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What to buy and sell if inflation keeps rising
Thursday 27 Feb 2020Economists and the Bank of England received a rude reminder last week that inflation has a nasty habit of confounding expectations. According to the Office for National Statistics, consumer prices rose at an unexpectedly high 1.8% in January, compared with just a 1.3% increase in December and...
Dunelm’s price looks too high given China risks
Thursday 20 Feb 2020Shares in homewares market leader Dunelm ( DNLM ) have surged 148% higher since the start of 2019 thanks to a series of positive trading updates. Its latest half year results, published on 12 February, show the benefits of a recently-upgraded digital platform which has made it easier for customers...
Major cost-cutting fails to lift HSBC’s shares
Thursday 20 Feb 2020Europe’s largest bank HSBC ( HSBA ) has revealed plans to slash up to 15% of its workforce over the next three years after earnings more than halved in the year to 31 December. Despite a 4% increase in revenue, net profits slid 53% to just $6bn from $12.6bn as the bank took a $7.3bn write-down on...
Government review could put the brakes on rail operators’ earnings
Thursday 20 Feb 2020In the next few weeks the Government is set to publish a review of the UK rail industry which is likely to recommend a major shake-up in the way trains are run and the way we pay for them. The Williams Review, led by former British Airways boss Keith Williams, has been a year in the making and is...
Why the markets could be too complacent about the coronavirus
Thursday 20 Feb 2020The news from Apple that the coronavirus will hit sales of its iPhone should not have come as a surprise but has nonetheless provided a jolt to investors who had seemed quite relaxed about the outbreak. There may now be increased attention on the impact on other firms. The management teams of...
Infrastructure stocks diverge on HS2 hopes and energy price fears
Thursday 13 Feb 2020There was good and bad news for infrastructure investors over the past week, depending on where in the sector they invested. On the plus side, an infrastructure boom could be about to hit the UK after the government gave the green light to build the £106bn High Speed 2 (HS2) rail project, spelling...
Micro Focus rethink could scupper takeover hopes
Thursday 13 Feb 2020Infrastructure software company Micro Focus ( MCRO ) has abandoned plans to sell off parts of the business and return to cash to shareholders, a move that may scupper any hopes of a possible takeover of the whole business. Micro Focus has effectively been in play since its latest profit warning in...
Why the Lindsell Train funds sell-off is continuing
Thursday 13 Feb 2020Two Lindsell Train funds were among the most sold by investors in January as the fallout from a ratings downgrade continues. Around £225m was pulled in January from LF Lindsell Train Global Equity (B3NS4D2) and LF Lindsell Train UK Equity (B18B9X7) , according to estimates by Morningstar. This...
Investigating the China supply chain risk facing UK firms
Thursday 13 Feb 2020The number of deaths from China’s coronavirus has exceeded those from the 2003 SARS outbreak and the restrictions imposed in the country are already wreaking havoc with the domestic economy as well as the supply chains of businesses based outside China. Shares has done some digging to discover to...
China trusts under pressure from coronavirus fears
Thursday 06 Feb 2020JPMorgan Chinese (JMC) and Fidelity China Special Situations ( FCSS ) have both suffered falling share prices. Since mid-January, the former is down 6.9% and the latter has fallen 7.7%. The market is in part pricing in the economic impact of the deadly coronavirus outbreak on the world’s second...