Friday 22 May 2026
*Please note that there will be no Mighty Memo published on Monday 25th May because of the Bank Holiday in the UK.*
The Mighty Headlines
Economics: Net migration to the UK falls to 171,000 in 2025
Business: Samsung gives workers equivalent of £300K bonus to avert strike
Markets: SoftBank shares rise by nearly 20 per cent
Foreign Affairs: Bolsonaro loses ground in Brazil Presidential race
Security and intelligence: White House puts last-minute delay to AI rule
Domestic politics: UK Government announces “Great British Summer Savings scheme”
The Mighty Stats
FTSE = 10,443.47 (up 0.11%)
S&P 500 = 7,445.72 (up 0.17%)
Nasdaq = 26,293.10 (up 0.087%)
Stoxx 600 = 620.56 (up 0.044%)
£1 = $1.34 / €1.16
Lab / Con / Reform / Green = 23 / 18 / 29 / 10 per cent (More in Common, 15-19 May)
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The Mighty Detail
Economics: Net migration to the UK fell to 171,000 last year according to figures released yesterday. The number of people coming to the UK was 813,000, while those leaving totalled 642,000. The ONS said that fewer non-EU nationals coming to the UK to work was a major reason for the decrease.
Business: Samsung has reached a provisional agreement with trade unions to avoid a strike in its semiconductor division. The deal could see computer chip employees receive a part-stock, part-cash bonus worth around £297,000 (509 million won) on average.
The bonus programme will operate for 10 years.
Samsung is South Korea’s largest employer, employing around 120,000 people.
Markets: Shares in SoftBank, the Japanese holding company which focuses heavily on tech investments, rose by 19.85 per cent yesterday. The gains of SoftBank are closely tied to AI, especially OpenAI (in which it has committed to invest over $60 billion) and Arm Holdings (which designs AI chips).
Foreign Affairs: Flavio Bolsonaro, a key contender in Brazil’s Presidential election in October, is said to be losing ground to incumbent President Lula.
It follows audio messages allegedly revealing Bolsonaro’s links to the owner of the now-collapsed Banco Master bank. The collapsed bank is at the centre of a $10 billion banking fraud scandal.
Flavio Bolsonaro is the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Security and intelligence: President Trump has postponed an Executive Order which would have required tech firms to submit their AI models for federal review before they are publicly released. Trump said that the last-minute delay was because he didn’t want to anything that could harm the US’s lead in AI.
The US intelligence services are reportedly concerned that foreign adversaries could otherwise get hold of US AI models before the US Government fully understands their capabilities.
Domestic politics: The UK Government has announced plans to provide free bus travel to children in England in August as part of its “Great British Summer Savings” scheme. It has also said that it will lower VAT on children’s entertainment (theme parks and cinemas among others) from 20 per cent to 5 per cent.
The Mighty Calendar
What’s happening today?
England manager Thomas Tuchel names the England World Cup team
UK House of Commons in recess until 1st June
Lookahead to the weekend
Saturday
Barbara Streisand honoured (in absentia) with Honorary Palme d’Or at Festival de Cannes
Women’s Champions League final: Lyon vs Barcelona in Oslo, Norway
Sunday
Parliamentary elections in Cyprus
French Open (tennis) begins
F1 Canadian Grand Prix, Montreal
The Mighty Finale
🌤️Weather today
Sunny in the east of England. Light cloud but dry in the west. High of 27C and low 15C in London. Evening rain in Belfast. Light cloud but dry in Edinburgh.
✏️Life coaching quote of the day
“Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives – choice, not chance, determines your destiny.” – Aristotle, Ancient Greek philosopher
Mighty takeaway: What choices can you make today to live the life you want to live?
That’s it for this Friday morning and for this week. Thanks for reading and we’ll see you again on Wednesday after the Bank Holiday weekend. (Stay cool!)
Bye!
The Mighty Memo team
*To read the Mighty Memo manifesto and learn about why we do this visit: https://www.mightymemo.co.uk/why*