates, which remain a major cost burden for firms across the UK.
BOAT is a passive fund tracking the Solactive Global Shipping Index, holding 52 maritime shipping companies including Frontline, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, and Matson. It charges a 0.69% expense ratio and manages a slim $78.6 million in assets. The distribution is a pass-through of whatever cash its underlying tanker, dry-bulk, and container operators pay out each quarter. There is no options overlay and no leverage. When freight rates rip, the holdings earn outsized cash and most distribute it. When rates fall, the payout falls with them.
Last year, 51 electrical and gas utility companies in the U.S. paid their CEOs a collective $626 million, according to an analysis published last week by the Energy and Policy Institute.
"Among the measures being modelled behind closed doors are the throttling of data speeds, restricting access during periods of high demand, and charging customers a premium at peak times, a move that would mark a significant departure from the all-you-can-eat tariffs that have dominated the British mobile market for more than a decade."
The UK unemployment rate fell from 5.2% to 4.9%, driven more by increased economic inactivity, particularly as fewer students sought work.
Gas-intensive industries in the UK have been shamefully ignored by the Government in this announcement, it's a total disgrace. Workers in manufacturing companies across the UK need urgent help; this isn't it.
Nearly half of firms (48%) expected turnover to grow over the next 12 months in the first quarter of the year, up from 42% in the final quarter of 2025.
The British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) will be widened by 40 per cent, bringing an additional 3,000 firms under its umbrella. The scheme will exempt qualifying businesses from the indirect costs of three legacy green levies: the Renewables Obligation, Feed-in Tariffs and the Capacity Market.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered its global economic growth forecast as tensions between the United States and Iran have driven up energy and food costs globally. The IMF expected the global economy to grow by 3.1 percent this year, a slowdown from its earlier forecast of 3.3 percent.
The thinktank warned on Monday that surging gas, electricity and petrol prices had fundamentally altered the outlook for living standards in 2026. Before the Iran war erupted in late February, working-age households were tracking towards modest income growth of 0.9 per cent. That figure has now swung to a projected decline of 0.6 per cent, a turnaround worth £480 per household.
The Heatbit Maxi, a space heater that also mines bitcoin, is one such device. Residential electricity rates have corkscrewed to stratospheric heights in the US since 2020, rising more than 40 percent in the past six years as of February 2026.
Any escalation or expansion of hostilities could adversely affect global supply chains, commodity prices and macroeconomic conditions, highlighting the interconnectedness of geopolitical events and market stability.
Octopus Zero Bills is the next generation energy tariff with zero energy bills for the home, for 10 years, guaranteed. This represents a fundamental shift in how energy is consumed.
