magazine archive
magazine archive
Editor's View
Why you should look beyond ‘the story’ with stocks
Thursday 09 Nov 2017One of the golden rules of investing is to never overpay for stocks. There are plenty of good companies on the stock market, yet that doesn’t mean they are all good investments. Overpaying for a stock greatly reduces the chances of the investment working out well. Over time a pricey company will...
Are the housebuilders built on soft foundations?
Thursday 02 Nov 2017A rally in the housebuilding sector on expectations of further state support in the Budget on 22 November is coming to a juddering halt amid sceptical analyst comment, a slowdown in mortgage approvals and data which reveals the perilous state of Government finances. Investors have to decide if the...
We need to help more people understand money management
Thursday 26 Oct 2017More needs to be done to encourage people of all ages to save for the future and to avoid getting into financial difficulty through inappropriate use of credit cards and loans. A new report by the Financial Conduct Authority, the City regulator, finds that millions of people are struggling with...
Is a flurry of IPO announcements bad news?
Thursday 19 Oct 2017October and November are on course to be two of the busiest months for new stock market entrants this year. By my calculations there are 12 confirmed IPOs (initial public offerings) about to happen on the UK stock market and rumours of nearly another 20 companies set to float in the coming months...
How to spot trouble brewing with one of your investments
Thursday 12 Oct 2017A shock profit warning and share suspension from toilet roll maker Accrol ( ACRL:AIM ) provides a timely reminder to look for negative signs in trading updates. It was impossible to spot all the negative points that led to Accrol saying current year earnings would be significantly below market...
Happy birthday to the new-look Shares
Thursday 05 Oct 2017It’s time to wish happy birthday to Shares as an online-only publication. It’s been a year since we stopped printing the magazine and switched to the digital world. I’m happy to say it has been a very successful 12 months as reader numbers have gone up and we’ve been able to help even more people...
Are soaring stock markets a good sign?
Thursday 28 Sep 2017The S&P index in the US is up nearly 270% since March 2009, making the current bull market the second strongest since World War 2, according to analysis by LPL Research. Stock markets in other parts of the world are also thriving. The DAX Xetra in Germany is up by more than 200% since 1 March...
Pay close attention to resource nationalism
Thursday 21 Sep 2017I spotted a great comment on Twitter the other day which perfectly illustrated the brutal force of resource nationalism. It showed the share price performance of the larger UK mining stocks so far this year with the words ‘spot the companies with operations in Tanzania’. While nearly all of the...
Beware any UK consumer-facing stocks in your portfolio
Thursday 14 Sep 2017Consumer confidence is influencing the direction of many share prices at present. Anyone invested in a business which relies on consumer spending is already likely to be nervous; and the near-term outlook doesn’t look promising. You may wish to think about taking some profit in your best performing...
Can outsourcers make a comeback?
Thursday 07 Sep 2017Among the worst performing group of stocks in the last five years are the outsourcers. According to number crunching by UBS these companies, which do a variety of jobs in the public and private sectors such as running prisons or air traffic control, have underperformed the wider market by 50%. But...