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Tony Tassell

@tonytassell.bsky.social
13K followers 3K following 3.1K posts

Financial Opinion Editor at the FT. I have views. A spotter of things in markets, companies, world affairs. Also interested in food and climbing.

PostsRepliesMedia
Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 1h
writing is hard
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Librarian Capital @librariancapital.bsky.social · 3h
"Rank 24 out of 13135 portfolios" This is not going to last
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Rob Davies @byrobdavies.bsky.social · 7h
Latest in a three-year-long seam of reporting by the Guardian, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the BBC and international media partners. The project, known as Cyprus Confidential, was co-led by the ICIJ and Paper-Trail Media, based on documents first shared by Distributed Denial of Secrets.
theguardian.com
Roman Abramovich aides falsified paperwork to disguise assets and dodge tax, records suggest
Accountancy firm Deloitte Cyprus among those that appear to have backdated records outlining the Russian billionaire’s assets
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Toby Nangle @tobyn.bsky.social · 8h
🚨 Alphaville is live blogging the Economics Nobel Prize, because of course it is www.ft.com/content/f446...
ft.com
Alphaville’s Nobel Prize for Economics live blog
Live coverage of exciting economicsy stuff
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 11h
The huge lurking leverage of AI hyperscalers in leases on all those datacentres - column by credit fund manager Ellen Carr as.ft.com/r/9e20a42d-4...
as.ft.com
The huge lurking leverage of AI hyperscalers
While equity investors look to sunny futures, creditors are scrutinising liabilities like leases on data centres
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 11h
Australian public policy tends to get watched elsewhere so this column by the great @alankohler.bsky.social on his retirement from the ABC has a resonance beyond the country - particularly on John Howard's decisions on climate change, capital gains tax, medicare www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10...
abc.net.au
Alan Kohler on the stories he covered — and the ones he missed
In his final column before retiring from the ABC, Alan Kohler reflects on the stories that shaped him, plus those that shaped Australia in ways he could not predict.
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
The wisdom of prediction markets - FT oped by the great Michael Mauboussin. as.ft.com/r/5ec0a63c-3...
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
and a good point here on the rather heroic assumptions of the AI trade as.ft.com/r/6222f4a8-3...
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Markets have become basically one trade - AI - @katie0martin.ft.com column here. "For now, the whole world is all-in..we'd better be right" as.ft.com/r/56eade0d-a...
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
The wisdom of prediction markets - FT oped by the great Michael Mauboussin. as.ft.com/r/5ec0a63c-3...
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Alison Killing @alisonkilling.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Really excited to have won a Loeb award for my story on Neom and the Line. Read the story here: ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...
ig.ft.com
End of The Line: how Saudi Arabia’s Neom dream unravelled
Mohammed bin Salman’s utopian city was undone by the laws of physics and finance
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
from the “this is fine” department: “Many AI industry insiders told Axios they believe a major event will occur in the next six to 12 months.” Not surprising but…. www.axios.com/2026/10/09/a...
axios.com
Scoop: AI companies plot "day after" scenarios for public revolt
Inside the AI industry's worst-case-scenario prep.
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
‘Switzerland has spoken’: will UBS leave? rpt by Simon Foy and @mjruehl.bsky.social. Is a US merger, a potential exit route? www.ft.com/content/2adb...
ft.com
‘Switzerland has spoken’: will UBS leave?
New regulations will leave lender with options ranging from retaining billions of dollars of additional capital to shrinking international operations
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
An account of UAE lobbying the UK govt over Man City in this FT Big Read by @joshnoble.bsky.social @arashmassoudi.ft.com as.ft.com/r/c1b9de85-8...
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Israel’s ‘scorched-earth’ ceasefire in Gaza as.ft.com/r/ca080694-b...
as.ft.com
Israel’s ‘scorched-earth’ ceasefire in Gaza
One year into the US-backed truce in the enclave, Israeli forces have kept up a relentless military campaign
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Fwiw, maybe if you don’t look at them for say a month or two, they could seem a lot better than you currently think they are give expectations
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Repeated US Treasury interventions risk an erosion of credibility - column here from @elerianm.bsky.social. If they become routine rather than an emergency safety valve, it "risks turning a market stabiliser into a source of moral hazard and deeper volatility." as.ft.com/r/e640edd4-f...
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Ian Smith @iankmsmith.ft.com · 08/10/2026
Bond king @robinwigglesworth.ft.com and I answered 30ish FT reader questions on the bond market, some good ones and then also one from @tobyn.bsky.social. Read below if you're interested www.ft.com/content/d51a...
ft.com
What is driving the global bond sell-off? You asked, we answered
Alphaville editor Robin Wigglesworth and senior markets correspondent Ian Smith replied to reader questions in a live Ask an Expert Q&A
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Norway lays down a line for EU on AI glasses - @richardmilne.ft.com here on how pressure is rising around Europe for restrictions on their use. as.ft.com/r/2b5c6436-4...
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
and this chart shows how much is paid for oil depends on location. "Futures are increasingly unreliable as a proxy for genuine supply and demand, they are also no longer useful as a hedge either and further disconnected from the fuel prices that drive inflation." as.ft.com/r/b02e2c4b-5...
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
What is the real price of oil anymore? Amrita Sen oped here on just how much the gap between the futures prices that is mostly quoted as "the oil price" has blown out from the price being paid for physical crude. Chart by @raydouglas.bsky.social as.ft.com/r/3f045ba9-3...
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
is it become more mobile though?
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
it is a live blog..the headline changes with the news
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Scrapping inheritance tax is unpopular on bluesky but IHT is a prime motivator for rich people to leave the UK (though not sure how scrapping for it family homes makes that much of a difference to that)
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
The five habits of highly successful opposition leaders:
1 Get a popular leader, or at least one who is less unpopular than their rivals.
2 Move towards the party that defeated you.
There is usually a reason why voters picked it, which should give you a clue about what direction you need to move in.
Neutralise your areas of weakness. In our country, for the Tories that typically requires that they minimise fears that they will knacker public services; for Labour that generally requires it to minimise fears that it will spend like a drunk in a casino.
4 Convince voters that you are competent and that you've changed.
5 Form a viable programme for government.
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
How much will AI assistants have an impact on banks in moving the money of savers around to get better deposit rates? Lex head @johnsfoley.bsky.social looks the risks here www.ft.com/content/a21e...
ft.com
AI agents could cost banks $500bn — by winning savers better rates
Banks will gain from AI as well as lose
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
UK tax authorities probed Man City in 2018 over whether it used complex arrangements to underpay tax - FT scoop as.ft.com/r/283aa6d2-6...
as.ft.com
HMRC opened probe into Man City’s tax affairs in 2018
Investigation into whether English football club was underpaying tax began after its internal emails were leaked
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
some strong books here - the FT/StanChart shortlist via @andrewtghill.ft.com www.ft.com/content/d0b2...
ft.com
FT and Standard Chartered Business Book of the Year Award 2026 — the shortlist
Contenders include titles on weight-loss drugs, AI weaponry and forecasting
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
FT story here www.ft.com/content/4c56...
ft.com
Former German spy chief arrested for treason
Former intelligence head August Hanning suspected of selling state secrets to a foreign power
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
There is going to be a lot written on this - Germany's ex-spy chief arrested for espionage h/t @marceldirsus.com www.dw.com/en/germanys-...
dw.com
Germany's ex-spy chief arrested for espionage
August Hanning served as the head of Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency from 1998 to 2005. According to German media, he is being investigated for allegedly passing on state secrets and working...
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
another wrong-un died last night too www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2...
washingtonpost.com
Jim Bakker, disgraced televangelist who went to prison, dies at 86
With his wife, Tammy Faye, he presided over the multimillion-dollar PTL empire before his fall in the 1980s after sex and fraud scandals.
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Andy Burnham’s Man City problem - @stephenkb.bsky.social here. "What we are seeing here is “Manchesterism”, as a narrative about Burnham’s mayoralty designed to make the Labour Party feel good about itself, colliding with the reality of actually existing Manchesterism." www.ft.com/content/ffc5...
ft.com
Andy Burnham’s Manchester City problem
The prime minister’s economic vision looks dangerously like a game of two halves
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
France is being hit by a pre-election debt sell-off. Many fear it could shake the Eurozone - FT read here www.ft.com/content/9b25...
ft.com
France: between the bond market and the barricades
The country is being hit by a pre-election debt sell-off. Many fear it could shake the Eurozone
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Andy Burnham killed off the national ID scheme. Instead in its place is a new private sector growth industry, writes @johngapper.bsky.social here. (Side point: It might also solve the supermarket checkout wait problem when buying alcohol while your age is verified) as.ft.com/r/43769636-2...
as.ft.com
Britain has turned digital ID into a growth industry
Start-ups such as Yoti and Luciditi are meeting demand for age and identity verification as the government retreats
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Ian Smith @iankmsmith.ft.com · 05/10/2026
just a couple of normal people who really care about bonds
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
is plague good or bad for markets?
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
just joined Lazard www.lazard.com/news-announc...
lazard.com
Lorenzo Bini Smaghi Joins Lazard As Senior Advisor
Lazard today announced that Lorenzo Bini Smaghi is joining the firm as Senior Advisor in Europe.
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
sorry former chair of SocGen
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
sorry former chair - until May this year
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The EU bond market turbluence means it is time for the ECB to put QT on hold - oped from former ECB director and chair of SocGen Lorenzo Bini Smaghi. He says prudence suggests a halt by the central bank until more stable conditions are restored as.ft.com/r/6d7d1b7b-0...
as.ft.com
Bond turbulence means it’s time for the ECB to put QT on hold
Prudence suggests a halt by the central bank until more stable conditions are restored
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Why the IPO market is booming and busting - @thekrazykobra.bsky.social column here as.ft.com/r/573ca837-6...
as.ft.com
Why the IPO market is booming and busting
Flotations have stalled and returns from new listings have been weak
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Summertime in England - Van (15mins 40 sec). Street Hassle - Lou Reed (10mins 56sec). Do people still do long songs in the age of streaming?
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Treasuries are losing their moneyness - column here from @bhgreeley.bsky.social. "For four decades, US government bonds have been both securities and money. They may no longer be that special" as.ft.com/r/9879499c-4...
as.ft.com
Treasuries are losing their moneyness
For four decades, US government bonds have been both securities and money. They may no longer be that special
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
- @natachavalla.bsky.social column from October 2025 arguing Europe should design an insurance facility — a European sovereign liquidity insurance — that works like an option rather than a rescue. as.ft.com/r/ac0055cf-b...
as.ft.com
France will soon test the boundaries of the EU’s backstop
Europe should design an insurance facility to act as a buffer at the heart of monetary union
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Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Bellingcat's won 3 awards at the Online Journalism Award, two for Agents of Chaos, our collaboration with @calmatters.org and @evidentmedia.org calmatters.org/investigatio...
calmatters.org
Agents of Chaos: Border Patrol’s year of unchecked force
A visual investigation shows how five agents moved from city to city, with their tactics becoming more brazen at each stop.
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Toby Nangle @tobyn.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
(My tl;dl precis of his risks: 1. Paperclipmaxxing; 2. Musk of someone king of the world; 3. Terrorists use AI super-agent for science 4. K-shaped economy, where all richer but AI systems much much richer)
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
meanwhile from @banxtoons.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/7992...
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Christopher Miller @christopherjm.ft.com · 02/10/2026
NEW: Yesterday I interviewed President Zelenskyy. Speaking at a school that had just been hit by a Russian jet drone, he said Ukrainian spy agencies had obtained intel that Putin told his military to remove all constraints that governed earlier air campaigns. “He said there are no rules now.”
ft.com
Putin has told military leaders to abandon rules of war, Zelenskyy says
Ukrainian leader tells FT his Russian counterpart has given the order that ‘there are no rules now’
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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Please listen and share this short podcast on the risks to humanity from AI with @tobyord.bsky.social and @gideonrachman.bsky.social. Ord makes a persuasive, very clear case in outlining the huge scale of the challenge to contain these risks. It is worth your time www.ft.com/content/e6f7...
ft.com
Could AI really end humanity?
Researcher Toby Ord discusses rising anxiety about AI’s existential risks
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Robert Armstrong @robarmstrong.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
S&P 500 unchanged over three months -- with earnings expectations up and price/earnings multiples down. This is *exactly* what you would expect to happen when interestst rates are being driven higher by a mix of growth and inflation. Sometimes markets make sense.
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