magazine archive
magazine archive
Editor's View
Is the stock market over-reacting to bad news with large share price declines?
Thursday 22 Mar 2018The UK stock market is being very edgy with extreme reactions to negative news. More than 230 companies have seen their share price fall by more than 20% year-to-date. That’s approximately 12% of the entire market and nearly twice as many as the number of companies which fell by more than a fifth...
How to deal with profit warnings
Thursday 15 Mar 2018The number of UK-listed companies issuing a profit warning hit a two year high in the final quarter of 2017 with 81 offenders, according to consultant EY. And the profit warnings keep coming in 2018. Investors must accept that profit warnings come with the territory when putting money into equities...
Trade war fears spark another bout of market volatility
Thursday 08 Mar 2018Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminium imported to the US, as well a threat to tax car imports from the European Union, have given investors something new to worry about. The prospect of a trade war has triggered weakness in many stock markets around the world, particularly those like Europe...
Calm before the next stock market storm?
Thursday 01 Mar 2018It’s been nearly a month since the global stock market sell-off and equities still haven’t fully recovered all the lost ground. While some institutional investors say the sell-off wasn’t severe enough for them to go bargain hunting, others suggest another (deeper) correction could be on its way...
High hopes for South Africa-focused stocks after president change
Thursday 22 Feb 2018South Africa is the latest country to be closely watched by UK investors. A decent number of companies doing business in that part of the world have their shares traded on the London Stock Exchange. Cyril Ramaphosa was last week sworn in as the new president of South Africa, replacing Jacob Zuma...
Have IPOs been hit by stock market volatility?
Thursday 15 Feb 2018Markets appear to have settled down at the time of writing (13 Feb) with the FTSE 100 index holding still at 7,177. Volatility, as measured by the Vix index, has also halved at 25.61 from its approximate 50 level last week. While there is no guarantee that the latest market sell-off has reached its...
Why you should stay calm amid stock market volatility
Thursday 08 Feb 2018The decline in share prices around the world has dampened the spirits of many investors. In times like this, it is important to stay calm and consider the reasons behind the market sell-off. You should ask whether the fundamentals have changed for your investments. If they haven’t, it’s probably...
Companies and investors need to avoid short-termism
Thursday 01 Feb 2018Last week I met the manager of a global fund who made a very interesting comment about the companies he meets in Japan. He said his most rewarding conversations are the ones about industry rather than quarterly earnings. Japanese directors, in his view, are more likely to engage in a lively...
The underappreciated risk to a strong oil price
Thursday 25 Jan 2018The recovery in the oil price to $70 per barrel is one of the most significant events to happen in the natural resources industry for a long time. It transforms the finances of many companies and it should open up development of new projects and rejuvenate the supply chain. While we discuss the...
Why an obsession with growth can be dangerous
Thursday 18 Jan 2018The liquidation of construction services business Carillion ( CLLN ) is dominating the front pages and we discuss the fall-out in more depth in this week’s Big News section of Shares . Clearly there are lessons to be learned about having private companies whose operations are so large and entwined...