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US banks reap the spoils of post-election jump in risk assets and funding
Thursday 23 Jan 2025As we predicted a fortnight ago, US banks enjoyed strong revenue growth in the fourth quarter of 2024 helped by elevated levels of trading in stocks and bonds as well as higher investment banking fees as companies took advantage of low borrowing costs and buoyant stock markets to raise fresh...
The festive retail scorecard: who has done best and worst?
Thursday 23 Jan 2025With most of the big names in the retail sector having reported we can get a decent picture of how the sector fared in the run-up to and during the festive period. A weak trading backdrop for non-food retail in October and November, before Santa delivered a return to growth in December, a month...
Quantum computing - Should you believe the hype and how can you get involved?
Thursday 23 Jan 2025Quantum computing has been setting the investment world on fire in recent months, and late last year, a handful of specialist stocks hit escape velocity. Between mid-November and the start of January, companies like Rigetti Computing (RGTI:NASDAQ) and D-Wave Quantum (QBTS:NYSE) , two of the most...
Investment trusts at crunch point
Thursday 16 Jan 2025The normally sleepy world of investment trusts received a wake-up call just before Christmas with the publication (18 December 2024) of a shareholder letter by activist investor Saba Capital Management calling for change at no fewer than seven well-known funds. Set up by hedge fund manager Boaz...
How the obesity drug market is evolving in unexpected ways as we enter 2025
Thursday 16 Jan 2025Out of nowhere the market for weight loss drugs has become one of the most exciting investment themes in the last two years, rivalling investor enthusiasm for AI. There is good reason for the excitement. Rod Wong, managing partner at RTW Biotech Opportunities (RTW) fund describes the development of...
Top managers reveal their hopes and fears for the year ahead
Thursday 09 Jan 2025As we ease into 2025, we asked some of the UK’s best-known fund managers to outline what they felt were the risk and opportunities facing markets in the year ahead along with a few of their top sector and stock ideas. We start with the potential risks the managers see for markets and end on a high...
Six of the best funds for 2025
Thursday 09 Jan 2025Funds play a really important role in most investors’ portfolios. Many of us may not have the time or the inclination to research our own investment ideas and would rather entrust a professional to pick stocks (and other investments for us). The strength of broad market indices, particularly global...
Discover how Tim Martin turned Wetherspoon into a high street champion
Thursday 19 Dec 2024Pubs group JD Wetherspoon’s (JDW) value credentials continue to shine through. According to fund manager Anna Farmbrough at Ninety One the company has doubled its average price advantage over competitors to 40% since the pandemic. Farmbrough notes that a few years ago there were three pubs in her...
Emerging markets: tariffs, inflation and South Korean politics
Thursday 19 Dec 20241 . Tariffs: President-elect Donald Trump has indicated he will impose new tariffs on three of America’s leading trading partners. He plans to sign an executive order placing 25% tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico on day one of his presidency, with an additional 10% on goods from...
Profiling the South Korean stars beyond Samsung
Thursday 19 Dec 2024It may have had a tough time of late but consumer electronics and technology hardware outfit Samsung (005930:KRX) still dominates the South Korean market. If you include the preference shares it has a near-30% weighting in the MSCI Korea index. However, there are some other interesting businesses...