In the words of that great retailer Mr Grace of Grace Brothers Department Store, in the much loved BBC comedy “Are You Being Served”, Marks & Spencer (MKS) has done very well. As a long term bull of the M&S recovery story, I am pleased to note that Marks & Spencer shares over the last…
I’m a big fan of competition and the efficiencies and competitive pricing it brings. But a lot of what the Royal Mail does is what I would call a service. In fact, RM is a classic example: part commercial, part service. Transporting parcels is a business. Parcels are not an essential service, so it should…
Shareholders in Vectura* (VEC), of which I am one, should breathe easy following this morning’s results from the inhaled medicines specialist. Vectura has reported a maiden profit after tax of £3.7 million on the back of revenues up by 59% to £58 million. However, this is just the beginning, as Vectura is now a company…
In anticipation of the first quarter results from British American Tobacco (BATS), I use the hiatus to cast an eye over the last annual results from BAT in order to get some idea of what we should be looking for. I might add that we have a little time to wait, as I understand that…
Featured in this month’s Master Investor Magazine. Often, a company can have an exciting product in the pipeline for years and remain relatively unnoticed until some kind of catalyst grabs the attention of the market and sends the share price rocketing. No-one has a crystal ball, but more often than not in these cases, such…
I have been a bull of British Land (BLND) ordinary shares because of quantitative easing – first in the UK and US, and much more recently in the Euro area. Now that it is scripted that QE is to taper in the short to medium term in the US and UK, property shares will lose…
I last looked at Advanced Oncotherapy (AVO) back in the Spreadbet Magazine days, having identified them as part of a crop of “speculative small caps that could be set to surprise on the upside in 2015”. Well, certainly haven’t disappointed in that regard, having soared from around 4p at the time of my original article…
By Matthew Heywood of Spreadex Trading AIM stocks is a great way to invest in smaller companies that have the potential to provide significant earnings growth. AIM stocks also come with a number of tax incentives including Venture Capital Trusts, Enterprise Investment Schemes, Business Property Relief and the more familiar ISAs. However, one takes a…
There is an old saying that ridiculously overvalued shares can get even more ridiculously overvalued. Competitive markets may be perfect (the theory that public knowledge permeates every corner of the public domain) but those who buy and sell shares know they are far from perfect in the everyday meaning of the word. Greggs which was…
Barclays Bank (BARC) saw a 60% fall in underlying earnings in the year to 31st December 2013, which was modestly and partly recovered with a 13% increase in earnings last year to 31st December 2014. The company has recently produced its Q1 results to 31st March 2015. So what do they tell us about its…
