Author Archives: theqbitblogger

Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks is at the 50th day after Passover and for the Christian 40 days after Easter. It is for the Jew, Shavuot the time when the Torah was given to Moses on Mount Sinai. For the Christian it is the coming of the Holy Spirit, the third person of TrinityContinue reading “The First Lockdown.”

Never before have I seen an Advisor hold a garden press conference from the seat of power at Number 10. Was Boris in his bedroom peeping through his bedroom curtain at his hero ? Be that as it may Dominic did sound a tad dodgy when he said he drove 30 miles with his wifeContinue reading “Blind leading the Blind”

At a time Companies are going bust left right and centre with others begging bowl in hand are looking for Treasury support, Covid deaths continuing and great uncertainty the holiday weekend is dominated by Durham man. Chief Advisor to the PM made two domestic trips to homeland Durham during Covid lockdown. The Advisor was seenContinue reading “Dominic the Dodger from Durham”

The Sino British Joint Declaration of 1984 envisaged the autonomy of Hong Kong till 2047 as a one country, two systems model following the 1997 Handover by Britain to China.  China fully honoured as did Britain the June 1898 Second Convention of Peking to lease for 99 years the territory of Hong Kong to Britain.Continue reading “Chop Chop. Before it’s too late.”

This blog is often full of numbers, statistics that bore and for most meaningless maths that seem like the author likes watching paint dry. For some the numbers speak especially when the topic is close to their heart. This week as I casually watched on TV the Samaritans speak of their works during Covid shutdownContinue reading “Hero to Zero.”

For the first time ever the Bank of England have sold £3.8 billion of gilts , a three year bond which indicates a yield of minus (-) 0.03% per annum. When the bonds mature in three years you are certain to get back less money back than you invested. The trade is made as itContinue reading “Penny for your Thoughts. Less for your Invest.”

We awake in Europe to read the comment from the American House Speaker that her President she says in her own words is ‘ morbidly obese ‘ . As lead Democrat and third in line for the Presidency the bottom line is that it is a remark made to offend her President. It is notContinue reading “Be Mindful of the Fats of Life.”

Get Back, Get Real, Get Going My friend reminded me that the coming weekend is a Bank Holiday in the UK. My friend says it will be a ‘ virtual ‘ holiday and I enquired if he meant ‘ holidays, virtually all the time ? ‘ Surely with the stay at home the stay awayContinue reading “Get Back, Get Real, Get Going.”

Adjusted for inflation since 1803 the $15m paid for the land is equivalent to $340 million give or take a few cents. However off comparable land value it is today valued at $1.25 trillion. Thomas Jefferson as I said did a great deal with Napoleon Bonaparte who in fairness was only 34 years of ageContinue reading “The Louisiana and Shanghai Purchases 2”

In 1797 James Matheson was born and 13 years earlier William Jardine was born both men from Scotland who in 1832 formed together Jardine Matheson aged 35 and 48 respectively. They then began tea trading between Britain and Hong Kong and built one of the most successful companies known to man and certainly Asia. InContinue reading “The Louisiana and Shanghai Purchases.”