The once inexorable rise in retiree living standards since the second world war has broken down. Can we keep the dream alive for future generations? When you think of retirement, what comes to mind? Perhaps it is images of older people enjoying a well-deserved period of leisure and comfort in the final stretch of their lives. Cruise ships, garden centres, golf clubs and bungalows by the sea. The t...
The once inexorable rise in retiree living standards since the second world war has broken down. Can we keep the dream alive for future generations? When you think of retirement, what comes to mind? Perhaps it is images of older people enjoying a well-deserved period of leisure and comfort in the final stretch of their lives. Cruise ships, garden centres, golf clubs and bungalows by the sea. The truth is that this image is now, in large part, the artefact of a bygone age. A long and comfortable retirement starting at 60 or 65 is beginning to look like a collective social experience whose moment has passed. The political and economic forces it relied upon appear to have run their course – and it’s time to start thinking about what comes next. Retirement in Britain has a surprisingly short history, underpinned by dramatic improvements in older people’s quality of life over the past 50 years. Large public and private bureaucracies first started to enrol long-serving employees into pension schemes from the mid-19th century. In 1909, Britain was the first country to pioneer an old age pension, funded by the state and targeting the poorest, who could claim it from the age of 70. But it was only after the second world war that a period of leisured old age become an ordinary expectation for most British workers. Helen McCarthy is a historian and the author of Double Lives: A History of Working Motherhood Continue reading...
Breton brewer forced to stop selling craft beer after Beatles singer’s widow registered lemon name to stop him being mocked A Brittany brewer is in a squeeze after Yoko Ono ordered him to stop selling a bestselling craft beer labelled John Lemon. The Japanese-American artist and widow of the Beatles star John Lennon claimed it was a breach of a trademark she had registered a decade ago to stop her...
Breton brewer forced to stop selling craft beer after Beatles singer’s widow registered lemon name to stop him being mocked A Brittany brewer is in a squeeze after Yoko Ono ordered him to stop selling a bestselling craft beer labelled John Lemon. The Japanese-American artist and widow of the Beatles star John Lennon claimed it was a breach of a trademark she had registered a decade ago to stop her late husband being mocked, his name misused and his reputation sullied. Continue reading...
England head coach survived Ashes review but going missing for 43% of the county season is straight out of Seinfeld George: Right now I just sit around pretending I’m busy. Jerry: How do you do that? George: I look annoyed. Think about it. When you look annoyed all the time, people think you’re busy. [Rolls his eyes, slaps his forehead, does look busy.] Does anyone remember Brendon McCullum? You k...
England head coach survived Ashes review but going missing for 43% of the county season is straight out of Seinfeld George: Right now I just sit around pretending I’m busy. Jerry: How do you do that? George: I look annoyed. Think about it. When you look annoyed all the time, people think you’re busy. [Rolls his eyes, slaps his forehead, does look busy.] Does anyone remember Brendon McCullum? You know. Baz. It was a thing. People said “Bazball” in parliament. It was probably in the dictionary, one of those new zeitgeisty words, like rofl. Distinguishing marks? Hat. Jawline. A way of standing. Sports socks provocatively splayed on an ornate balcony. Look, it doesn’t really matter. But has anyone actually … seen him? Continue reading...
Midfielder broke a Barça Dutch record last week and is potentially one win from a third league title with team he visited as a teenager for fun A warm sun bathes the Barcelona training ground as Frenkie de Jong arrives to chat. The midfielder’s work is done for the day and the Netherlands international is in his comfort zone here, the first team’s longest-serving player, a regular captain and effo...
Midfielder broke a Barça Dutch record last week and is potentially one win from a third league title with team he visited as a teenager for fun A warm sun bathes the Barcelona training ground as Frenkie de Jong arrives to chat. The midfielder’s work is done for the day and the Netherlands international is in his comfort zone here, the first team’s longest-serving player, a regular captain and effortlessly fluent in Spanish. It is a far cry from the day just over 10 years ago when he visited the Camp Nou. In late December 2015 De Jong made the most of the Eredivisie’s winter shutdown to take a city break in Barcelona with his now wife, Mikky. He was 18 and days from linking up with Ajax, who had signed him four months earlier but loaned him back to Willem II, and he managed to get tickets for Barcelona v Real Betis. It is an occasion that stuck in his mind. Continue reading...
‘Targeted support’ means certain banks and financial institutions can offer free extra help with investments and pensions Many Britons are daunted by the world of investing, but new City rules mean certain banks and financial institutions can offer free extra help with investments and pensions. Last month marked the launch of “targeted support”, a new regulated service that permits companies to su...
‘Targeted support’ means certain banks and financial institutions can offer free extra help with investments and pensions Many Britons are daunted by the world of investing, but new City rules mean certain banks and financial institutions can offer free extra help with investments and pensions. Last month marked the launch of “targeted support”, a new regulated service that permits companies to suggest investments and pension products to customers that might provide a better return. Continue reading...
ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, is pushing deeper into artificial intelligence with Anew Labs, a drug-discovery unit that has begun presenting its AI-designed therapies at international conferences. The unit – also known as Anew Therapeutics or ByteDance AI Drug Discovery – operates from Shanghai, Singapore and San Jose, California. Its official website listed 36 core members, as well as b...
ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, is pushing deeper into artificial intelligence with Anew Labs, a drug-discovery unit that has begun presenting its AI-designed therapies at international conferences. The unit – also known as Anew Therapeutics or ByteDance AI Drug Discovery – operates from Shanghai, Singapore and San Jose, California. Its official website listed 36 core members, as well as big names on its “scientific advisory board”: Liu Yongjun, former president of Innovent Biologics, Ji...
Intel is a leading semiconductor manufacturer that long dominated the global CPU market but has faced challenges as competitors advance in AI and chip technology. Britannica
Intel is a leading semiconductor manufacturer that long dominated the global CPU market but has faced challenges as competitors advance in AI and chip technology. Britannica
Baris-Ozer/iStock via Getty Images Investment Thesis Two core observations stood out to me from Alphabet’s ( GOOG ) Q1 CY26 earnings report last week. First, the search giant’s growth engine is firing on all cylinders. Its traditional search business delivered its strongest quarterly growth since ‘22. More importantly, Alphabet’s Google Cloud business reported its fastest pace of quarterly growth ...
Baris-Ozer/iStock via Getty Images Investment Thesis Two core observations stood out to me from Alphabet’s ( GOOG ) Q1 CY26 earnings report last week. First, the search giant’s growth engine is firing on all cylinders. Its traditional search business delivered its strongest quarterly growth since ‘22. More importantly, Alphabet’s Google Cloud business reported its fastest pace of quarterly growth yet, growing 63% y/y. Google’s multi-product push for the enterprise AI market has put the entire 'OpenAI complex,' a group stocks that regularly do business with the frontier AI startup, on high alert, more than ever. Second, what struck me the most was management’s fractional increase in capex for CY26. This implies Alphabet likely has all the capital investments it needs this year to sink its competitive teeth deeper into the OpenAI complex’s enterprise market share. That’s vastly different from the meaningful capex upgrades most hyperscaler peers guided towards last week. I now believe Alphabet’s Google has plenty of multi-dimensional growth surprises that will further cause pain for the entire OpenAI complex, and I am adopting a bullish view on Alphabet’s road ahead. Google Cloud: The Bane Of OpenAI Complex’s Growth Crisis Last week, I said that Alphabet was “pivoting aggressively” towards the enterprise AI market after noticing a trail of strong product roadmap clues in its Google CloudNext conference from a couple of weeks ago. If you missed those updates, this excerpt from Thomas Kurian , Google Cloud CEO, comprehensively sums up Google Cloud’s entire multi-dimensional, multi-product strategy to win more share in the enterprise AI market: You [enterprises] need a unified stack, with “chips that are designed for models, models that are grounded in your data, agents and applications that are built with those models,” and the whole thing “secured by the infrastructure.” While I was neutral on my views on Alphabet as of last week, I did say I will be watching Alphabet’s...
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is one of the 10 Best American Tech Stocks to Buy. On April 30, Pivotal Research increased its price target on Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) from $420 to $470 and kept its Buy rating on the stock. The research firm pointed to the company’s first-quarter results. Search revenue growth accelerated for the fifth quarter in a row, increasing 19% year-over-year, which was hi...
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is one of the 10 Best American Tech Stocks to Buy. On April 30, Pivotal Research increased its price target on Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) from $420 to $470 and kept its Buy rating on the stock. The research firm pointed to the company’s first-quarter results. Search revenue growth accelerated for the fifth quarter in a row, increasing 19% year-over-year, which was higher than the firm’s expected growth of 15%. Cloud revenue growth also accelerated for the fourth quarter in a row, growing 63% and beating Pivotal Research’s estimate of 48%. Cloud operating margins were also better than expected. Pivotal Research Raises Alphabet (GOOGL) Price Target, Keeps Buy Rating Subscriptions and Devices revenue increased by 19% in the first quarter of 2026. Pivotal Research increased its forecasts for search and cloud revenue after the results. Pivotal Research also raised its capital expenditure estimates, including an increase of $10 billion for 2026 linked to the Intersect acquisition, along with higher spending projections for 2027 and beyond. According to the research firm, these updates reflect strong cloud and AI momentum. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is an American multinational technology company and the parent company of Google. The company’s products include Search, Ads, Chrome, Cloud, YouTube, and Android. It specializes in areas like AI, cloud computing, and hardware. While we acknowledge the potential of GOOGL as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 10 Best Fintech Stocks to Invest In According to Billionaires and 10 Best Medical Stocks to Buy Under $30. Disclosure: None. Follow Insider Monkey on Google News.
Communications services stocks grabbed the spotlight this week as Wall Street digested earnings reports from major names including Alphabet ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL ) and Meta Platforms ( META ). The communications services sector ( XLC ) lost 0.8% so far this year, compared to the over 5% rise in the broader S&P 500 Index. In this week's earnings recap, five tickers reported results, out of which all rep...
Communications services stocks grabbed the spotlight this week as Wall Street digested earnings reports from major names including Alphabet ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL ) and Meta Platforms ( META ). The communications services sector ( XLC ) lost 0.8% so far this year, compared to the over 5% rise in the broader S&P 500 Index. In this week's earnings recap, five tickers reported results, out of which all reported earnings beat. On the revenue side, four companies exceeded revenue expectations, while one company trailed estimates. Below are the latest quarterly reports from some of the key players, which reported results this week: Alphabet ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL ) topped expectations in a first-quarter earnings report, with total revenues in the first quarter rising 22% marking its 11th straight quarter of double-digit growth. However, the bigger point of discussion was capex guidance. The company raised its full-year 2026 capital expenditure outlook to $180B–$190B, up from $175B–$185B, and went a step further, flagging that 2027 CapEx will increase significantly over 2026 as it ramps investments to meet what it called “unprecedented” demand for AI compute. Meta Platforms ( META ) beat on both the top- and bottom-line in the first quarter, but issued lackluster forward guidance. Like Alphabet, Meta also raised its capex expectations by a significant amount, anticipating higher component pricing and increased data center costs. Meta stock closed over 8% lower on Thursday. Telecom giant Verizon’s ( VZ ) first-quarter results topped profit expectations, with the company delivering a milestone in wireless subscriber growth. Rival T-Mobile ( TMUS ) also posted first-quarter earnings where it beat expectations on top and bottom lines and boosted full-year subscriber growth guidance. For the upcoming week, Walt Disney ( DIS ), Warner Bros. Discovery ( WBD ), Paramount Skydance ( PSKY ) and Electronic Arts ( EA ) are some communication services names that are scheduled to report quarterly r...