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HgCapital Trust continues to deliver impressive returns amid challenging times
Thursday 13 Feb 2025HgCapital Trust (HGT) 520p Gain to date: 13.2% Private equity investment trust HgCapital (HGT) has continued to put in a robust performance since we said last March that it can add growth and value to your portfolio. The businesses it invests in provide software and services ranging from tax,...
A resilient jobs market and spiking inflation expectations likely to keep US rates on hold
Thursday 13 Feb 2025The resilience of the US labour market looks likely to keep Federal Reserve rate cuts on hold for the foreseeable future. Although non-farm payrolls for January showed the economy added 143,000 jobs, below the median estimate of 170,000, figures for the prior two months were revised up by 100,000...
Investment trust consolidation era continues in 2025
Thursday 13 Feb 2025Consolidation across the investment trust sector continues, against a backdrop of wide NAV (net asset value) discounts, pressure on sub-scale funds and shareholder activism. 2024 proved a record year for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) across the sector, with 11 mergers and eight trusts being...
US companies on course for highest quarterly earnings growth since 2021
Thursday 06 Feb 2025Although much of the market’s focus last week was on president Donald Trump on the one hand, and Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek, on the other, there was also a slew of earnings reports which included a couple of Big Tech companies. Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp-owner Meta Platforms (META:NASDAQ)...
The factors driving Imperial Brands to 52-week highs
Thursday 06 Feb 2025Shares in Imperial Brands (IMB) have gained nearly 30% over the past six months due to a combination of investors piling into defensive stocks amid bouts of global market volatility and a strong five-year strategic plan. The multi-national tobacco company shares recently hit a 52-week high at £27...
Barclays set to deliver strong annual profit growth after doubling share price
Thursday 06 Feb 2025Next week sees the start of the UK fourth-quarter reporting season proper, with the big banks kicking off proceedings as usual. First up is Barclays (BARC) , which has been in the news for all the wrong reasons recently with its online payments system seeming to have failed miserably around the end...
Mitchells & Butlers shares knocked by £100 million ‘cost headwinds’
Thursday 06 Feb 2025Shares in Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) seem to be in a downward spiral despite the pubs, bars and restaurants group reporting strong trading during its first quarter which encompassed the festive season. Mitchells said first-quarter like-for-like sales remained well ahead of the market, however...
A return to growth in international markets in focus at McDonald's
Thursday 06 Feb 2025Wall Street analysts are expecting McDonald’s (MCD:NYSE) to report a 4.4% year-on-year decline in EPS (earnings per share) to $2.82 for the fourth quarter as revenues nudge-up by 1% to $6.48 billion, when it reports on 10 February. The Golden Arches delivered a positive earnings surprise in the...
Markets brought back from the brink after planned tariffs put on hold
Thursday 06 Feb 2025In a fitting irony for our high-tech 21st century world, it was an old-fashioned technology which brought markets back from the brink on 3 February after Donald Trump’s telephone conversations with the presidents of Mexico and Canada resulted in planned 25% tariffs being delayed by a month. Mexico...
Saba rebuffed as retail shareholders turn out for trust votes
Thursday 06 Feb 2025As we write, the first five investment trusts targeted by Saba have seen the US activist hedge fund proposals overwhelmingly voted down. As a brief reminder Saba was proposing to replace the current independent boards with two new directors and had stated an intention to follow this up with a...