The Good News Came With an Asterisk.

Every cheerful UK number this week came with an asterisk. UK Economic Growth Spurt Is a Sugar High saw through a 0.6% first-quarter pop built on pre-war stockpiling, with 2025 quietly revised down to 1.3% and April already shrinking. Trump's Tech Tax War Could Cost UK Billions waded into a 100% tariff threat over Britain's £800m digital tax, with a 24 July deadline ticking. Petrol Prices Drop, But Your Tank Still Costs More totalled up a fall to 151.98p a litre that still leaves a tank about £10 dearer than before the Iran war. And FCA Crypto Rules: Full Licence by October 2027 boiled down a clampdown forcing every crypto firm to be fully licensed.

The City, meanwhile, spent the week fighting its corner. Rolls-Royce, BAE Lead UK Defence Stocks Higher rounded up a defence rally on Starmer's £15bn plan, Rolls up nearly 3% to 1,457p and BAE up 2%. Barclays Bets £750m on Canary Wharf and London looked under the bonnet of a 999-year lease the bank calls a vote of confidence in the City. BT Shares Top the FTSE 100 on a $625m Deal took apart BT's move to fold its international arm into a Verizon venture, shares up almost 2% to 198.8p. UK Housebuilders Hit With a £4.5bn Lawsuit scrutinised a class action over 700,000 overcharged buyers that left Persimmon the day's biggest faller. And UK Stamp Duty Risks a £2bn London Exodus wrangled with the LSE's warning that 20 FTSE 100 names could follow AstraZeneca to New York.

The good-news headlines came with strings; the City fought its corner anyway. The rest of the issue's below…

On paper, this looks like a win: UK economic growth hit 0.6% in the first quarter, faster than anyone expected. But strip away the sugar and it sours fast. Much of that spurt came from firms stockpiling ahead of the Iran war — borrowed growth, not the real thing. Last year was quietly revised down, April already shrank, and a 0.6% headline rarely came with this much fine print.

Lithium stock prices have more than doubled in the past year in response to ballooning costs and shortages. $ALB climbed 185%. $SQM, 133%.

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The old market adage says the bigger they are, the harder they fall. The Magnificent Seven never got the memo. The seven biggest US tech giants have spent years doing the opposite — and the one with the clearest shot at doubling by 2030 is, improbably, the largest company on the planet. Here’s how the seven stack up, from the best bet to the worst, on a single question: which can realistically double from here?

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If filling up has felt like a punishment this year, here’s some relief: petrol prices are finally falling. With the US and Iran ending their war, oil has tumbled back to roughly where it sat before the first shots, and the cost at the pump is following it down. But don’t celebrate too hard. Your tank still costs around £10 more than it did in February — and the RAC reckons retailers should be cutting prices faster than they are, especially for diesel.

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