magazine archive
magazine archive
Editor's View
FTSE primed to play catch-up after lagging US stocks
Thursday 27 Aug 2020Investors in UK stocks have been looking jealously (or frustratingly) at the performance of the US markets and wondering why the FTSE 100 has stubbornly refused to rebound as fast. Year to date, the S&P 500 is up nearly 5% and the Nasdaq is up 25% whereas the FTSE 100 is down nearly 19%, all on...
Hurray! Dividends are back on the menu again
Thursday 20 Aug 2020More than £2.2 billion of dividends will now be paid by London-listed companies which previously halted payments during the pandemic. The figure relates to dividends declared since the start of July and includes six companies in the FTSE 100. This sends a very strong message to the market that...
Could volatility return before the summer is out?
Thursday 13 Aug 2020It is always tricky for investors to work out what’s coming next in the markets but it feels unusually difficult at the moment. Several intertwined and competing factors are in play, including the coronavirus pandemic and its economic impact, tensions between China and the developed world and the...
Limits on taking money out of property funds might be no bad thing
Thursday 06 Aug 2020Thanks to the introduction of technology, a competitive landscape for products and platforms and the general faster pace of 21st century life we have all got used to the idea of being to buy and sell our investments whenever we want. The idea of giving six months’ notice to exit an open-ended...
The signals that suggest it’s time to buy Unilever
Thursday 30 Jul 2020In a world where everyone seems to be obsessed with growth, it’s quite interesting when Unilever ( ULVR ) sees its share price jump 8.4% on reporting no growth at all (23 July). The consumer goods giant managed to avoid the second quarter decline predicted by analysts and deliver a resilient...
Predicting investment returns for the next decade
Thursday 23 Jul 2020It is important to set the right expectations with investing and one way is to look at historical averages for different asset classes. That will give you a sense of what is achievable, albeit there will be years when returns are considerably above or below these levels. Another way of setting your...
Biden becoming US president could be bad for stocks
Thursday 16 Jul 2020Investors’ ferocious appetite for tech stocks is helping to drive up the US stock market. The second quarter earnings season is now underway and could easily knock this rally off course if the tech companies disappoint with their earnings growth, profit margins or outlook, due to heightened...
The signs that investors wanted new CEOs at Lloyds and Aviva
Thursday 09 Jul 2020A 3% jump in Lloyds’ ( LLOY ) share price upon news that chief executive António Horta-Osório is leaving next year would suggest investors are happy to see him go. While the broader stock market was up on the same day (6 July), the bank’s price movement was nearly twice the rise in the FTSE All-...
More companies set to reinstate earnings guidance
Thursday 02 Jul 2020Many companies have withdrawn earnings guidance in recent months, leaving investors guessing as to how much money these businesses might be expected to earn. The way share prices have performed in general since March’s market low implies expectations are quite optimistic. We’re now getting the...
AO is the surprise retail winner of 2020
Thursday 25 Jun 2020We’ve all been buying fridges, wine and sparkly tops this year, judging by how the market has rewarded certain retail stocks. There has been a lot of chatter about how alcohol sales have increased during lockdown, so it’s no surprise to see online specialist Naked Wines ( WINE:AIM ) become the...