magazine archive
magazine archive
Russ Mould
Copper/gold ratio: what does it mean and what is it telling us?
Thursday 01 Jun 2023This column’s regular readers will know of its faith in ‘Dr Copper’ and the commodity’s status as an economic indicator. If copper prices are firm, the economy is usually doing well and vice-versa. Equally, this column takes a keen interest in gold, in the view it is not so much a hedge against...
Have we reached the peak of the US market’s appeal as a listing venue?
Thursday 18 May 2023One issue which continues to bedevil the UK market is the number of firms who are considering switching their main listing from the London Stock Exchange, usually to New York, and the potential newcomers who are opting to float stateside rather than on this side of the pond. This is leading to much...
Nasdaq rally: is this a brave new dawn or a big bear trap?
Thursday 04 May 2023It was the worst-performing major equity index in 2022 and, so far, it has been the best in 2023. Is the Nasdaq back? It is tempting to think so, especially after the meaty rally in stocks such as Meta Platforms (META:NDQ) and Microsoft (MSFT:NDQ) following their first-quarter results. In addition...
Do gold stocks have the Midas touch right now?
Thursday 20 Apr 2023Any readers who share Warren Buffett’s opinion that gold is an inert, useless lump can turn over the page right now. The Sage of Omaha has long since asserted that an alien invader would dismiss the purportedly precious metal as worthless were they to trip over an ingot upon their arrival from...
Five ways to spot if inflation, deflation or stagflation is coming
Thursday 06 Apr 2023Whatever the outcome of the banking wobble, which for now seems contained to US regional lenders and one badly run Swiss institution, one possibility is that it constrains lending and credit growth and hits the wider economy. Amid the wider loss of trust, senior loan and credit risk officers may...
How three years of sound and fury on the markets signified nothing
Thursday 23 Mar 2023The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the latest round of strife to engulf Credit Suisse (CSGN:SWX) , forced into a union with UBS (UBS:SWX) , are once more putting the spotlight on monetary policy and begging the question of whether central banks may already be running it too tightly, as they...
Should investors seek exposure to the FTSE 100? Here are the pros and cons
Thursday 09 Mar 2023The FTSE 100’s brief flirtation with the 8,000 level is attracting a lot of attention. This may be a sign UK equities are still the subject of much scepticism, as the tone of the mainstream coverage seems to be one of pleasant surprise. Bulls will point to fund management legend John Templeton’s...
Is the US headed for a hard or soft landing in 2023?
Thursday 23 Feb 2023American musician and bandleader Frank Zappa once asserted that: “The mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if it isn’t open.’ Investing is surely just the same. No-one has a crystal ball and financial markets are at their most volatile – and therefore ripe with opportunity – when consensus...
Markets must keep watching Japan as there are big risks brewing
Thursday 09 Feb 2023T he Magnificent Seven may be one of the most famous films, or at least most famous Westerns, ever made, but both the 1960 version (Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen and the rest) and the 2016 remake (with Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt, to name but two) draw heavily on 1954’s Seven Samurai and the...
Which are the most and least popular stocks heading into 2023?
Thursday 26 Jan 2023Every year this column tracks the ratings put on stocks across the FTSE 100 and FTSE 350 by the investment banks which provide research on the UK equity market. This time, the analyst community is the most bullish it has ever been since our first survey back in 2015, based on stock-specific, public...