Crypto News: Truss goes into the cold

Check your meter today. Say goodbye to low tariffs and say hello to much, much higher energy bills. The day we've all dreaded is nearly upon us: the price cap lifts tomorrow.

Businesses and consumers are coming up with novel solutions as the energy crisis unfolds across Europe. One Dublin pub is offering 20% off food bills once a week if diners tolerate the heating turned down — "bring a jacket," not a bottle, they say. One Danish bank is handing out blankets to employees.

Meanwhile, the pound's recent slump is making British energy costs even worse by boosting the cost of imported natural gas and power supplies. Kingfisher reports sales of insulation at B&Q jumped 82% from last year. Searches for porridge at Waitrose are up 218% compared to 2019. Gyms are shutting hot tubs and turning down the temperature in swimming pools to save money.

Bloomberg Opinion's Andrea Felsted notes that "slankets" (those gigantic fleeces with sleeves) are one of this season's bestsellers at John Lewis. A new national spirit is born — duvets and down feathers at the ready.

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The stories you need to know about this evening

Vladimir Putin formally annexed four occupied regions of Ukraine, as Ukraine formally applied to join NATO.
ECB officials laid the groundwork for another significant rate hike as the euro-zone grapples with double-digit inflation.
A money manager overseeing $2 trillion of assets said it's ready to buy the pound — once it reaches $1.

This weekend, the Conservatives head for warmth at their annual gathering in Birmingham. It's quite something for the Tory party to worry almost every home owner in Britain just days before their party conference.

Not since the late-1990s has their party been over 30 points behind in opinion polls. Already, YouGov reports that more than half of Britons think Liz Truss should resign as prime minister.

After the bucking bronco movements of the bond and stock markets over the last week, this morning has seen more moves, just less extreme.

The main event today was the prime minister and chancellor chatting with the head of the Office for Budget Responsibility. Yes, that's the same institution they they were so keen to sideline only days ago. Now the OBR has red carpet treatment.

After the meeting, the pound fell on hearing that Truss and her chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, will not be changing their fiscal plans. The purpose of the summit seemed mostly the photo-op: "The accountant is no longer sacked." But if the top two are now intent on calming markets, this next weekend could entice them to do the opposite.

They will be in their Conservative comfort zone and a low tax echo chamber — Truss will be dancing with the "ones that brung her." With a lot of her opponents boycotting conference, it will leave the crowd even more purely Liz-like. News this morning that the UK is not in technical recession as many had assumed and instead grew by 0.2% will embolden refusenik followers. It will take an iron will not to say more things they want to hear.

The world outside the conference hall will be listening. The prevailing mood in Westminster is that the scrapping of the 45p rate of income tax can't go ahead (because a majority of her parliamentary party won't support it); that the November 23rd fiscal event will have to be brought forward; and, for the reinstated accountant OBR to regard their plans as sustainable, deep spending cuts will need to be announced.

Phil Aldrick has of course run through the government's potential options. In order to find the £47 billion needed, there are going to be many losers.

We're already hearing talk of MPs pushing for a rule change to allow a no-confidence ballot within the first year of Truss's leadership. These MPs would prefer to lose their new leader than their voters and their seat.

All this, and we're not even at the one-month mark.

The UK is the only Group of Seven economy that has yet to fully recover from the coronavirus pandemic, official figures show. Revisions dating back to the start of the Covid-19 outbreak mean that gross domestic product in the second quarter was still 0.2% below its level at the end of 2019. It was previously estimated to be 0.6% above.

Get ahead of the curve

Under the radar. Palantir had a secret plan to deepen its relationship with the NHS — by buying up smaller rivals.

First look at Nord Stream leak. Satellites captured the first images of the massive methane plumes triggered by explosions on the pipelines.

Watch the throne. The UK confidence crisis runs so deep that London is close to losing its crown as Europe's biggest equity market.

Slowing progress. Women gained just two new seats on S&P 500 bank boards this year.

Luxury endures. A Hermes handbag fetched a record price for a Sotheby's auction — a sign investors view luxury as a story of value.

#Butterboard. The latest viral food trend? A bread and butter service refresh. I dare you to look away.

"Fear is contagious."

Ben Kumar

Senior investment strategist at Seven Investment Management LLP.

Analysts worry that he UK's rapid descent from stability to crisis is threatening to expose the fragility of global efforts to crush inflation.

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Photo Illustration: 731; Bolsonaro: Ton Molina/Fotoarena/Zuma Press; Lula: Matheus Pe/TheNEWS2/Zuma Press

Brazilian elections rarely draw their fair share of notice abroad. The country of 215 million is the size of a continent, not to mention Latin America's biggest economy, yet it's long been stable and rarely figures in superpower politics. This year is different.

As voters choose between re-electing President Jair Bolsonaro or returning former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to office, the stakes are high for nearly every living creature on Earth. Brazil's rainforests are critical to the global climate's future, and the candidates have offered diverging views on whether more trees can be cut down by ranchers and farmers.

Read The Big Take.

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