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Extraordinary movements on the bond market
Thursday 12 Mar 2020Bond markets have been on an extraordinary run this year, judging by the move in US long-term government bonds (known as Treasuries) where prices are up 25% so far in 2020. In the UK, yields went negative for the first time on 9 March with bonds of maturities up to seven years dipping below zero...
Strong Biden support brings relief for Wall Street
Thursday 05 Mar 2020US stock markets may have avoided a major headwind as former vice president Joe Biden took the lead in the race to battle Donald Trump in November’s presidential election. Democrat-voting Americans in several states voted on ‘Super Tuesday’ for the candidate they want to take on Republican...
Sirius Minerals to leave the stock market after £405m takeover
Thursday 05 Mar 2020Potash miner Sirius Minerals ( SXX ) will be taken over by Anglo American ( AAL ) after more than 80% of shareholders by value voted in favour of the deal. Shareholders should receive 5.5p per share in cash by early April and Sirius will delist from the stock market. The £405m takeover also...
Greggs rolls out five-year growth plan
Thursday 05 Mar 2020In many ways 2019 was a landmark year for food-on-the-go retailer Greggs ( GRG ) . Not only did it record its highest ever level of like-for-like growth at 9.2%, it opened its 2,000th store and pre-tax profit topped £100m for the first time. Far from resting on its laurels, the firm has plans in...
Asset managers including Nick Train snap up Fevertree shares following share price slump
Thursday 05 Mar 2020Nick Train of asset manager Lindsell Train has joined other big name investors Fundsmith and Majedie Asset Management to buy shares in Fevertree ( FEVR:AIM ) following recent share price weakness. The fund manager has taken a maiden stake in the posh tonics business for his £1.7bn Finsbury Growth...
Economic powerhouses must act fast to avoid meltdown
Thursday 05 Mar 2020Stock markets around the world started to recover at the start of this week on expectations that the world’s central banks and governments would do whatever they could to prevent an economic meltdown. According to Bloomberg data, markets have already priced in a significant policy response from the...
Breaking up Prudential would not be straightforward
Thursday 27 Feb 2020Global insurer Prudential ( PRU ) is in the crosshairs as activist investor Dan Loeb took a near-5% stake in the company and urged the FTSE 100 constituent to separate its US and Asian operations. Loeb runs Third Point, manager of investment trust Third Point Offshore ( TPOU ) which we recently...
The stocks sinking and soaring as global markets wobble
Thursday 27 Feb 2020On 24 February stock markets finally seemed to hit the panic button on the coronavirus with the FTSE 100 hitting its lowest level since early December and the Dow Jones index in the US enduring its worst day in two years. WHAT TRIGGERED THE MARKET SELL-OFF? The catalyst for the big sell-off in...
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...