The best way to honour them is to ensure we never have to do it again.

It’s been an interesting week – book-ended by Israel-Iran conflict. But we’ve seen yet more let-downs in politics, bonds, interest-rates and markets, and perhaps more nails driven into the myth that is Tesla. Sometimes it just takes one waverer to trigger a rout. In the vacuum of markets, no one can hear you scream.

This week’s Munich Security Conference saw much discussion around the Ukraine end game. The war is destroying Ukraine’s manpower – but what price peace? The West has to understand Russian weakness, and its own limits to impose a long-term and effective future for Ukraine – it rather depends on politics.

The Chinese economy has stalled, buffeted my multiple issues from banking, property and demographics. What happens next? The consequences of a China crash or downturn will be multiple and could create further instability.

Markets have been far more positive than expected in 2023 – thus far. There is still much uncertainty out there, but what is the market missing? I have two particular under-played threats to watch – corporate debt and social unrest.

The Canary Wharf saga has been “interesting”, but as demand for office space evolves, is it over? The events in Russia are a reminder to markets about instability, uncertainty and just how dysfunctional it could all become.

There is a myth BRICS nations now exceed the GDP of the G7 West. It’s propaganda to boost a story of de-dollarisation, anti-G7 rhetoric and how China and its allies will create a stronger, more equal global market. It’s like watching Stags fight for dominance.

Two parts this morning: What the Bank of England actually said, and The Big Lesson from the Ukraine War is simple: “Things are seldom as bad as we fear, but never as good as we hope.” Global geopolitics and markets have taken a knock, but will coalesce around whatever new global links emerge.

Nearly a year on Ukraine is unbeaten. How will it end, and how will markets react? Putin is upping the stakes, hoping he can bluff and threaten his way to a result. It’s not about Ukraine surviving, but what happens if Putin loses badly and Russia collapses as a failed state. Sanctions don’t work – what else can the West do?

The UK’s Met Office says it was warmest year on record – what does that mean in terms of climate change opportunities in the long-run, and how the geopolitical threat mellows now that General Winter has abandoned Putin?