UK house prices fell for the first time in five months, according to one of Britain’s biggest mortgage lenders, suggesting the surge in borrowing costs triggered by the Iran war is placing a strain on prospective homebuyers. Nationwide Building Society said the average price of a home dropped 0.6% to £278,024 ($374,400), the biggest decline since June last year. The fall was bigger than expected, ...
UK house prices fell for the first time in five months, according to one of Britain’s biggest mortgage lenders, suggesting the surge in borrowing costs triggered by the Iran war is placing a strain on prospective homebuyers. Nationwide Building Society said the average price of a home dropped 0.6% to £278,024 ($374,400), the biggest decline since June last year. The fall was bigger than expected, with economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicting a 0.2% loss on average. House prices weathered the early stages of the war, supported by healthy household balance sheets, but momentum now appears to be fading. Wages are barely keeping up with inflation, while higher mortgage rates are curbing how much people can borrow to buy homes. While rates have come off their recent highs, the average two-year fixed-rate mortgage is still at 5.68%, according to Moneyfacts. That’s almost 0.9 percentage points higher than in late February just before the US and Israel attacked Iran. A picture of war-induced stagnation has emerged in other surveys, with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors warning of further house price falls in coming months.
NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) Founder and CEO Jensen Huang used a keynote in Taiwan to outline the company’s next phase of growth around agentic AI, AI factories, new data center systems, enterprise software tools, personal computers and robotics. Speaking at GTC Taiwan, Huang repeatedly credited Taiwan’s s
NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) Founder and CEO Jensen Huang used a keynote in Taiwan to outline the company’s next phase of growth around agentic AI, AI factories, new data center systems, enterprise software tools, personal computers and robotics. Speaking at GTC Taiwan, Huang repeatedly credited Taiwan’s s
Serge Saxonov, Chief Executive Officer of 10x Genomics (NASDAQ:TXG) , reported the direct sale of 28,893 shares of Common Stock in multiple open-market transactions between May 22 and May 26, 2026, with an aggregate transaction value of approximately $709,000, according to the SEC Form 4 filing . Transaction and post-transaction values based on SEC Form 4 weighted average price ($24.54). 10x Genom...
Serge Saxonov, Chief Executive Officer of 10x Genomics (NASDAQ:TXG) , reported the direct sale of 28,893 shares of Common Stock in multiple open-market transactions between May 22 and May 26, 2026, with an aggregate transaction value of approximately $709,000, according to the SEC Form 4 filing . Transaction and post-transaction values based on SEC Form 4 weighted average price ($24.54). 10x Genomics is a leading life sciences technology company focused on enabling high-resolution analysis of biological systems through innovative single cell and spatial genomics solutions. Continue reading
Tough-on-crime outsider Aberaldo de la Espriella took the lead in Colombia's presidential race on Sunday night, setting up a runoff with Iván Cepeda, an ally of outgoing President Gustavo Petro. (Image credit: Fernando Vergara)
Tough-on-crime outsider Aberaldo de la Espriella took the lead in Colombia's presidential race on Sunday night, setting up a runoff with Iván Cepeda, an ally of outgoing President Gustavo Petro. (Image credit: Fernando Vergara)
ricochet64/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Most of the European banks that I've invested in were rotated between middle and late 2025, some in early 2026. The only banks I am still invested in that hail from Europe are banks from what some would consider emerging markets, such as the CEE8. Swedbank ( SWDBY ) ( SWDBF ), literally the first company I wrote about on Seeking Alpha many years ago, is...
ricochet64/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Most of the European banks that I've invested in were rotated between middle and late 2025, some in early 2026. The only banks I am still invested in that hail from Europe are banks from what some would consider emerging markets, such as the CEE8. Swedbank ( SWDBY ) ( SWDBF ), literally the first company I wrote about on Seeking Alpha many years ago, is not one of the banks I still hold. In this article I want to talk about two things. First off, I want to talk about the failure in selling too early, which I did, and why I did it. How to change that going forward, if possible, so as not to repeat those mistakes. Secondly, I'll be talking about where the bank is today and why Swedbank is substantially and dangerously overvalued to its forward growth—much like, in fact, all Swedish and Scandinavian banks currently are. These banking investments have the characteristic of working as a sort of "safe haven" investment for many consumers and investors, as well as funds in Sweden. It's not hard to see why. It's AA-rated, it has a yield that makes treasuries and bonds available to most investors look very appealing—even now at close to 6%—and the company's foundations are safe. It's Swedish mortgages and loans—there are a few things around here that are safer than that. In a few senses of the word, all of these things are true. However, in another way, these assumptions represent very dangerous speculative approaches to valuation, which have previously caused significant investor losses for the short, medium, and even long term. Let me show you an example. Provided that you invested prior to the GFC, your annualized rate of return in Swedbank at this particular time would be less than 2.5% per year. And that is at today's price. Valuation and pricing is the core variable that needs to be looked at when buying something. Fundamentals are incredibly important, but not even the best fundamentals will save you if you invest in a comp...
2026 marks the 90th anniversary of the Francoist uprising and the beginning of the Spanish civil war. An estimated 120,000-150,000 people disappeared during Franco’s repression, their remains scattered across 2,567 mass graves. The far right’s entry into regional governments, as in Extremadura, is dismantling the historical memory laws that allow for reparations for victims of the disappearances. ...
2026 marks the 90th anniversary of the Francoist uprising and the beginning of the Spanish civil war. An estimated 120,000-150,000 people disappeared during Franco’s repression, their remains scattered across 2,567 mass graves. The far right’s entry into regional governments, as in Extremadura, is dismantling the historical memory laws that allow for reparations for victims of the disappearances. The photojournalist Roberto Palomo researched the life of his great-grandfather, the recovery of his remains and the effects of traumatic memory on the descendants They took everything from my great-grandfather Silvestre Indias Carvajal and left us with nothing but his story, which was buried at the bottom of a 30-metre-deep well in south-west Spain for 87 years. Silvestre worked as a municipal clerk in his small home town of Feria in Extremadura. He was given the job in recognition for his service in the war in Morocco, a conflict to which he was dispatched by lottery. Feria is a small town in the south-eastern Spanish region of Extremadura, which sits atop a mountain range. It had barely 4,000 inhabitants in 1936 when it was occupied by Gen Franco’s rebel troops. The subsequent repression was swift and merciless and anyone deemed an enemy of the coup was eliminated. The estimated death toll in Feria is 97, making it one of the hardest-hit towns in the region. Continue reading...
We left our car at the short-stay car park after paying £66 for a one-week ‘meet and greet’ service I have ended up hundreds of pounds out of pocket after paying £66 for a week’s parking at Stansted airport. I booked through the website compareairportparkings.co.uk for our car to be collected at the short-stay car park, parked off-site while we were away, and then returned to us at the short stay....
We left our car at the short-stay car park after paying £66 for a one-week ‘meet and greet’ service I have ended up hundreds of pounds out of pocket after paying £66 for a week’s parking at Stansted airport. I booked through the website compareairportparkings.co.uk for our car to be collected at the short-stay car park, parked off-site while we were away, and then returned to us at the short stay. Continue reading...