Author: V. Alure

The No Normal® Newsletter – Issue #2 February 2026 WHAT’S HAPPENED… The facts, just the facts, on decline In 1990 the US represented 26% of global domestic product. Today, after the “threats” of the Chinese economy, the US is at about the same percentage. Technology, communication, medicine, finance, and other realms still power the US as the “go-to” country in the world.At the end of the “Cold War” and with the dissolution of the old Russian Socialist Republics, our allies in the UK, France, Canada, Italy, and Japan accounted for 22% of the world’s economy, combined. Today that number is…

Image source: Getty Images Passive income investing has never been more attractive and it’s easy to see why. With the cost of living much higher than just a few years ago, a regular passive stream of income would prove to be a godsend for many people today. The good news is that the London Stock Exchange is groaning under the weight of high-yield dividend stocks. These are companies whose payouts offer chunky income relative to their share prices. Here, I’m going to explain how a UK investor can target lots of passive income through three straightforward steps. Invest in a…

Image source: Getty Images How strong does the UK economy feel right now? Different people will have their own answer to that question, but I would be surprised if many said it felt 20% stronger than a year ago. But that is the increase seen during the past 12 months in the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares. What’s going on? Searching for value in an uncertain world Just because the FTSE 100 has gone up by 20% does not necessarily mean that the businesses in it are necessarily worth 20% more than a year ago. It could be…

Dario Amodei, co-founder and chief executive officer of Anthropic, during a Bloomberg Television interview in San Francisco, California, US, on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesThe Pentagon is considering ending its relationship with artificial intelligence company Anthropic over its insistence on keeping some restrictions on how the U.S. military uses its models, Axios reported on Saturday, citing an administration official.The Pentagon is pushing four AI companies to let the military use their tools for “all lawful purposes,” including in areas of weapons development, intelligence collection and battlefield operations, but Anthropic has not agreed to those terms and the…

Image source: Rolls-Royce plc Over the past year, Rolls-Royce shares have more than doubled, moving up by 101%. But another UK defence share has done even better during that time, growing in value by 113%. That company is Babcock (LSE: BAB). Over five years, Babcock has moved up by an impressive 488%. Still, that is weaker than the incredible 1,200% gain in the value of Rolls-Royce shares over that period. Over the past year, both shares have performed brilliantly — but Babcock has done better than Rolls. Investing a spare £1,000 today would let me buy 74 Babcock shares. Should…

Different investors continue to have wildly different views when it comes to the valuation of Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA). Over time though, Tesla stock has continued to rise. It is up 18% in a year and 60% over the past five years. Personally I see it as overvalued and have no plans to buy the shares for my portfolio. As an investor though, I always seek to see both sides of a share and challenge my own thinking. In doing so, I have been thinking about three factors I think could help Tesla over time. The car business remains substantial It…

Artificial intelligence is moving faster than many expected, and it could soon rattle credit markets, according to UBS analyst Matthew Mish. Mish said leveraged loans and private credit—worth $3.5 trillion combined—face a wave of potential defaults. He estimates $75 billion to $120 billion in new defaults could hit by the end of 2026. Companies most at risk include private equity-owned software and data services firms struggling to adapt to AI-driven disruption. “The market didn’t anticipate this pace,” Mish told CNBC. “Investors now need to rethink how they evaluate credit under this rapid shift.” Recent sell-offs in software stocks have already…

Shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd agreed to buy Israel’s ZIM Integrated Shipping Services for $4.2 billion. Source link #Shipping #industry #set #consolidate #HapagLloyd #buy #Israeli #firm #premium

Executive Summary Howmet Aerospace represents a high-quality, premier supplier of mission-critical components in the aerospace and defense sectors, riding a prolonged supercycle in commercial aerospace demand and elevated global defense spending. The company has consistently demonstrated pricing power, margin resilience, and strong free cash flow generation, culminating in record fiscal year 2025 revenues of $8.3 billion. However, the market has thoroughly recognized these fundamental strengths. The stock has experienced a massive rerating, surging over 64% in the trailing twelve-month period to trade at a premium forward price-to-earnings multiple of approximately 46.33x. While the recent $1.8 billion acquisition of Consolidated Aerospace…

Tata Group retail firm Trent is eyeing further expansion into tier 3 and tier 4 cities amid a macro market which is expected to be far more attractive in the coming years, a top company executive said on Monday. He also said that urban demand seems to be coming back gradually post GST 2.0 reforms but ruled out small-ticket discretionary getting benefit in the long-term due to the changeover. “We are opening a lot more in tier-3, tier-4 cities now, as opposed to what we used to do in the past. What we are seeing is, very…