Spoof documentaries once skewered subjects by dialling comic ingenuity up to 11, but the genre has stagnated – replaced by showbiz puff pieces and right-wing provocations. Has their time passed? In the satirical mockumentary The Moment , Charli xcx fears (and eventually embraces) the death of Brat summer, the cultural sensation that made her sixth album a phenomenon. But the film – which stars the...
Spoof documentaries once skewered subjects by dialling comic ingenuity up to 11, but the genre has stagnated – replaced by showbiz puff pieces and right-wing provocations. Has their time passed? In the satirical mockumentary The Moment , Charli xcx fears (and eventually embraces) the death of Brat summer, the cultural sensation that made her sixth album a phenomenon. But the film – which stars the singer as a fictionalised version of herself – strains to land jokes out of Charli’s identity crisis and lacks the giddily intoxicating rush of that 2024 album. Watching The Moment shortly after its lukewarm reception at Sundance, I sensed something dying, but it wasn’t Brat – it was the mockumentary style itself. How did mockumentaries grow so … tiresome? Once a novel narrative format brilliantly deployed by directors such as Christopher Guest and the late Rob Reiner, the mockumentary now feels nearly as stale as the formulaic films it aims to lampoon. It’s a sad state of affairs. For much of the last half-century, faux-documentary film-making flourished under the perverse minds of countless comedy greats, from Monty Python’s Eric Idle, who lampooned Beatlemania with 1978’s wackily irreverent mock-doc The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash , to Albert Brooks, who made his directorial debut with 1979’s proto-reality television spoof Real Life. Continue reading...
Alicia G. Monedero/iStock via Getty Images Thesis When it comes to Sidus Space, Inc. ( SIDU ), we’re currently seeing progression across LizzieSat-1, 2, and 3, and for me, it’s one of the clearest indicators that Sidus is actually moving beyond concept. What we want to see is operational capability going forward; hitting those milestones should lead to positive stock reactions. For example, Lizzie...
Alicia G. Monedero/iStock via Getty Images Thesis When it comes to Sidus Space, Inc. ( SIDU ), we’re currently seeing progression across LizzieSat-1, 2, and 3, and for me, it’s one of the clearest indicators that Sidus is actually moving beyond concept. What we want to see is operational capability going forward; hitting those milestones should lead to positive stock reactions. For example, LizzieSat-1 served as a very good foundational proof point and went a long way in validating their core systems like communications, payload integration, and mission control, and that was even while supporting a NASA-related mission. Essentially, this told me that they can build and operate a functioning satellite. As for LizzieSat-2, that then pushed their capability further by operating in a more challenging equatorial orbit, which basically tests their ability to manage satellites under constrained communication conditions and across different orbital environments. But most importantly, going into 2026, LizzieSat-3 is the inflexion point here in that it has completed commissioning and is actively generating real, usable customer data, including maritime tracking and imaging. It's a massive step from testing hardware to delivering live data services and also a very critical one since it basically marks the transition from a development-stage company into an operational, revenue-capable space platform. This would be the upside buy case for Sidus and is exactly what their long-term business model depends on. Sidus Space, Inc. End-of-year earnings Sidus reported FY25 financials at the start of the month, and on initial viewing, it would seem like the company is in an investment-heavy scaling phase. Revenue declined by about 28% year-over-year to $3.4 million, which would seem quite concerning; however, management clearly seems to be framing this as a deliberate transition away from lower-margin engineering services toward higher-margin satellite manufacturing. I think the more tel...
Comedian and actor recalls how 2005 series deepened his love for cricket and landed him a brief press role Miles Jupp stares out at an empty Oval cricket ground. “This is absolutely one of my favourite places in the world,” says the actor, writer and comedian. We sit for a moment in silence, a couple of groundsmen wrestle with a hose and start watering the square. “This is almost blissful,” says J...
Comedian and actor recalls how 2005 series deepened his love for cricket and landed him a brief press role Miles Jupp stares out at an empty Oval cricket ground. “This is absolutely one of my favourite places in the world,” says the actor, writer and comedian. We sit for a moment in silence, a couple of groundsmen wrestle with a hose and start watering the square. “This is almost blissful,” says Jupp in a hushed reverie. “You know, that day, 12 September 2005, was life-changing for so many of us.” The final day of the 2005 Ashes series did change the course of Jupp’s life, at least for a little while. In his early 20s he was a nascent standup comedian and actor; in 2001 he won the long-running newcomer comedian competition So You Think You’re Funny? “The final was held on 25 August, the same date Michael Atherton played his final innings for England. In my victory speech, I dedicated my prize to him.” Continue reading...
laddawan punna/iStock via Getty Images The views expressed reflect the opinions of BlackRock as of 12/31/2025 and are subject to change based on changes in market, economic or other conditions. These views are not intended to be a forecast of future events and are no guarantee of future results. Quarterly Highlights All information is as of 12/31/2025 unless otherwise noted Investment Strategy Upd...
laddawan punna/iStock via Getty Images The views expressed reflect the opinions of BlackRock as of 12/31/2025 and are subject to change based on changes in market, economic or other conditions. These views are not intended to be a forecast of future events and are no guarantee of future results. Quarterly Highlights All information is as of 12/31/2025 unless otherwise noted Investment Strategy Update: Effective 11/10/2025, the Trust removed its options writing strategy. See BlackRock.com for more details. Performance: BMEZ returned +6.7% on market price and +8.6% on net asset value (NAV) during Q4 2025. The STOXX Global Breakthrough Healthcare Index returned +9.9%.* Distributions: On 9/10/2025, BMEZ announced a change to its monthly distribution, as part of its managed distribution plan, to $0.11 per share, which is 8.8% of the market price as of 12/31/2025. NAV of $17.10 per share plus the $9.50 cumulative distributions paid since inception equals $26.60 per share. See BlackRock.com for more details.** Portfolio: During the quarter, the Trust increased exposure to the pharmaceuticals sub-sector. Elsewhere, the Trust decreased exposure to the health care providers & services subsector. Private Investments: BMEZ held 21 private companies that accounted for 13.4% ($143 million) of the portfolio's NAV. Discount Management Program (DMP): The Trust announced the renewal of the DMP for 2026. See BlackRock.com for more details. The performance quoted represents past performance and does not guarantee future results. Investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed or sold, may be worth more or less than the original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance quoted. Refer to BlackRock.com for current month-end performance. *See page 5 for performance table. Source: Morningstar & BlackRock as of 12/31/25. Returns are shown net of advisory fees paid by the Trust and net of the Trust's...
These Consumer Goods Could Be First To Vanish As "Supply Shock" Disrupts Asian Factories Goldman analysts warned that the petrochemical supply shock sweeping across Asia is now morphing into a full-blown COGS shock, hitting a range of industries with factories across the region. The immediate consequence is that manufacturers - from sofa makers to apparel producers - are being forced to dial back ...
These Consumer Goods Could Be First To Vanish As "Supply Shock" Disrupts Asian Factories Goldman analysts warned that the petrochemical supply shock sweeping across Asia is now morphing into a full-blown COGS shock, hitting a range of industries with factories across the region. The immediate consequence is that manufacturers - from sofa makers to apparel producers - are being forced to dial back production and, in some cases, idle plants altogether as soaring petrochemical-linked input costs drive up the price of plastics and other key materials. In the note " Petrochemical Supply Shock Begins Idling Asian Factories " , we laid out earlier on Tuesday how the shock is unfolding. Now, we focus on industries where the COGS shock is already forcing " surging input costs ," which are reducing manufacturing lines or idling plants and leading to possible shortages. " With key raw materials and inputs such as PTA, Caprolactam, polyester, and polyamide up on average 29%, the implied COGS increase amounts to c. +17%, " Goldman analyst Georgina Fraser wrote in a note. Fraser warned, " For a textile manufacturer operating with margins of ~5–15%, it is reasonable to assume that a cost shock of this magnitude could render operations uneconomic, leading to production standstills ." Fraser outlined that the industries most affected by the COGS shock are: Furniture & bedding → costs up ~21% Consumer goods → 20% Healthcare equipment → ~19% Textiles/apparel → ~17% "Even an imminent end to the conflict would not fully unwind the supply chain disruption already in motion," she warned. The note cited new indications that India's textile production has "collectively moved to restrict operations to a single 12-hour shift per day." Taken together, the message is clear: supply-chain snarls may soon erupt across Asia ( first outlined here ). Reducing production lines and idling plants increases the risk of shortages across a broad range of Asian-produced consumer goods, from T-shirts to furn...
Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) is one of the Unstoppable Technology Stocks to Buy Now. According to a March 26 report by CNBC, memory stocks saw a sell-off after Google unveiled its TurboQuant on Tuesday, March 24. Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) has fallen around 17% since Tuesday. The report noted that TurboQuant is a new compression […]
Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) is one of the Unstoppable Technology Stocks to Buy Now. According to a March 26 report by CNBC, memory stocks saw a sell-off after Google unveiled its TurboQuant on Tuesday, March 24. Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) has fallen around 17% since Tuesday. The report noted that TurboQuant is a new compression […]