Author: Perry
Rents rising faster than inflation
UK rents increased by 7.7% in the 12 months to March 2025, over twice the current level of CPI inflation. Welsh rents have seen the steepest annual increase, at 8.9%; followed by England, at 7.8%; and Scotland, at 5.7%. Meanwhile CPI inflation stood at 3.4% as of March 2025. A December 2024 report from Zoopla found that rents for new lets are £270 per month higher than three years ago, adding £3,240 (27%) to the annual cost of renting since 2021. Ben Twomey, chief executive at Generation Rent, said: “Everyone needs a safe, secure and affordable home, it’s the foundation…
A City investment bank has said the UK is one of the best-positioned countries to manage the brewing trade war caused by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Since Trump unveiled his sweeping tariffs last week, stock markets around the world have been collapsing, and analysts have been quickly downgrading expectations for global growth. However, the domestically-focused FTSE 250 is down less than six per cent since the tariffs were announced, compared to almost 10 per cent for Europe’s Stoxx 50, 13 per cent for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index, and seven per cent for the US Dow Jones. While Prime…
Large Language Models (LLMs) have come a long way since their early days of mimicking autocomplete on steroids. But generating fluent text isn’t enough – true intelligence demands reasoning. That means solving math problems, debugging code, drawing logical conclusions, and even reflecting on errors. Yet modern LLMs are trained to predict the next word, not to think. So how are they suddenly getting better at reasoning? The answer lies in a constellation of new techniques – from prompt engineering to agentic tool use – that nudge, coach, or transform LLMs into more methodical thinkers. Here’s a look at five of…
Netflix’s stock rises after hours Thursday as the streaming giant blows past Wall Street’s expectations. Source link
Builders hit the brakes on home construction as tariffs and weak demand weigh on sales
Housing starts fell a lot further than expected as builders pulled back on construction of new single-family homes. Source link
Mortgage rates tick down – PropertyWire
The cost of mortgages is slowly falling, both on a weekly and annual basis, Rightmove analysis shows. As it stands you can take out a 2-year fix with a typical rate of 4.81%, falling by -0.04% week-on-week and -0.42% annually. For 5-year fixed rate mortgages they now stand at 4.70%, down -0.03% from last week and -0.13% annually. Matt Smith, Rightmove’s mortgage expert, said: “We’ve seen more major lenders announce lowest, or ‘best buy’ rates, with some eye-catching sub-4% rates for those with the largest deposits. However, average rates for the mass-market of home-movers have stayed relatively flat. “Pricing changes…
Bloomberg Business News Live
Programming schedule (EST): 12:00 AM – 5:00 AM: Bloomberg Global Business News 5:00 AM – 6:00 AM Bloomberg Brief 6:00 AM – 9:00 AM: Bloomberg Surveillance 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM: Bloomberg Open Interest 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM: Bloomberg Intelligence 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM: Balance of Power 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM: Bloomberg Businessweek Live 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM: Balance of Power 6:00 PM – 12:00 AM: Bloomberg Originals Stream link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEpJwprxDdk #bloomberg @markets #business #stockmarket #stocks #investing #bonds #investment #money #news #new #politics #bloombergtv #politics == Bloomberg Global News brings you live coverage of the markets…
Navigating the Angstrom Era – IEEE Spectrum
This is a sponsored article brought to you by Applied Materials.The semiconductor industry is in the midst of a transformative era as it bumps up against the physical limits of making faster and more efficient microchips. As we progress toward the “angstrom era,” where chip features are measured in mere atoms, the challenges of manufacturing have reached unprecedented levels. Today’s most advanced chips, such as those at the 2nm node and beyond, are demanding innovations not only in design but also in the tools and processes used to create them.At the heart of this challenge lies the complexity of defect…
Rosé all the way – LoveShackFancy — the pastel-hued fashion house known for its frilled femininity … More and fairy-tale aesthetic — has partnered with Santa Margherita Wines to create a limited-edition magnum of rosé. It’s not just a beautiful bottle. It’s a business move worth toasting.x Just in time for rosé season, two icons in pink have uncorked a bottle of strategic savvy-thinking. LoveShackFancy — the pastel-hued fashion house known for its frilled femininity and fairy-tale aesthetic — has partnered with Santa Margherita Wines to create a limited-edition magnum of rosé. It’s not just a beautiful bottle. It’s a…
It’s already illegal for undocumented immigrants to get Social Security. So why did Trump sign a new memo?
President Donald Trump signed a memo on Tuesday barring undocumented immigrants from getting Social Security benefits — something they were already not able to access under existing law. Source link
