Your IMPORTANT Weekly Briefing: (1st May 2026)

The Neil McCoy-Ward Newsletter

May 01, 2026

Opening Note…

Today is my last day here in the USA.

I’ve travelled from Southern California to Las Vegas and back to Southern California again (for different conferences and to pick up an award). Here’s a couple of pictures…

I won an award for being a top teacher at Teachable (the platform where you take my courses)

The Teachable awards were great, I was happy to be given the opportunity to speak and help other educators to improve their businesses too. I had no idea I was a top teacher! It felt great to be acknowledged for this.

I then went to Las Vegas for a broadcasting trade show (where I wrote last weeks newsletter). Although the trade show was a little disappointing for me, my wife and I managed to catch a couple of shows and meet some new friends (as well as bump into a few subscribers).

This was one of my new friends…

I seem to form a strong bond with animals wherever I go… !

I attended a social media and marketing conference this week. I’ve wanted to attend this conference for almost 5 years now, but my schedule was just too tight and things didn't align. The conference was ‘ok’.

It's like any event you go to, some of the speakers just waffled on without really delivering anything of use or value (self hype). But then you had other speakers who were incredibly humble (yet incredibly successful) and gave you so much value and information that you felt overwhelmed!

I made a note that I should post my content to a couple of other platforms and start writing more emails… once I finish part 3 of the Digital Income Mastery (SALES Course).

It’s funny, there's just never enough time for me to get everything done that I need to. And typically, just as I head out on my trip, the new cycle goes absolutely crazy. Oh, the irony of life huh?

Talking of which, it’s been sunny the entire trip… so I was hoping to get 30 minutes of Vitamin D (sunshine) before I head back to the Isle Of Man today, but would you believe it… Southern California is overcast and cloudy right now, ha! I have to just laugh at these things…

And if you haven’t yet taken any of my programs, can I recommend this program to you today? Inside you’ll find out why Teachable says I’m one of their top teachers!

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I've spent decades studying not just how wealth is built, but why most people never build it - and the answer comes down to 80% psychology and 20% strategy.

That's exactly what this programme covers for you. It WILL help you to think differently about money and your finances and investments…

On the info page (below), there are lots of testimonials, but here’s one you may like:

"I was fortunate enough to be part of the initial trial group for this course & I can honestly say that this course has been life changing for me and my family. Life changing I tell you! I realised that I was never going to get anywhere at my previous pace so I took the plunge & I cannot tell you how wild this ride has been all year. I'm about to buy an apartment block with no money down, leveraging other people's money that will make me more than £10,000 per month of profit. I achieved my life goal with just 1 deal and in just a few months!”
- Tom B, London

The Psychology of Wealth Accumulation rewires the way you think about money, risk, opportunity and decision-making. And many students said they increased their income levels massively after taking it.

I almost never put this program on sale. It was Black Friday back in November since it was last on a flash sale, so grab it now while you can.

Regular Price: $2,000, Your Price Today: Just $197 - that's 90% OFF!

👉 Grab it here: LINK

Ok there’s the happy vibes over, now for your weekly dose of ‘not so positive’ news!

Let's break down the latest...

Table of Contents

1. Weekly Spotlight

US industry is seriously exposed

Two weeks before Trump flies to Beijing for his first sit-down with Xi in nearly a decade, China has published a regulation that gives Beijing total control over the one thing the global economy can't function without…

On April 29, China's Ministry of Industry (the MIIT) published a new enforcement framework for its rare earth sector - things like quotas, fines, license rules. And while that sounds dull, there are some very important effects it's going to have…

If a Chinese rare earth producer breaks quota by less than 10%, they get fined up to 5 times their "illegal gains". And if they breach by more than 30% - then their business license can be pulled entirely.

This essentially means Beijing has just given itself the legal right to switch off any rare earth producer in the country, at any time, for almost any reason.

So why does this matter? The 17 elements it covers sit inside EVERYTHING strategic from smartphones, F-35 fighter jets, AI data centers and semiconductors.

China controls roughly two-thirds of global mining and around 90% of refining. That refining number is the one that matters, because a rock with rare earths in it is worthless until somebody processes it.

The problem for the US is: roughly 4% of US GDP, around $1.2 trillion, is tied to industries that need rare earths.

Now I think the timing here tells you everything. Two weeks before the Trump-Xi summit? I mean come on…

The real reason is power. Xi walks into this negotiation having publicly demonstrated, that he can shut off America's industrial base whenever he chooses.

And here's the point I see no one making… There is currently NO heavy rare earth separation happening in the United States. Zero. Even Australia's Lynas still ships its oxides to China for refining. Building this from scratch is a 5-to-10 year project minimum.

Trump may be holding the cards on tariffs and oil. But Xi has just laid his cards down on the rare earth table… this is going to be interesting to watch.

2. Quick Takes

Here are the other top stories shaping the week:

  • Africa Could Be Priced Out Of Fertiliser As Iran War Hits Food Supply

    The world's biggest fertiliser company, Yara International, is warning the Iran war could trigger food shortages across Africa, with urea prices already up 60-70% since the conflict began. The CEO fears a "global auction" where rich nations outbid the poorest, and with sowing season starting now, the EU is handing farmers grants of up to €50,000 while sub-Saharan Africa has no such safety net. It’s a sad reality of the most vulnerable always pay the highest price. - As sad as this is to say, this is likely to cause malnutrition, famine and even starvation across the African continent. I don’t see a way around this.

  • California Petrol Hits $6 A Gallon, A First For Any US State

    California is the first US state ever to cross $6 a gallon for petrol, with diesel at a staggering $7.48, up from $4.98 a year ago. The national average sits at $4.30, and Trump's signal of a prolonged Hormuz blockade has analysts expecting big hikes across the Midwest within hours. For context, UK drivers pay $8 a gallon and Germans $9.30, so Americans have room to feel the squeeze further. - I was listening to some of the economic forecasters saying how catastrophic this is going to be for homeowners and the US economy for years to come… I don't necessarily agree. It's going to cause problems short term for sure, but this seems to be part of a bigger energy play from the US which I think will balance out a little later…

  • Venezuela Is Quietly Saving America From The Worst Of The Oil Shock

    For example, Trump's Maduro operation in January is paying off in real time. Under Maduro, 75% of Venezuelan oil went to China, this year the US is taking 50% while China's share has collapsed to 10%. Chevron is now shipping 400,000 barrels a day to Mississippi, nearly replacing the 500,000 the US used to import through Hormuz. It looks increasingly like the entire Venezuela operation was designed with this exact scenario in mind…

  • Russia Says The UAE Leaving OPEC Won't Crash Oil Prices

    The UAE is formally exiting OPEC, but Russia's Deputy PM says there's no risk of an immediate price war while Hormuz stays closed and demand outstrips supply. The catch comes later, once a US-Iran peace deal reopens the strait, Abu Dhabi will be free to pump at will outside OPEC quotas. It may be time to take profits on European oil stocks now before the floodgates open later.

  • Britain Faces A Summer Of Travel Chaos As Jet Fuel Runs Low

    The UK is the most exposed country in Europe to jet fuel shortages, with a structural deficit twice Germany's and only four refineries left after Grangemouth and Lindsey shut down. Allianz is warning of an outright supply shortfall by late May, with airfares set to jump another 15% and ticket prices "unlikely to fully revert" even after the war ends. Britain relied on Kuwait for 38% of its imports, and that refinery has been hit by Iranian strikes.

  • 75% Of US GDP Growth Last Quarter Came From AI Spending Alone

    US Q1 GDP came in at 2.0%, but roughly 1.5% of that came from AI, with data centre spending exploding 13% and information processing equipment doing almost all the work. Personal savings dropped to a three-year low as stimulus refunds wore off, and housing investment fell 8%. The US economy is now structurally dependent on the AI build-out. That’s dangerous!

  • Half Of America's Planned 2026 Data Centres Are Being Cancelled Or Delayed

    Brookfield-backed Compass has just pulled out of a major Northern Virginia data centre project after years of work, blaming legal challenges, stricter rules, and fading political support. Of the 16 gigawatts of US data centre capacity planned for 2026, only 5 are actually under construction, and by 2027 just 6.3 of a planned 21.5 gigawatts have broken ground. Given the GDP numbers, a stalling rollout is now a national economic problem.

  • UK Government Hints At New Social Media Crackdown For Under-16s

    Ministers are promising "more action" on young people and social media, with statutory powers shifting from "may" to "must" act, but they're vague on what it will look like. An Australia-style ban looks less likely after a new report showed two-thirds of Australian teens still use social media despite their under-16 ban. Whatever the final rules, age verification looks like the inevitable destination, which puts digital ID firmly back on the table.

NEIL’S TAKEAWAYS:

In the United States
The economy grew at 2% in Q1, which looks like a solid recovery from the near-stall of 0.5% we saw at the end of last year. But as always there’s a catch: almost all of that data covers the period before the Iran war began on February 28th.

Government spending and exports did most of the work. Consumer spending (what keeps America running) grew at just 1.6%. So what we're really looking at is a pre-war snapshot dressed up as current news.

The Fed read all of this on Wednesday and did exactly what everyone expected, holding rates at 3.5% to 3.75%. But what made this meeting worth paying attention to was the split. Four members dissented, which is unusually high.

Three of them wanted to strip out the language hinting at future rate cuts, essentially pushing back on the idea that cuts are coming anytime soon. And this was also Jerome Powell's final meeting as Chair.

On the consumer side, the data is sending two different signals depending on which survey you look at. The Conference Board's confidence index beat expectations, coming in at 92.8 in April. But as we saw recently the University of Michigan's separate survey hit a record low.

The difference comes down to what each measures. The Conference Board leans on labour market conditions, and jobs do feel relatively stable right now. Michigan measures personal finances and cost of living, and that is where people are feeling real pain. Both can be true at the same time, and right now, they are.

Prepare: Watch consumer-facing sectors closely over the next two quarters, particularly anything that depends on discretionary spending. Retail, travel, and leisure are most exposed as households prioritise essentials over everything else. Energy costs are not coming down quickly, and with the Fed on hold and a leadership transition underway, there is no cavalry coming on the rate front either.

Across Europe:
Eurozone GDP grew just 0.1% in Q1, missing the already modest forecast of 0.2%. The problem is that the April PMI data, which measures business activity in real time, shows the economy has already tipped back into contraction this month, ending a 15-month run of (fake?) growth.

So much like the US situation the Q1 number is essentially a pre-war snapshot, and what comes next - looks worse.

At the same time, inflation in the eurozone jumped to 3% in April, the highest reading since September 2023. Energy costs are doing most of the damage, up 10.9% in April alone as the Iran war keeps oil prices elevated.

The UK is where problems are really starting to show. Firms are now expecting inflation to hit 4% over the next year, the GfK consumer confidence index has fallen to -25, its third consecutive monthly drop, and company registrations fell 8% in Q1 while closures are outpacing new start-ups.

The OECD has already cut UK growth to 0.7% for 2026, the weakest in the G20. The Bank of England is holding rates at 3.75% with inflation heading higher and growth heading lower. That combination, rising prices alongside a stalling economy, is the definition of stagflation.

Prepare: Stay very selective across European and UK consumer-facing names. Anything dependent on discretionary spending, cheap energy inputs, or easy credit conditions is in a difficult spot. Quality balance sheets and companies with genuine pricing power are where I would focus. For the UK specifically, I would treat the stagflation risk as real rather than theoretical at this point, and position accordingly.

On the Global Stage:
The biggest earnings week in recent memory landed on Wednesday when Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft all reported within two minutes of each other.

All four beat expectations. All four announced they are spending even more on AI than previously planned. Combined capital expenditure across the four companies has now reached as much as $725 billion for 2026, up nearly 75% from what they spent last year. Just let that number sink in for a second. $725 billion.

That is more than the GDP of most countries on earth, being funnelled into data centres, chips and AI infrastructure by four companies in a single year.

I thought the market's reaction was one of the most important part. Alphabet was the clear standout, with Google Cloud revenue up 63% and shares rising sharply. The others got a much cooler reception. Meta fell more than 5% after signalling flat revenue growth in Q2. Amazon and Microsoft were both down around 3%.

What investors are starting to do is separate the companies that can demonstrate AI is generating real returns right now from those that are still spending in hope of returns later. That gap is going to widen as these capital expenditure commitments get larger.

Prepare: On the AI spending side, focus on the companies with demonstrated cloud and AI revenue growth rather than those still in the capital expenditure phase without clear returns. The spending itself tells you infrastructure names, data centre operators and power companies remain interesting.

3. Chart Of The Week

The US Is Now Spending More On Debt Interest Than National Defence For The First Time Since The 1920s!

In 2024, US net interest payments hit $879.9 billion, finally overtaking the $850.7 billion defence budget, the first crossover in nearly a century.

The gap is set to explode, by 2036 interest is projected to nearly double defence at $2.1 trillion versus $1.1 trillion, making it the fastest-growing item in the entire federal budget.

Debt servicing already tripled from $230 billion in 2011 to $970 billion last year, thanks to the post-COVID borrowing surge meeting higher rates.

Every dollar going to interest is a dollar that can't go to the military, infrastructure, or anything else, and Washington is rapidly losing the room to manoeuvre when the next crisis hits.

4. Market Overview

S&P 500 (U.S.)
Pushed higher and notched fresh record highs. Big Tech did most of the work this week, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Apple all reported, and the AI and semiconductor names kept the rally going. The Fed held rates as expected, which didn't really rock the boat.

FTSE 100 (UK)
Fell back. Barclays disappointed on results and dragged the banks down with it, while a soft Taylor Wimpey update knocked the house builders. Miners were patchy and lingering Middle East tensions didn't help.

S&P/TSX Composite (Canada)
Finished higher. Energy carried the load again with oil hovering above $100, and the Bank of Canada held rates steady as expected. Banks were a bit soft and gold miners were mixed, but the resource side got it over the line.

ASX 200 (Australia)
Flat. The index had been on a long losing streak with hot inflation stoking RBA rate hike fears, before a Friday rally in miners (BHP, Rio, Fortescue) clawed most of it back. Ended up drifting sideways with no real conviction either way.

🇺🇸 United States – S&P 500

  • High: 7,217.93

  • Low: 7,110.04

🇬🇧 UK - FTSE 100

  • High: 10,410.75

  • Low: 10,190.80

🇨🇦 Canada – TSX Composite

  • High: 33,965.41

  • Low: 33,242.11

🇦🇺 Australia – ASX 200

  • High: 8,778.20

  • Low: 8,639.40

Cryptocurrency:

  • Bitcoin (BTC): -0.2%

  • Ethereum (ETH): -1.0%

  • Tether (USDT): 0.0%

  • XRP (XRP): -3.7%

  • BNB (BNB): -2.8%

  • USDC (USDC): 0.0%

  • Solana (SOL): -2.1%

  • TRON (TRX): -0.4%

  • Figure Heloc (FIGR_HELOC): 0.0%

  • Dogecoin (DOGE): 11.4%

Metals Market:

Gold–Silver Ratio: ~61:1, Drifted lower this week, ending around 61.5. Both metals sold off after the Fed's hawkish hold lifted the dollar and yields, but silver held up better than gold thanks to industrial demand, so the ratio kept compressing.

Gold & Silver:

  • Gold: Fell -2.09% with a Week High: $4,730 & Week Low: $4,511

  • Silver: Fell -0.96% with a Week High: $70.92 & Week Low: $76.66

5. Faith & Success

❝

"Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm."

— Proverbs 13:20

The news has been quite negative of late so I wanted to give you a more inspirational verse this week…

Because most people think success is about what they do. But I'd argue it's just as much about who they're around. I learned this the hard way as a kid - falling into the wrong crowd, getting myself in trouble.

Think about it. You could have the best strategy, the best product, the best intentions - but if you're spending your time with people who complain, make excuses, and see every opportunity through a lens of doubt, it will slowly drain you. It's almost impossible NOT to absorb the energy of those around you.

I mentioned previously about the danger of a defeatist mindset. This week, I want to flip it - because the opposite is equally true.

If you surround yourself with driven, generous, forward-thinking people and something remarkable will happen. Your standards will rise, your thinking sharpens and your excuses disappear.

Ask yourself this question honestly: “who are the five people I spend the most time with?”

Are they pulling you upward, or are they keeping you in place? And more importantly, do you like this place or not?

For me, the answer to this question was “no” - And I made a decision all those years ago to make a drastic change. To leave my old life behind me and to start afresh.

Your environment is either your greatest asset or your greatest liability. Choose it wisely.

🔥 Flash Sale - Limited time, Limited coupons! 🔥

You've just read how I changed my mindset and therefore changed my environment. And if your reaction was "I need to understand how to do this too, especially in a world like this" - then this weekends flash sale is for you… !

I've spent years studying not just how wealth is built, but why most people never build it - and the answer comes down to 80% psychology and 20% strategy.

That's exactly what this programme covers for you.

The Psychology of Wealth Accumulation rewires the way you think about money, risk, opportunity and decision-making - so that when the world gets noisy (and right now, it's very noisy), you can move with clarity instead of anxiety.

I almost never put this program on sale. It was Black Friday back in November since it was last on a flash sale, so grab it now while you can.

Regular Price: $2,000, Your Price Today: Just $197 - that's 90% OFF!

👉 Grab it here: LINK

Have a brilliant week my friend!

Take care, and God Bless.

Neil,

Digital Income Mastery: LINK

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DISCLAIMER
This newsletter is 100% FREE & is designed to help your thinking, not direct it. These newsletters shall NOT be construed as tax, legal, or financial advice and may be outdated or inaccurate; all decisions made as a result of this information are yours alone.

Trading/Liability: Neil McCoy-Ward operates/trades under a private Ltd company within the Isle of Man.