Interest rates in the UK have already started to rise. The Bank of England is now expected to increase them further over the coming months, with the UK now seemingly on a road to interest rate ‘normalisation’ over the medium term. However, the chances of a rapid rise in interest rates seem slim. Inflation has…
Over the last few months I’ve mostly written about high yield stocks and the occasional high-profile disaster. That sort of thing isn’t to everyone’s taste, so this month I’ll be looking at something completely different. More specifically, I’ll be looking at four high growth “dividend champions”, companies that have grown quickly whilst raising their dividend…
Johnston Press (JPR) used to have a big private investor following. Nowadays, at 9.5p, it is capitalised at a trivial £10 million. But that conceals a huge £220 million debt problem which must be settled next year on or before 1st June 2019. Can they do it? I for one do not know the answer to…
The sensible way to effect CEO change at WPP (LON:WPP)is for the new man to work alongside Sir Martin Sorrell for several months since Sir Martin has developed this very extensive machine at a very personal level. It’s the only chance of intimate control being passed on. However, it seems that Sir Martin is now…
Interest rates in the UK have already started to rise. The Bank of England is now expected to increase them further over the coming months, with the UK now seemingly on a road to interest rate ‘normalisation’ over the medium term. However, the chances of a rapid rise in interest rates seem slim. Inflation has…
Over the last few months I’ve mostly written about high yield stocks and the occasional high-profile disaster. That sort of thing isn’t to everyone’s taste, so this month I’ll be looking at something completely different. More specifically, I’ll be looking at four high growth “dividend champions”, companies that have grown quickly whilst raising their dividend…
Given what we have seen in stock markets in recent weeks, it was easy to pick the topic for this month’s charting article. Volatility has jumped, world markets fell heavily – is it the beginning of the end of the long trend upwards for shares? A recent history lesson Let’s go back to where this…
Given the fact that you can barely watch the news today without the “B” word rearing its head, I thought it could be timely to take a look at the fortunes of the pound versus its nearest currency neighbour, the euro. The market convention is actually to quote this the other way around to what…
New Zealand is a land of moderate weather, politics and economic policy. Growth prospects for the New Zealand stock market this year are also moderately good. Kia-Ora! When you enter New Zealand the passport check is accomplished by robots – but getting through the bio-security channel is lengthy and troublesome. If you have so much as…
Normal service was somewhat delayed by the exigencies of the road trip I have been on for two weeks to Asia and Australia. My colleague Anthony Chow and I have been doing the crossover (i.e. pre-IPO) institutional/UHNW (ultra-high net worth) round for Juvenescence Ltd and the result has been that by the time I get…
The performance of global stock markets thus far in 2018 can best be described as ‘volatile’. The S&P 500, FTSE 100 and various other major indices have seen their price levels experience a rollercoaster ride in recent months. There are a number of reasons for this. Tensions in Syria have increased in recent days, while…
It has been a strong year for BlackRock World Mining (LON:BRWM) with a NAV return of 24% in 2017. The performance has been driven by the pick-up in global economic growth, and sentiment towards the fund is finally starting to improve after a significant write-down in 2013 dented investor confidence. If the economic recovery continues…
Contrarian investors are always on the lookout for unloved securities where the bad news is already baked in and there is a catalyst on the horizon to turn things around. A prime example is Ranger Direct Lending (LON:RDL), whichwas set up in 2015 to provide alternative secured funding to US small and medium-sized companies and…
The dreadful nerve agent attack on the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury on March 4thwas a shocking example of how far president Putin is willing to go to satisfy old scores. His subsequent unwillingness to stop the Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons virtually guaranteed a military response. Missile…
The Brexit negotiations have entered a critical phase. Decisions made by both sides in the next three months will have long-term consequences. In a state of conflict, all sides become extreme. A modern English Civil War The classic schoolboy pseudo-history 1066 And All That asserted that, during the English Civil War, the Cavaliers were “Wrong…
The British political class is riven with dissent over what type of Brexit is most desirable. This is because, after two years of Brexit argy bargy, few Brits really understand the issues – and least of all in the Labour Party. A discourteous proposition Last week Monsieur Barnier, the EU Chief Negotiator, threw a document…
