I feel sorry for Sir Keir Starmer. He’s become the UK’s most hated politician in a remarkably short period of time. It’s apparently all his fault. Labour’s dither illustrates the real crisis at the heart of broken Britain: long-term fixes for incoherent privately-owned infrastructure when politics focuses on the immediate here and now.

I just found my best reason to sell Nvidia, confirming we’re at the top of the market. What might come next? How about 20-years of rising inflation, rising rates and a global commodities super-cycle as nations scrabble to secure future strategic resources?

This is not just about recession or tech stock valuations – it’s a wider everything, including the kitchen-sink, confidence slough of market instability and uncertainty that’l hurt. Next few days might get interesting… Move along now… nothing to see here…

The recent Third Plenum, the economic plan for the Chinese economy, hints China seeks to compete with the West, build its own tech ecosystem, and reform the economy under increased state control. Historically, that didn’t work for the USSR. Could it work for China?

Next week I will be either stuck in the queues at Heathrow, or sailing round Greece. Time to unwind and think about the state of the World. Or… maybe not ruin my break by scaring myself! Some thoughts on Global Macro.

Emperor Xi’s brief trip to Europe has apparently achieved little – but he’s made clear China is open to dealing with Europe – on its terms. He can wait: the global economy is increasingly transactional and the US / Yoorp relationship is under stress. If China needs to flex some muscles and break things to get the message across – they will.

Today the markets will be focused entirely on Tech earnings and future income expectations. Smart money watches Supply Chains more carefully – and critical to global supply chains is China. While the West is focused on Demand, Asia is thinking about the security of supply.

Markets should be relieved at the US reaching a bipartisan deal on Ukraine and Israel, but will likely be fixated on the current stock market wobble – which could turn sour. The real issue is how the weekend US deal clearly focuses the US vs China, and that has massive market and economic implications.

There has been much noise about the potential impact on global supply chains due to the shipping attacks in the Red Sea. There are imposing significant costs and delays – but are not as critical as many fear. Financing global trade is one of the oldest businesses in markets – and produces dull, boring predictable returns. What’s not to like…