This week has been dominated by falls in share prices across the globe caused by raised inflation expectations. It would be unsurprising for there to be more volatility as investors continue to adjust their forecasts for inflation. With Donald Trump’s tax and spending policies yet to have their full impact, coming to terms with higher…
Sheer professionalism: when the SFO cooked up charges against the Tesco 3, I thought that that would be difficult. But, then again, it’s only taxpayers’ money. And £5 million and two years later the trial collapses. What a surprise. But I really admire the sheer professionalism of the defence team in arranging a heart attack…
At times of extreme market stress, investment trusts tend to behave more like equities than funds, with the prevailing sense of nervousness driving their prices well beyond their underlying net asset values. This discount volatility creates both an extra source of risk as well as a potential opportunity. Whenever the market experiences a sharp sell-off…
I just had to buy Bitcoin this morning since Lloyds Bank banning its customers from using their credit cards so to participate is surely the proof that it has got to be worth having a go. Mind you, I bought only a smidgin and paid $7,975. Also, what on earth is Lloyds thinking of when…
The UK property sector has experienced a mixed couple of years. The EU referendum seems to have caused investor confidence in the sector to decline, with the outlook for the UK economy now being less certain than it was previously. Property prices could come under pressure in the near term. However, the valuations of these…
Money doesn’t grow on trees – so we are told. Yet central banks like the Bank of England can create it out of nothing. Do they really know what they are doing? And who has gained most from their monetary alchemy? The age of alchemy The Credit Crunch – aka the Financial Crisis – of…
The threat of a hard Brexit has held back the performance of domestically orientated UK stocks and created a value opportunity for those who believe that the economy will withstand all the business and political uncertainty surrounding the negotiations. If you share this view you might want to consider the Aurora Investment Trust (LON:ARR). This…
Capita (LON:CPI) updated the market this morning with an RNS on “transformation, capital structure, funding and trading outlook”. As I type the shares are down 145p at 203p. Matters are clearly as bad as described and very probably getting worse. There is no hope offered anywhere at all. CPI may fancy raising £700 million to…
While a number of UK-focused stocks may be struggling due to the uncertainties created by Brexit, not all global stocks are performing well, either. In general, their valuations may have benefited from weaker sterling since the EU referendum, as well as continued strong economic growth in the developing and developed world. However, there remain a…
Another year, another pilgrimage to the JP Morgan Biotech conference in San Francisco, now in its 26th year. About 9,000 people scurry around the passageways of the far-too-small-for-purpose St Francis hotel, watching companies present stuff that is now readily available online. The smarter lot, who number about 41,000, hover in the periphery of the conference,…
