A further jump for McDonald’s shares, which are now up a whopper-ing (sorry) 3.3% at $260.30, despite the drop in second quarter sales and profits.

The founder of JD Wetherspoon, Tim Martin, has sold almost £10m worth of shares in the pub chain.

Martin, who also chairs the hospitality company, sold 1.361m shares in the business on 26 July, according to a London Stock Exchange announcement.

Shares in the business dropped in early trading on Monday as a result, 0.9% lower at 743p.

They are now trading down 0.6% at 745p.

The famously outspoken Wetherspoons boss sold the shares at a price of 739p apiece, securing himself a £9.58m windfall.

The sale has reduced his stake in the company from 25.68% to 24.58%, or 30.38m shares. The company did not disclose a reason for the sale.

Martin founded the firm in 1979 with one venue, Martin’s Free House, and has since grown the business to 801 sites across the UK, employing 43,000 staff.

JD Wetherspoon revealed another recent improvement in sales earlier in July as it continued to sell off some venues. It reported that like-for-like sales had increased by 5.8% in the 10 weeks to 7 July despite unseasonably wet weather.

Read more here:

McDonald’s NYSE-listed shares have started the session slightly higher, up 0.5% at $253.42, suggesting that investors are seeing the dip in sales as a temporary blip.

European stocks have had a mixed session, with the FTSE 100 making the biggest gains with a 0.6% rise.

The FTSE 250 is also up 0.13%.

However, Germany’s Dax is flat, while Italy’s FTSE MIB is down 0.15% and France’s CAC 40 is down 0.65%.

HS2 has revealed more than £2bn in costs linked to Rishi Sunak’s decision to downgrade the high-speed rail line.

In the annual report of HS2 Ltd, the company revealed that it had written off £1.1bn in costs incurred during “phase two” of the project, which was due to link Birmingham to Manchester, only for the leg to be abandoned last year.

The company also disclosed a further £1bn in accounting charges relating to the project’s reduced ambitions, which will lower its expected future income.

In total, the business announced £2.17bn in one-off costs associated with scaling back the infrastructure project.

Sunak axed the second leg of the HS2 project in October last year at the Conservative party conference in Manchester, provoking dismay in a city that was due to benefit from the new rapid link.

The decision followed a series of long delays and rising estimated costs that had caused the high-speed line’s price tag to balloon to £71bn.

While the decision met with anger in regions that were due to benefit from the project, Labour has said it would not reverse the previous government’s decision.

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The worse-than-expected results from McDonald’s come just months after the president of its US operations, Joe Erlinger, was forced to address “viral social media posts and poorly sourced reports” that McDonald’s has raised prices significantly beyond inflationary rates.

In an open letter written on 29 May, Erlinger was addressing allegations after people starting posting about a location that was selling Big Mac Meals for $18. He said it was worrying that people thought this was the “rule and not the exception.”

He went on to say that the average cost of a Big Mac Meal had risen 27% since 2019, from $7.29 to $9.29 over that period, not 104% as some social media posts had claimed.

Erlinger said:

Inflationary pressures have affected all sectors of the economy, including ours. Our franchisees (who own and operate more than 95% of all restaurants in the US) set menu prices for their restaurants, which account for the increased costs of running their businesses.

In doing so, they work hard to minimize the impact of price increases on our fans. This includes the everyday prices on our restaurant menu boards to special limited-time offers.

That’s why prices for many of our menu items have risen less than the rate of inflation – and remain well within the range of other quick service restaurants.

It’s also why more than 90% of U.S. franchisees are offering meal bundles for $4 or less.

I fully expect the prices at your local McDonald’s to be an area of conversation and focus in the coming months. As it does, I hope you’ll see the programs we’re launching nationally and locally as meaningful to you.

Some crypto enthusiasts believe that Trump’s stance could put pressure on Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party, particularly when it comes to deep-pocketed donors.

Trump is the first major party candidate to accept donations in cryptocurrencies — and claimed on Saturday his campaign had raised $25m in crypto donations.

Nigel Green, CEO of financial advisors deVere Group, says:

The crypto ecosystem represents a rapidly growing and influential voting bloc. Ignoring this demographic – 40 % of Americans - could be politically detrimental, as millions of crypto enthusiasts and investors and seek supportive leadership.

In addition, the influence of wealthy donors in the tech and crypto industries cannot be understated. These individuals and organizations have the financial power to significantly impact election campaigns.

The Trump campaign is gaining deep-pocketed support from the crypto industry’s wealth execs

UK consumers cut back on credit card borrowing in June, according to official figures from the Bank of England, as cold weather and the cost of living crisis deterred households from spending.

The latest snapshot from Threadneedle Street showed net consumer credit borrowing dipped in June to £1.2bn, from £1.5bn in May, below the expectations of City economists.

Karim Haji, global and UK head of financial services at the accountancy firm KPMG, said the figures showed recent stronger levels of economic growth and lower inflation were yet to be felt by consumers.

What is clear is that despite two straight months of inflation remaining on-target, households aren’t necessarily feeling better off for it – indeed, wage growth has slowed in recent months, which may go some way to explaining this.

The UK economy exited recession in the first quarter at a faster pace than anticipated, while inflation has cooled from a peak of 11.1% in October 2022 to hold steady at 2% for a second consecutive month in June.

It comes as financial markets predict the Bank of England’s interest rate decision on Thursday will be on a knife edge, as the monetary policy committee considers whether to launch the first cut in interest rates since the Covid pandemic.

Separate figures from the Bank showed net mortgage approvals - which indicate future levels of borrowing - remained largely unchanged in June from a month earlier, in a sign of the property market treading water ahead of the general election and Thursday’s rate decision.

Anthony Codling, European housebuilding analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said:

Stability is good, but in our view, the UK housing market appears to be treading water, waiting for, hoping for the first Bank Rate cut.

There is a small chance that cut could come on Thursday, but we believe the first cut is more likely in September. Once mortgage rates start to fall, we expect housing market activity to pick up.

A three month view of Bitcoin prices shows the steady price climb in recent weeks, which was boosted even further on the prospect that Trump would clear regulatory hurdles to the cryptocurrency’s ascent.

A closer look at the rise in cryptocurrency over the past five days:

As part of his pro-crypto speech, Donald Trump put the US financial watchdog, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), on notice.

The Republican presidential candidate said he would sack SEC chair Gary Gensler within 24 hours of being elected.

Speaking at the bitcoin convention, Trump said:

On day one, I will fire Gary Gensler.

While the SEC boss loosened rules in January to allow for exchange-traded funds (ETFs) – a basket of assets that can be bought and sold like shares on an exchange – that track the price of bitcoin, Gensler has remained a cryptocurrency sceptic.

Gensler said in January:

Though we’re merit neutral, I’d note that the underlying assets in the metals ETPs have consumer and industrial uses, while in contrast bitcoin is primarily a speculative, volatile asset that’s also used for illicit activity including ransomware, money laundering, sanction evasion, and terrorist financing.

While we approved the listing and trading of certain spot bitcoin ETP shares today, we did not approve or endorse bitcoin. Investors should remain cautious about the myriad risks associated with bitcoin and products whose value is tied to crypto.

Speaking at the bitcoin convention over the weekend, Trump also said he would establish a crypto presidential advisory council and create a national “stockpile” of bitcoin using cryptocurrency the US government held that was largely seized in law enforcement action:

Never sell your bitcoin

If I am elected, it will be the policy of my administration, the United States of America, to keep 100% of all the bitcoin the US government currently holds or acquires into the future.

Full story here:

Plans for a new “Office of Value for Money” will be revealed, when chancellor Rachel Reeves addressed the Commons this afternoon.

The new Office will provide “targeted scrutiny of public spending, so that value for money governs every decision government makes,” according to an overnight release by the Treasury.

The department explained that it would use pre-existing civil service resource (rather than hiring new staff specifically to helm the body), and will put an end to “wasteful spending” in government:

The Office will immediately begin work on identifying and recommending savings for the current financial year, while also establishing where targeted reforms of the system can ensure that poor value for money spending is cut off before it begins.

There is growing speculation that chancellor Rachel Reeves could try fill the public finances gap by raising capital gains tax (CGT) to match income tax levels.

Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, said:

As Rachel Reeves peers into the hole in the public finances and is set to reveal just how deep it goes, rumours are swirling as to whether CGT changes could be used to generate extra cash to help fill it.

One of the suggestions doing the rounds is that capital gains tax rates could rise to match income tax. It was one of the things the Office for Tax Simplification explored in 2020.

The 2022/2023 financial year was a record year for CGT returns, adding £16.9bn to public finances. (Final annual details will be reported on Thursday, including breakdowns of types of gains).

But Hargreaves, which is an investment platform for everyday savers, is – perhaps unsurprisingly – against a rise in CGT. Coles said:

It’s a common myth that ‘no-one pays capital gains tax’. It is true that most of this tax is paid by a relatively small number of people, but the rapid increase in the amount of CGT paid, the cuts to the annual tax-free allowance, and the numbers paying this tax show it’s something all investors need to consider.

They note that the number of people paying CGT rose by 50% to 394,000 over 5 years to 2021/2022, and that the annual tax-free allowance was cut from £12,300 in 2022/23 to £3,000 in the current tax year.

Coles claims that this could run the risk of seeing investors “hoarding their profits until they die”.

She says this could including people who invest in buy-to-let properties, who might hold onto their homes instead of selling them off to new owners or landlords.

Coles says:

This would see a shocking hike for UK investors.

The tax system should be encouraging and rewarding long-term investing. This has been absent from the CGT system since taper relief was abolished in April 2008.

Right now, investors face the double-whammy of a system that taxes investments that are simply keeping pace with inflation and allows for far lower gains to be realised tax-free each year.

If the rates do end up rising, it would add insult to injury. We’d urge the Chancellor to reintroduce incentives that reward long-term investing.

Those comments from IFS director Paul Johnson this morning: