Until last weekend I summarised to myself that Barnier and Juncker’s line was that since we declined to be governed by them we’d have to pay them some money. But at the weekend Theresa May mentioned that it would be important for British expertise in resisting Islamist terrorism to be recognised (i.e. easing back on…
It may sound strange to talk about housebuilders such as Barratt (LON:BDEV) and Bellway (LON:BWY) as turnaround opportunities. After all, the two stocks are up 136% and 163% respectively in the last five years. However, in the last month their shares are 11%+ lower after the government announced potential plans to crack down on land…
A day in the life of a fund manager: the chairman emailed early yesterday with the pithy advice that something had gone on at Aberdeen. Since he is a card-carrying, kilt-swirling Scot, I presumed that in that northern city they had run out of IrnBru. I let the matter slip. But when the butler…
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…
The SFO have formally charged Barclays over the dealings with Qatar about ten years ago. I asked a partner in the cleverest City major law firm as to whether there could be a defence for the directors’ conduct that by conducting themselves as they did they kept Barclays out of HM Treasury’s lifeboat. He said…
For many dividend investors, the demise of Carillion was a disaster. Not only did their portfolios lose an important source of income, they also saw a permanent loss of capital. It’s easy to see what went wrong with hindsight, and in the August 2017 issue of Master Investor I wrote about some of the key…
One of the attractions of investment trusts is that in many cases the fund manager stays in place for years and this continuity increases the likelihood of consistent performance. Recently however, there have been a number of high profile departures that have forced investors to decide whether to stay put or move their money elsewhere.…
Imagine a continent which leads the world in mobile telephony banking and in fourth generation (satellite) internet access. This is a continent which has achieved remarkable advances in health outcomes as evidenced by levels of infant mortality and life expectancy, and in education over the last two decades. And which is now enjoying supercharged growth.…
Seeking Alpha offered a coruscatingly sceptical commentary (9th February) on Elon Musk’s latest analysts’ conference where the subject was the woeful failure of his Californian factory to produce Teslas. What is really startling is the recital of the most improbable problems which are essentially nothing to do with common sense. I doubt they’ll be solved…
The Catalonian insurrection has been defeated by the will of Madrid – mercifully without ugliness. But many Catalans are resentful and do not think the struggle is over. Victor Hill has been visiting Spain’s richest province again. A fairly honourable defeat… On 31 January, a message sent by Carles Puigdemont, the unlikely exiled President of…
