Friday 16 May 2025
The Mighty Headlines
Economics: Oil prices fall as Trump hints at Iran deal
Business: Holland & Barrett records third year of losses
Markets: NatWest shares rise by 24 per cent in 2025
Foreign Affairs: Spanish Government releases info about power cut
Security and intelligence: FBI warns of AI impersonating senior personnel
Domestic politics: UK in talks for migrant “return hubs”
The Mighty Stats
FTSE = 8,633.75 (up 0.57%)
S&P 500 = 5,916.93 (up 0.41%)
Nasdaq = 19,112.32 (down 0.18%)
CAC40 = 7,853.47 (up 0.21%)
£1 = $1.33 / €1.19
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The Mighty Detail
Economics: The price of oil fell yesterday after President Trump announced that the US was close to securing a nuclear deal with Iran. Brent crude futures fell by 2.36 per cent to $64.53 per barrel. A nuclear deal could mean that sanctions on Iran and its oil exports are lifted, which would increase oil supply.
Business: Holland & Barrett is reporting a third consecutive year of losses. The health food shop recorded a pre-tax loss of £61.8 million in the 12 months to September 2024. This is despite sales increasing to £884.5 million. The company said that it had spent £96.3 million on capital investment and that it had opened 36 new shops and refurbished over 320 shops. It last announced a pre-tax profit in 2021.
Markets: Shares in NatWest have increased by nearly 24 per cent since the start of 2025 and by over 50 per cent in the last year. NatWest shares have now reached a 10-year high and are worth 498.8 pence. Before the Great Financial Crisis, NatWest shares had reached a high of 5236.28 pence. The bank recorded £1.8 billion in pre-tax profit in Q1.
Foreign Affairs: The Spanish Government has said that a power substation in Granada has been identified as the root of the power failure which affected large parts of the country in late April. The Spanish Government has not yet announced the cause of the issue in Granada but suggested that it was still investigating the issue.
Security and intelligence: The FBI warned yesterday that AI voice and text messages were impersonating senior US officials. The FBI added that “if you receive a message claiming to be from a senior US official, do not assume it is authentic.” Many of the targets are current or former US federal and state government officials and their contacts.
Domestic politics: During a visit to Albania yesterday, the UK Prime Minister said that the UK Government was in talks with other countries to set up “return hubs” for migrants. The UK Government would send migrants who have no right to stay in the UK to those return hubs. Albania, which has already agreed a similar deal with Italy, said it would not agree such a deal with the UK.
The Mighty Calendar
What’s happening today?
Debate of Assisted Dying Bill in UK House of Commons
European Political Community Summit, Albania
Lennart Meri Security Conference, Estonia
France unemployment rate (Q1 2025)
US housing starts (April)
London Gatwick Airport strike
Company results from: Swiss Re
Lookahead to the weekend
Saturday
Arab League summit, Iraq
English Men’s FA cup final
Eurovision grand final
Sunday
Inauguration mass of Pope Leo XIV
Elections in Poland, Portugal and Romania
English Women’s FA cup final
US PGA Championship final
The Mighty Finale
🌤️Weather today
Sunny and dry in all nations of the UK. Again! High of 21C and low of 10C in London.
✏️Life coaching quote of the day
“The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.” – Confucius, ancient Chinese philosopher
Mighty takeaway: You learn from the ups and downs of life. Be strengthened when things go wrong, not weakened.
That’s it for this week. We hope you enjoy the weekend and we’ll see you on Monday!
Bye for now!
The Mighty Memo team