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The pros and cons of investing in gold and where the price could go next
Thursday 07 Nov 2024Gold has had a great year. Spot prices hit another all-time high (30 October) of $2,781 per ounce, based on Bloomberg data, chalking up 35% gains so far in 2024, having broken through the $2,600 level in September for the very first time. That trumps global equities, based on the FTSE World Index’s...
Why the UK stock market could get a new look in 2025
Thursday 07 Nov 2024Recent changes to the UK’s listing rules should lead to a host of new names joining the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 indices in the new year, generating more interest in the UK stock market and putting more companies on the radar of investors. This matters to investors whether they own UK stocks directly...
Can education media group Pearson win the AI battle?
Thursday 07 Nov 2024Publisher Pearson (PSON) has gone through many incarnations during its 180-year history from starting out as a civil engineering business to the owner of The Financial Times to its current focus on education. The company is going through change once again with the appointment of new CEO Omar Abbosh...
AI goes nuclear: Why the energy source is in big demand
Thursday 07 Nov 2024There was a certain degree of investor bemusement last month when shares in US electricity generation company Constellation Energy (CEG:NASDAQ) soared on news technology giant Microsoft (MSFT:NASDAQ) had signed a 20-year power purchase agreement. This was no ordinary deal, however, as it paves the...
Get to know the Brazilian market
Thursday 31 Oct 2024Brazil’s central bank went against the grain by announcing its first interest rate hike in two years in September 2024 on concerns that the more robust than anticipated levels of economic activity might stoke inflationary pressures. The door was left open to further increases. Higher rates are not...
Emerging markets: China stimulus, Middle East tensions, Latin America
Thursday 31 Oct 20241 . China steps up: Chinese policymakers have announced a slew of stimulus measures targeted at reversing the downturn in economic growth and deflationary forces in the economy. Similar to the end of Covid-19 lockdowns in 2022, the policy change is sudden and dramatic. Reasons for the change in...
Ready for lift-off: Funds primed for an upturn in fortunes
Thursday 31 Oct 2024Funds inevitably have their up and downs in performance. When a fund has gone through a particularly poor spell, does this represent a buying opportunity for investors in the expectation it will bounce back to form? Likewise for existing investors, should they stick or twist? Fortunately, there are...
Great value UK stocks: Where to find the biggest bargains
Thursday 24 Oct 2024The fact the UK market is cheap relative to its international peers is hardly new news to anyone who has been investing for a few years, and the reason usually given is the UK doesn’t have the same exposure to growth stocks as markets like the US. When the bulk of the gains in the S&P 500 over...
Small-world: a whistle-stop tour of the comings and goings in UK small-caps
Thursday 24 Oct 2024We start this month with more takeovers, beginning with fashion-to-homewares retailer N Brown Group (BWNG:AIM) , whose shares had been on a tear, more than doubling from their multi-year lows of 14p in May, well before this month’s bid came in. On 17 October, the board announced it had agreed an...
Weight-loss drug stock rally: is it over or simply catching its breath?
Thursday 24 Oct 2024Investing in firms which develop and sell life-changing drugs has been a rewarding trade over the past five years. The MSCI World Healthcare index has returned 73%, according to FE Fundinfo, nearly twice the return of the FTSE 100 (42%) in dollar terms. Over the long term, those kind of returns are...