Equities

Everyone understands what wind turbines are – and everyone knows what solar panels do (though few of us know exactly how photovoltaic cells convert sunlight into electricity). Biofuels, however, remain the Cinderella of the renewables sector. Can you really grow bio-kerosene in a field to power a commercial aircraft? Yes, you can. Biofuels are emerging…

A few weeks ago on the Master Investor blog Nick Sudbury argued that investors, given the current environment of rising inflation, should be looking at ways to protect their wealth from currency debasement. One way of doing that is to invest in cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, the increasingly popular Ethereum, or perhaps one of 900+…

Let’s look at three interesting small cap companies which have recently  listed on the markets during these traditionally quiet summer months. 1) Angling Direct There aren’t many sports which offer the possibility of taking home dinner when you’ve finished playing. But angling, one of the most popular participation sports in the UK, is one of them. According…

Dividend growth has become a much more important issue for many investors now that inflation has risen from 0.5% to 2.6% in the last year. The problem, though, is finding companies with high and reliable dividend growth rates. UK-focused companies come with additional uncertainty surrounding Brexit, for example, which means international stocks may be a…

Companies might make the decision to list their shares on a stock exchange for a number of reasons. Whether it be an exit opportunity for existing shareholders, to raise the profile of the business amongst its customers, or to set a value for the stock, there are many benefits of making the move from being…

The UK retail sector faces a highly uncertain future. A weaker pound has pushed inflation gradually higher over the last year. It is now 60 basis points higher than the rate of wage growth. Therefore, consumer spending is likely to come under a degree of pressure. Alongside this, the scope for an interest rate rise…

There are three of us Mellons currently trying to get books out ahead of each other: my father is finishing one on African Bangles; my brother in law is close to completing a magnum opus on the future of media; and I am pleased to say that, albeit delayed, Juvenescence is coming out on September…

The quad play sector has thus far been a mixed bag for TMT operators. While it was seen as a means of diversifying into new product areas and generating additional sales from cross-selling opportunities, for BT (LON:BT.A) and Talktalk (LON:TALK) it has been a different story. Both companies have lagged the FTSE 100 over the…

For many people, investing in property may seem prohibitively expensive at the moment. After all, the price to earnings ratio of residential property in London is 12.9. This makes engaging in buy-to-let investments which have the aim of beating inflation rather difficult. It’s a similar story in commercial property. It remains relatively expensive, and this…