Credit agencies misrated $100bn in real estate debt, UK faces political shift, Philippines reinforces warship, drilling for hydrogen reconsidered, Labour swing uncertain, natural hydrogen discovery in Mali, challenges for hydrogen startups
Read more
AI Summary
Highlights
AI Chapters
Episode notes
auto_awesome
Podcast summary created with Snipd AI
Quick takeaways
Credit agencies may have misrated over $100bn of commercial real estate debt, posing risks for investors.
Upcoming UK election polls indicate a potential historic shift towards the Labour Party, challenging the Conservative Party's future.
Deep dives
Commercial Real Estate Credit Ratings
Credit agencies have potentially misrated over $100 billion of commercial real estate debt. The rise in single-asset, single-borrower deals has similarities to the pre-financial crisis high ratings given to bonds backed by subprime borrowers. This misrating could have significant implications for the commercial real estate market and investors.
UK Election Polls and Political Landscape
Recent polls indicate a challenging outlook for the Conservative Party in the upcoming UK election. Forecasts suggest a substantial drop in Conservative seats, potentially granting the Labour Party a significant majority. This unexpected shift reflects a possible historic change in British politics, posing challenges for the Conservative Party's future.
Harnessing Natural Hydrogen for Energy
Natural hydrogen is gaining attention as a renewable energy source, with potential benefits for the energy transition. Exploration in Mali reveals natural hydrogen deposits, presenting an alternative to energy-intensive methods of hydrogen extraction. Despite global interest in decarbonization, challenges remain in scaling up natural hydrogen energy production due to financial and operational constraints.
Credit agencies have misrated more than $100bn of commercial real estate debt, new election polls suggest the UK could be in for a seismic political shift, and the Philippines has been secretly reinforcing a dilapidated warship marooned on a South China Sea reef. Plus, drilling for naturally occurring hydrogen gas was deemed unfeasible, but prospectors now think differently.
The FT News Briefing is produced by Fiona Symon, Sonja Hutson, Kasia Broussalian and Marc Filippino. Additional help from Josh Gabert-Doyon, Ethan Plotkin, Breen Turner, Sam Giovinco, Peter Barber, Michael Lello, David da Silva and Gavin Kallmann. Our engineer is Monica Lopez. Our intern is Prakriti Panwar. Topher Forhecz is the FT’s executive producer. The FT’s global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. The show’s theme song is by Metaphor Music.