By Robert Sutherland Smith It is easy to understand why BP shares moved 2.4% better to 448p after the results. Even beforehand, the accounts, at least as I read them, told an encouraging story. Very briefly, underlying replacement cost profits for Q4 were down 21.5%. For the year as a whole, underlying replacement costs were down 9.8%.…
The Markets In a new paper issued by the think tank this morning, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has estimated that a further 51 billion pounds of spending cuts will be necessary for the next UK government to meet targets announced during the last Autumn Statement. The report was optimistic about the prospects for growth…
by Frederik Vanhaverbeke In the latest of a new series for SBM Frederik Vanhaverbeke, author of Excess Returns: A comparative study of the methods of the world’s greatest investors, looks at how some of the world’s greatest investors are so successful. The extravagance of any corporate office is directly proportional to management’s reluctance to reward…
By Zak Mir The story of the FTSE 100 so far this century has been one of mixed fortunes. While the concept of selling into strength may not have garnered the doomsters great reward, merely having the luxury of being able to go short of the index on any spikes through 6,800 for 15 years…
Evil discusses Orosur Mining, Moneysupernarket, Which?, Prince Charles and his in-tray… I got a call from Pablo Marcet, the exploration geologist at Orosur (OMI), this morning. He was in effect part of the package that comprised Waymar the Colombian prospect acquired by Orosur last year. Dealing with Colombia first, it is clear that Pablo reckons…
Edition Number I, February 2015 By Robert Sutherland Smith. In his debut piece for SpreadBetMagazine, Robert Sutherland Smith imparts a few words of wisdom regarding his investment approach. A City veteran with a career stretching all the way back to 1967, Robert’s experience encompasses fund management (including a directorship at County Bank Investment Services), stock…
The Markets The European Commission has widened its investigation of improper corporate tax behaviour to include Belgium, saying that the government made deals with a number of firms that shifted “a substantial part of their business” into the country. Commissioner Margrethe Vestager outlined the EU’s concerns by commenting that “the Belgian ‘excess profit’ tax system…
Markets seem to have gone utterly mad! Bond yields across the globe are close to zero or negative, suggesting we must be in the deepest of deep recessions. Undeclared global currency wars have broken out as central banks ease rates to try and boost their catatonic economies. European equity markets – supposedly the most benighted…
In a blog published the day before the ECB announced its asset purchase programme, rather than speculating on how much firepower the ECB was going to deploy or on how effective such a programme would be, I expressed my concerns about the potential side-effects. Unlike Bradley Cooper’s highly precise rifle, which is able to pick…
Software Radio Technology (SRT) has long been a favourite among hopeful private investors, but thus far it hasn’t been smooth sailing. Although demand for its products seems to be on an upward slope, the timing of revenues has been notoriously hard to predict. Perhaps understandably, house broker WH Ireland suspended its recommendation for the stock…
