In MACRO & ENERGY NEWS, speculation increases over an early UK interest rate rise and the merits/downsides of an online sales tax while French presidential hopeful Zemmour makes waves. Russia keeps gas prices up, Goto Energy goes under and the government offers incentives for heat pumps. In M&A AND IPO NEWS, Aristocrat buys Playtech and BrewDog postpones its IPO. In CAR-RELATED NEWS, Volvo is to list next week, Pod Point gets closer to flotation, Ford invests in UK EVs and Foxconn reveals its first EV. In INDIVIDUAL COMPANY NEWS, Facebook has metaverse designs, THG does the decent thing and Tesco does cashierless. AND FINALLY, I bring you a bit of Pomplamoose...