Oil prices are climbing again. Trump and Netanyahu’s recent strikes on Iran sent crude soaring, and the UK’s Office for Budget Responsibility just warned that if this carries on, inflation could breach 3% by the end of 2026. The OBR’s David Miles put a number on it: this shock alone could add roughly one percentage point to CPI inflation. Meanwhile, Rachel Reeves is furious. The Chancellor’s already warned energy firms against price gouging during this crisis—and she’s got a point. Let’s break it down.

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The British Chambers of Commerce just downgraded UK growth to 1% for 2026 — down from 1.2%. Iran turmoil, energy price spikes, and global uncertainty are the culprits.

The UK’s economy is being strangled by something nobody elected. It’s not interest rates, trade wars, or Brexit (though they don’t help). Instead, it’s administrative rationing—decades of contradictory policy choices that have made energy too expensive, land too scarce, and capital too hard to find.

Two Cambridge maths graduates have launched QFEX — a global trading exchange valued at $95m (£71m) and backed by some of Silicon Valley’s sharpest money. Their target? The $100bn global exchange, clearing and brokerage industry. Their pitch: that retail investors have been overcharged, underserved, and locked out of institutional-grade tools for long enough. QFEX promises 24/7 trading on traditional assets, direct investor-to-investor dealing with no broker in the middle, perpetual futures that never expire, and high leverage previously reserved for professional desks. The backers include General Catalyst, Y Combinator, and Paul Graham. Let’s break it down.

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A geopolitical crisis doesn’t just make headlines—it wipes real money off the table. When tensions with Iran escalated last week, global stock markets lost £4.5 trillion in value, according to Bloomberg’s World Exchange Market Capitalisation index. We’re talking about a drop from £117.6 trillion to £113.1 trillion in a matter of days. Oil prices spiked, traders panicked, and uncertainty ruled the room. Here’s the thing about geopolitical shocks: they hit fast, they hit hard, and they ripple across every market on the planet. Let’s break it down.

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Bitcoin and stocks have been dancing together lately. Correlations with the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and tech-heavy ETFs have been climbing, prompting some to whisper that crypto’s gone corporate. But here’s the thing about those correlations — they’re not telling the whole story. According to research from NYDIG, one of the biggest names in crypto finance, bitcoin’s bond with equities is way overstated. Even when correlations hit 0.5, stocks explain only about 25% of bitcoin’s price moves. The remaining 75%? That’s pure crypto dynamics — capital flows, derivatives positioning, network growth, and regulatory shifts. So before you dismiss bitcoin as just another tech play, let’s break it down.

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