There has been open criticism of Michael Carrick's backroom staff appointments at Manchester United, which is one of the most important issues any manager has to address when joining a new club. Using my experience of that situation, I want to try to explain his thinking with the people he has brought in since he was named interim head coach, and how I believe what he has done can only be viewed a...
There has been open criticism of Michael Carrick's backroom staff appointments at Manchester United, which is one of the most important issues any manager has to address when joining a new club. Using my experience of that situation, I want to try to explain his thinking with the people he has brought in since he was named interim head coach, and how I believe what he has done can only be viewed as sensible. It's certainly a long way removed from the accusation that he has just brought in a bunch of his mates. Michael's aim at United is the same as every manager when you first arrive in a job. You want to establish quickly a clear and defined alignment between yourself and the different football departments within the organisation that you have just inherited. You have to be clear on your objectives and set certain principles in the first few days - like a work ethic, for example - that are non-negotiable and must be made absolutely clear to players and staff members who have not worked with you before. Building a strong base with everyone pulling in the same direction takes time and, initially, it can lead to some forms of confrontation with existing members of the playing and coaching staff. To be absolutely clear in communicating your intended direction for the club, I believe the manager has to appoint his own members of staff. I always wanted to bring in people I could trust and who were competent in the responsibilities I would delegate to them. A manager's job is fraught with pressures and if the most important aspects are not prioritised, the amount of work needed in other areas of the club can become a drain on his ability to perform, on game days or away from those match situations. This is where your backroom staff is all-important, and it is the same at every club. I am sure Michael understands that winning games is the be-all and end-all of what supporters want but, behind the scenes, work has to be performed to generate a togetherness and belief in a w...
Key Points ACWX features a higher expense ratio and smaller asset base than VWO. VWO leans more into emerging markets, while ACWX spreads exposure across developed and emerging economies. These 10 stocks could mint the next wave of millionaires › Both Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEARCA:VWO) and iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF (NASDAQ:ACWX) target international stocks, but their approaches ...
Key Points ACWX features a higher expense ratio and smaller asset base than VWO. VWO leans more into emerging markets, while ACWX spreads exposure across developed and emerging economies. These 10 stocks could mint the next wave of millionaires › Both Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEARCA:VWO) and iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF (NASDAQ:ACWX) target international stocks, but their approaches diverge. VWO is dedicated to emerging markets, focusing on companies in countries such as China, Brazil, and Taiwan. ACWX, meanwhile, includes both developed and emerging non-U.S. equities, making it a more globally diversified option. This analysis compares their cost, performance, risk, and portfolio composition to help investors weigh which may better match individual goals. Snapshot (cost & size) Metric VWO ACWX Issuer Vanguard IShares Expense ratio 0.07% 0.32% 1-yr return (as of Jan. 25, 2026) 28.53% 31.86% Dividend yield 2.64% 2.7% Beta 0.56 0.74 AUM $112.62 billion $8.53 billion Beta measures price volatility relative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from five-year weekly returns. The 1-yr return represents total return over the trailing 12 months. VWO has a considerably lower expense ratio, while both funds currently offer identical dividend yields. Performance & risk comparison Metric VWO ACWX Max drawdown (5 y) -34.31% -30.06% Growth of $1,000 over 5 years $1,069 $1,267 What's inside Launched nearly 18 years ago, ACWX tracks non-U.S. large- and mid-cap stocks, holding 1,796 companies across developed and emerging markets, with a portfolio tilt toward financial services, industrials, and technology. The largest positions are Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (2330.TW), Tencent Holdings Ltd. (0700.HK), and ASML Holding N.V. (AMS:ASML). By contrast, VWO tilts toward emerging markets, with substantial stakes in technology, financial services, and consumer cyclical sectors. Its largest positions are Taiwan Semiconductor (commonly referred to as TSMC), Tencent, a...
stockcam/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Introduction Duolingo ( DUOL ) is the leader in language teaching and a household name that needs no introduction. As a highly profitable and rapidly growing consumer tech app, Duolingo has long enjoyed a large premium. That has finally changed, and the market is now allowing Duolingo to be purchased at a reasonably cheap price for arguably the first tim...
stockcam/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Introduction Duolingo ( DUOL ) is the leader in language teaching and a household name that needs no introduction. As a highly profitable and rapidly growing consumer tech app, Duolingo has long enjoyed a large premium. That has finally changed, and the market is now allowing Duolingo to be purchased at a reasonably cheap price for arguably the first time since its IPO. While other household consumer tech subscription giants are facing tough competition, Duolingo operates as a relatively unique business with surprisingly little direct competition at scale. Thus, I am bullish on DUOL. AI is an Accelerator Duolingo is one of many stocks selling off due to AI advancement fears. These fears are reasonable, so I'll break them down first. Companies like Chegg ( CHGG ) are getting cannibalized by ChatGPT, and people are using Claude to make SaaS apps in mere hours . This leaves obvious concerns: "Duolingo can be easily copied." The first layer to this is translation. Anyone who uses Instagram's translation feature or even Google Translate for languages like Korean understands that right now even the biggest companies with the most data in the world struggle to provide a high-quality translation. From my personal experiences, I would say about 10% of the time Instagram's translation feature is completely inaccurate. This is just mere translation, not even learning. I do believe that AI will get to the point of near-perfect translation, but even when that happens, there is the next step of learning. Learning has all the pitfalls of human emotion, so Duolingo has quite a large upper hand on AI advancement in this regard. However, it is not impossible that this stage is also reached, but it still doesn't matter. Even if a competitor were to replicate Duolingo near perfectly, distribution would be a massive challenge. Duolingo benefits from being the pioneer, the network effect, and user habits already in place. An example of the dist...
Key Points Interactive Brokers is growing well, aided by a light business model without thousands of brick-and-mortar locations. It faces some risks, like any company. A meaningful risk now is its lofty valuation. 10 stocks we like better than Interactive Brokers Group › There aren't many truly unstoppable stocks, but take a look at the recent performance of Interactive Brokers (NASDAQ: IBKR): Tim...
Key Points Interactive Brokers is growing well, aided by a light business model without thousands of brick-and-mortar locations. It faces some risks, like any company. A meaningful risk now is its lofty valuation. 10 stocks we like better than Interactive Brokers Group › There aren't many truly unstoppable stocks, but take a look at the recent performance of Interactive Brokers (NASDAQ: IBKR): Time period Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » Interactive Brokers Past 3 years 54.05% Past 5 years 33.56% Past 10 years 24.17% Past 15 years 20.71% See? That certainly looks unstoppable -- and the stock's gains have generally been accelerating, too. As I write this, the stock is already up around 11% so far in 2026. If you're intrigued and are considering snapping up some shares, you might be wondering whether the stock is crash-proof. Meet Interactive Brokers This good brokerage has been around for close to 50 years and offers electronic trading services for stocks, options, futures, currencies, bonds, gold, crypto, and more. The company and its affiliates were recently executing more than 3,600,000 trades per day. Interestingly, some 84% of its customers are outside the U.S., positioning it well for international growth and leaving a lot of room for growth in the U.S. While many brokerages have numerous brick-and-mortar locations, Interactive Brokers operates mainly electronically. This helps keep down its costs, letting it offer low prices to customers while generating fat profit margins. Is Interactive Brokers crash-proof? I don't think any stock is really crash-proof, but the best companies seem to be able to recover from pullbacks and to adapt and change as needed. Like any company, Interactive Brokers does face some risks. For example: If interest rates drop, as many expect them to over the coming years, that will put pressure on companies like Interactive Brokers that e...
It was an "emotional" decision by Denise O'Sullivan to leave the club she captained and had spent almost a decade with - but the challenge of helping Liverpool escape a relegation battle was one she could not ignore. The Republic of Ireland midfielder played more than 150 games for National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) side North Carolina Courage. Liverpool broke their club record transfer to brin...
It was an "emotional" decision by Denise O'Sullivan to leave the club she captained and had spent almost a decade with - but the challenge of helping Liverpool escape a relegation battle was one she could not ignore. The Republic of Ireland midfielder played more than 150 games for National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) side North Carolina Courage. Liverpool broke their club record transfer to bring her in earlier this month and were immediately rewarded when she scored six minutes into her debut in a 6-0 FA Cup win over fourth-tier side London Bees. "It reminds me a bit of being back home in Cork. People are just so friendly and they want you to settle in quickly, so the transition has been seamless," she told BBC Sport. "People in Ireland were absolutely buzzing that I was signing for a club like Liverpool and I think my family was just as excited. "I am close to home now - it's only a 40-minute flight - so they can come and watch me play whenever. "I want to leave a legacy here and bring in my leadership and my experiences. I want to be impactful for the younger players. Every single day I want to help them get better and be a role model."
When Kevin Ng Shu-keung inspected the mock-up of a curved glass panel in 2019 to be mass-produced for the facade of The Henderson, a grade A commercial tower in Hong Kong, he was shocked to discover its flaws. The geometrically complex glass panels had never been used in Hong Kong before and his team had to put them through rounds of tests and trials in the group’s residential construction site in...
When Kevin Ng Shu-keung inspected the mock-up of a curved glass panel in 2019 to be mass-produced for the facade of The Henderson, a grade A commercial tower in Hong Kong, he was shocked to discover its flaws. The geometrically complex glass panels had never been used in Hong Kong before and his team had to put them through rounds of tests and trials in the group’s residential construction site in Sham Shui Po, said Ng, senior deputy general manager of project management at property giant Henderson Land. It took his team and partners another year or so to iron out the issues with the glass panels, along with other setbacks throughout the six years of construction, before The Henderson was completed in 2024. Advertisement “We went through many setbacks, but we squarely faced the problems and resolved them instead of chickening out,” Ng said in an interview. The team’s efforts were recognised earlier this month when The Henderson won three prizes, including World’s Best Property, at the UK-based International Property Awards, a prestigious global award in real estate development, architecture and design. Advertisement “I still recall the first question my boss asked when we chose the Zaha Hadid Architects design scheme in 2017: ‘Can this be realised?’” Ng said as he paid tribute to his team and their partners.