Latest news with #MikeBird
Economist
6 days ago
- Business
- Economist
Chip lords: the world's most important company
|1 min read Around 90% of the world's leading chips are made by TSMC, and most of them in Taiwan. Without those chips, the most critical advancements in AI—or even in the latest iPhone—would not have been possible. So how did one company become so dominant? And should the world be so dependent on chips made in a country on a geopolitical faultline between China and America? Hosts: Ethan Wu and Mike Bird. Guests: The Economist 's Shailesh Chitnis; Chris Miller, author of 'Chip War'; Asianometry founder Jon Yu; and Wendell Huang, CFO of TSMC.
BBC News
16-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Poundland founder backing plans for Walsall's future
The founder of chain store Poundland is "backing a bright future for Walsall" amid worries from local businesses about a lack of footfall in the town. Steve Smith, who grew up in Willenhall, started his career working at Bilston businessman recently spoke at the first We are Walsall 2040 conference, where businesses and organisations discussed "opportunities for the borough to thrive".Mr Smith also described a "long-term plan" for the area, and said: "It won't be the same as when I used to work on the market stalls, but it can be a future where our children do well for themselves and succeed in life." "It is the people of Walsall who make me most proud to come from this area. "I built my business with good people, and with good people who work hard you can achieve a great deal." Mr Smith added. It comes as new figures revealed the town was economically below average on nearly every front. Despite this, the council maintains the view that the borough is "full of potential" and is laying out its ambitions through its We are Walsall 2040 vision includes becoming the most improved borough in the region, a vibrant place where people are proud to live, and residents in all neighbourhoods have the same life Mike Bird, leader of Walsall Council, said: "More than 10,000 Walsall residents and local businesses helped us to shape the 'We Are Walsall 2040' vision, the ambitions set out are everyone's ambitions.""Walsall is my home. I've lived here for 51 years. I've been a local councillor since 1980. "I want the very best for this borough and for those who live and work here. There are many things that we can be proud of, but there are also things that need fixing and together we're going to fix them." Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
11-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Former Walsall Council leader returns to top job
A former leader of Walsall Council has returned to the position, a year after he resigned from the Bird stepped down from leading the Conservative-run council in June 2024 after being suspended from the new leader was confirmed on Tuesday after councillor Garry Perry, who succeeded Bird as leader, resigned himself from the role over what he described as "a campaign of political attrition, deliberate undermining and personal hostility".Bird said the council had been through "turbulent times" in recent weeks and thanked Perry at the meeting. Bird, who represents Pheasey Park Farm, has led Walsall Council six times."We must unite as a council no matter what political party you are," he told councillors."Tonight I feel like the osprey that has returned back to its nest and I am very grateful for that."The Conservatives have a majority on Walsall Council with 37 elected councillors. Perry resigned with immediate effect on 21 May, saying the borough deserved better "than the behaviour it is currently being subjected to behind closed doors."In his statement, he added: "I have been subjected to a sustained campaign of political attrition, deliberate undermining and personal hostility — not because of failure or wrongdoing but because I refused to play the game of patronage and self-preservation." Councillors welcomed Bird back to the Aftab Nawaz, leader of the Walsall independent group, said: "The way you were removed from council was an affront to democracy in this chamber."We had people from outside deciding who would [run] this council and that is never good."Councillor Matt Ward, leader of the Labour group, asked Bird if he would investigate the "serious allegations" around bullying made by new leader said: "I will speak to Garry, I have no knowledge of where his bullying came from, it certainly wasn't from me."The Conservative Party has been approached for a response. Follow BBC Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Economist
22-05-2025
- Business
- Economist
How Walmart caught up with Amazon
Two decades ago, Walmart was on top of the world. The business model of cheap prices and giant big-box stores, pioneered by founder Sam Walton (pictured), had delivered a market share that no other American retail chain could touch. Then e-commerce arrived in the shape of a formidable new competitor—Amazon. Yet despite being written off at the time by pundits and investors as a retail dinosaur, Walmart has quietly reinvented itself as a tech company. Now it's fast closing the gap on Amazon, and its huge presence in the physical world may even give it the edge on its online rival. Hosts: Mike Bird and Ethan Wu. Guests: Avantika Chilkoti, The Economist 's global business writer; Dan Bartlett, Walmart's Executive Vice President for Corporate Affairs; Suresh Kumar, Walmart's Chief Technology Officer; and Simeon Gutman, retail analyst at Morgan Stanley.
Forbes
17-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How This High-Yield Bond Fund Sailed Through The April Crash
Calculations and economic analysis of macroeconomic indicators in the long run. Forecast of global ... More recession and recession in the global economy. Graphs and charts illustrating income and expenses and US dollar bills About a month ago, Mike Bird, the Wall Street editor for The Economist, tweeted (or 'X-ed,' I guess I should say) the following: 'You have to concede that there would be a form of stupid, ridiculous beauty in the S&P 500 closing completely flat for April.' And, well, after all the drama we saw in April, that's pretty much where we landed. I once met Mike for coffee, and he's a friendly, intelligent person, so it's easy for me to agree with him here: Yes, the market behaved stupidly in April, starting with the tariff selloff and ending with the first hints of a deal with China (with various back-and-forth moves on tariffs in between). But there's a lot we can learn from that wild month. Let's look at three things that stand out, especially for those of us who aim to invest for high income and a 'dividend-driven' retirement. While stocks have struggled to get into the green this year (and mightily in April!), corporate bonds are up: The benchmark for corporates, the SPDR Bloomberg High-Yield Bond ETF (JNK), has returned a little more than 2% year to date as I write this. We, of course, prefer to buy bonds through closed-end funds (CEFs), for two reasons: A good example is the PGIM Global High Yield Fund (GHY), which we added to the CEF Insider portfolio in late January. It's outperformed the S&P 500 since, as of this writing. GHY Outperforms Why is GHY beating stocks? The CEF invests in corporate bonds, whose big yields have held up, thanks to the Fed keeping rates higher. That's letting GHY sustain its 9.7% dividend and attract more investors, especially since defaults have remained low among US and global companies. It's a good example of how we can blunt the effect a stock-market crash on our portfolios by investing elsewhere. And of course (and maybe more important!) we diversify our income stream, too. Let's talk about that next. GHY, as mentioned, yields 9.7%, or about $80.83 per month per $10,000 invested. That's a lot more than the $10.25 per month you'd get from an S&P 500 index fund. The typical index fund's tiny income stream means that if an investor needed to sell stocks to fund their needs in April, they faced a much higher risk of being forced to do so at a loss. That's not the case with GHY, with its 9.7% payout. Hence the month was an opportunity for GHY buyers, especially those who bought more when GHY sold off at the start of April. The market also, of course, gets it wrong and overshoots to the downside all the time. That mispricing is something we can pounce on. Yet again, GHY is an example here. When we added it to the CEF Insider portfolio in January, it was trading at a 3.25% discount to NAV. Now it is trading around par and has moved solidly into premium territory a number of times since our buy. As more investors diversify away from stocks and find streams of income to tide them over amidst uncertainty, I expect GHY to see a healthy premium yet again. Michael Foster is the Lead Research Analyst for Contrarian Outlook. For more great income ideas, click here for our latest report 'Indestructible Income: 5 Bargain Funds with Steady 8.6% Dividends.' Disclosure: none
