Just a few weeks ago I wrote a piece about the likely effect of the General Election on the FTSE 100 (MI Mag issue 2 pp.84-86). Looking back over the last 18 elections, I discovered that in a vast majority of the 18 post-war elections, the markets just resumed the path they were on before…
I used to renovate houses. Not in a commercial way, but the few houses I bought to live in. I got pretty good at it for a hobby too. I’m a quite decent plasterer, plumber, etc. So if I ever become Irish (it was a Galway man that taught me to plaster), or wake up…
With the Tesco (TSCO) AGM coming up I took a look at supermarkets. It’s a jungle out there! It’s not an attractive sector. We know there’s been a battle on the High Street for market share and there have been casualties there. From the zero hour contract people, who you might reasonably think don’t have…
As a precursor to my Final Word article in the main magazine next month, I’ve been examining the firearms market in the US. One of the biggest names in guns, one that may even be the most famous name in the world, is now in voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Colt. Heavily reliant on orders…
I’m in Ireland this week travelling round on steam trains, seeing the sights, indulging in the famous culinary delights (that’s not potatoes any longer, for anyone under that outdated impression), and of course supping the occasional Guinness. The company that runs these excellent excursions is called Steam Dreams. It organises many trips around the UK…
It’s been a tough time for Majestic Wines plc over the last year or two it seems. They have increased sales revenue but managed to post lower profits. Of course profits are dependent on the company’s attitude to future risk in terms of contingent liabilities and reserves, which are basically potential profits sitting on the…
Boots is now part of that huge American concern Walgreens. In fact our big High Street pharmacies are not British at all any more. Superdrug is part of Hutchison, the Hong Kong based company. Lloyds Pharmacy is owned by German company Celesio AG. While researching this post I came across a study of dividends based…
As seen in this month’s Master Investor Magazine In a two-party political system, like the one we evidently still have in the UK, it could be argued that every policy, every speech, every bit of political posturing, is gerrymandering to some degree. Both of the main parties seek to take away from those that vote…
I wrote a blog piece recently about Royal Mail Group plc. It got me to thinking about how privatisations had fared in the past. For my own part, it was a government privatisation that first got me into trading and investing. Several members of my family, like many families, applied for privatisations, and of course…
One demographic we all know about is the Baby Boomers. Many of them are well-heeled, own their houses outright, have pension pots to piss in, and children who have had quite easy lives thus far. That may change for the kids, but for the moment large parts of London and the South East are awash…
