Ailing China dissident Liu's 'time limited', says family member

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese activist Liu Xiaobo's "time is limited" due to a fluid build up around his stomach caused by liver scarring, a family member said, after authorities said Liu could not be moved abroad due to his illness.

from Reuters: Top News http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-rights-idUKKBN19L1GF?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

Security tight in Hong Kong as China president set to swear in new leader

HONG KONG (Reuters) - A massive security blanket surrounded Hong Kong early on Saturday as Chinese President Xi Jinping prepared to swear in the city's first female leader on the 20th anniversary of the former British colony's handover to Chinese rule.

from Reuters: Top News http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-hongkong-anniversary-idUKKBN19M325?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

British Airways cabin crew begin two-week strike in pay dispute

LONDON (Reuters) - Some British Airways cabin crew began a two week strike on Saturday in a prolonged pay dispute, risking further brand damage and travel disruption, although the airline said most passengers would be able to fly.

from Reuters: Top News http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-iag-britishairways-strike-idUKKBN19L2ZC?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

Venus Williams sued by family of man who died after Florida crash

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Reuters) - Venus Williams was sued on Friday by the family of a Florida man who died after being involved in a two-vehicle crash that police say was the fault of the world's former top-ranked tennis player.

from Reuters: Top News http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-tennis-venus-idUKKBN19L2YJ?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

Northern Irish political paralysis can't last for much longer, Britain warns

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Britain's Northern Ireland minister said he still believes a successful conclusion is possible in talks to restore power-sharing in the province, but that the period without devolved government cannot continue for much longer.

from Reuters: Top News http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-nireland-politics-idUKKBN19L2SA?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

Facebook changes algorithm to curb 'tiny group' of spammers

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc said on Friday it was changing the computer algorithm behind its News Feed to limit the reach of people known to frequently blast out links to clickbait stories, sensationalist websites and misinformation.

from Reuters: Top News http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-facebook-spam-idUKKBN19L2MM?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

Cardinal Pell case shows poor judgment, will stain Pope Francis legacy, victims say

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The charging of a top Vatican official, Cardinal George Pell, with sex-abuse crimes this week will permanently stain the legacy of Pope Francis, exposing poor judgment in his appointment, victims of sexual abuse said.

from Reuters: Top News http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-australia-abuse-pell-idUKKBN19L2OH?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

UK urges Russia to continue investigation into Nemtsov murder

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Friday it wanted Russia to continue investigating the murder of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, saying the case went further than the conviction by a Russian court of five men.

from Reuters: Top News http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-russia-nemtsov-britain-idUKKBN19L2NL?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

Paul McCartney settles with Sony/ATV over Beatles music rights

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Paul McCartney has reached a confidential settlement of his lawsuit against Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC in which he sought to reclaim copyrights to songs by the Beatles.

from Reuters: Top News http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-people-paulmccartney-idUKKBN19L2EO?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

Weekend reading: She thinks they doth protest too much

What caught my eye this week.

Merryn Somerset-Webb was on good form this week writing about the FCA’s report into the asset management industry. Opining in the Financial Times [search result], Merryn laments all the talk in the FCA report of more, well, talk (or as the author’s call it, consultation).

Everyone’s favourite plummy personal finance punk has little truck for the industry’s excuses. For example, she writes:

My favourite part comes on page 84, where the FCA reports on conversations with stakeholders about the all-in fee. It turns out that several respondents were concerned about the “practical complexities” of an all-in fee. It’ll be hard to figure out transaction costs, they said. After all, trading costs “cannot be predicted accurately ahead of time”.

This is absolutely killing. A group of people who insist that it makes sense for us to pay them outrageously high annual fees on the basis that they are so good at complex forecasting — that they can look at, say, the 2,000 stocks listed in the UK and forecast which of them will do better than the others based on a pile of mostly made up spreadsheets — reckon there are insurmountable “complexities” in extrapolating what their own trading costs will be over a 12-month period from decades of their own data.

Hysterical.

Well put.

I’m a little weary of being indignant on behalf of investors who to often seem unable to do even an hour’s homework of their own, but Somerset-Webb is made of more noble stuff.

Keep fighting, she says in her article. There is more work to be done!

From Monevator

I, Robot (or automatic investing for the people) – Monevator

Investment platforms to be studied by the FCA on competition concerns – Monevator

From the archive-ator: 7 ways to profit from other people’s folly – Monevator

News

Note: Some links are Google search results – in PC/desktop view these enable you to click through to read the piece without being a paid subscriber.¹

Britons’ savings rate at record lows, says ONS – Guardian

Bank of England tightens mortgage affordability rules – Telegraph

When not frightening fund managers, FCA also studying car loans market – Guardian

Warren Buffett says the problem with the economy is people like him – CNBC

“In practically all countries for which evidence is available, there is a clear link between what your parents earned and your own earnings prospects” – Bloomberg

Products and services

Childcare: All the schemes, how they work, how to apply – Telegraph

Property funds’ liquidity crisis lives on [Search result] – FT

‘EU Pension’ planned for people who move between countries – Guardian

A Help-To-Buy scheme case study in London – Guardian

The Royal Mint is considering getting into the coin valuation business – ThisIsMoney

Comment and opinion

Free yourself from your investments – Of Dollars and Data

How many of Amazon’s dotcom peers from 2000 still exist today? – The Value Perspective

Happy warriors and the practice of realistic optimism – Abnormal Returns

Think hard before buying a London property [Search result] – FT

No investor is fully passive – Morningstar

Bills! – The Escape Artist

[Some] investors have lost sight of the purpose of indexes – Bloomberg

How to deploy £10m for financial freedom [“Forced” to read Monevator ] – FireVLondon

This time really is different [On the evolution of markets] – Bloomberg

Larry Swedroe: Alpha’s persistence is always at risk – ETF.com

An introduction to buy-to-let as an asset class – 7 Circles

The pros and cons of doing buy-to-let as a Limited Company – ThisIsMoney

Valuing Uber on a per user basis [Deep financial geekery!] – Musings on Markets

The four Ls of retirement income planning – Retirement Researcher

Off our beat

The power of the Rotten Tomatoes website – Wired

How Twitter pornified politics – New York Times

Orbituary for the great Doctor John Sarno – New York Times

And finally…

“Overall I thought this was a good book. It’s full of practical ideas with lots of detail on how to calculate the various ratios. However, you will need to have some experience with income statements, balance sheets and cash flow statements to get the most out of it.”
– John Kingham’s review of How To Pick Quality Shares by Phil Oakley

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1. Note some articles can only be accessed through the search results if you’re using PC/desktop view (from mobile/tablet view they bring up the firewall/subscription page). To circumvent, switch your mobile browser to use the desktop view. On Chrome for Android: press the menu button followed by “Request Desktop Site”.

from Monevator http://monevator.com/weekend-reading-she-thinks-they-doth-protest-too-much/

Prince Charles awarded Order of Canada, country's top honour

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Prince Charles has been awarded the Order of Canada, which is the country's top civilian honour and recognises outstanding achievement and service to the nation, officials said on Friday.

from Reuters: Top News http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-royals-canada-idUKKBN19L2DC?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

Islamic State under pressure in Iraqi and Syrian strongholds

MOSUL, Iraq/RAQQA, Syria (Reuters) - U.S.-backed Iraqi forces pressed Islamic State fighters holding out in Mosul's Old City on Friday, while in Syria the militant group launched a counter-attack against an alliance of militias trying to oust it from its de facto capital of Raqqa.

from Reuters: Top News http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-idUKKBN19L25V?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews