On my level 1 Altmer when I check his magica it is 100; the same as my other level 1 characters.
I thought the Altmer was supposed to have + 50 magica...so therefore 150 at level 1....or not?

They are, according to the UESP wiki. Are you out of the tutorial area? Do you have any diseases?

Have you tried exiting the game and reloading? Sometimes the magic effects don't appear, especially if you've used showracemenu.

reloading makes no difference.
I have used showracemenu...!
Maybe that is it.

Q...if I use showracemenu on a character does it mess up the stats & abilities?

Yes, but for me they always return after reloading. You have to completely exit the game to desktop first.

So I checked an earlier save on my Altmer and right enough the extra 50 magica is there in the keep...!
So it was using the showracemenu console command that screwed it up.
Looks like that's one console command not to use!

Sorted.

If you're looking for extra magicka quick, as an unrelated tip, go for the Atronach Stone. Altmer + Atronach = 200 magicka at level 1, with 50% spell absorption.

You're right....sort of!
When I reloaded the save it was still at 100...so I saved and quit again and restarted and loaded the last save hey-presto it was 150!
Weird!
Thanks for your help.