Every now and then I like to take a look at the highest yielding stocks in the market. Not to buy them of course, because the dividend yield on its own is a crude tool at the best of times. Instead, I’m interested in finding out which companies have crashed and burned, and what lessons…
There is a sequence in things. Take Interserve (LON:IRV) which announced a general cock-up on Thursday last. The shares tanked to 55p at which point I sold short. The following day IRV announced a contract win with DWP. The shares closed at 75p on the Friday. Today IRV announce a contract win at the BBC.…
I blundered yesterday by buying Acacia (LON:ACA) at 247p after it announced that the Government of Tanzania had come to a settlement with it. Some settlement. Basically GoT had decided to nick ACA’s future earnings by one means or another. So they had started off by a ridiculous claim for back taxes and in effect…
As Hallowe’en approaches, Americans are tricking and treating. But what is the US stock market doing? The smiling economists of 1700 Pennsylvania Avenue At its AGM in Washington last week the IMF reported that the global economy was humming along nicely with every region of the global economy set to record GDP rises for the…
With inflation reaching 3% in September, alarm bells may now be ringing in the ears of many income investors. It is now more difficult than it has been for a number of years to obtain a real income return. Looking ahead, the task could become more difficult as there may only be limited scope for…
The increase in average life expectancy is great news for all of us, but the main challenge is that it makes funding our retirement considerably more expensive. Unfortunately the problem is compounded by the low annuity rates that are the traditional way of generating a pension, with a fund of £100,000 only buying a 65-year-old…
Huddle is now considered a groundbreaking p2p (peer-to-peer) business lending platform. Holding our position in the already densely occupied industry, we have managed to stand apart from our competitors through utilising our core USPs of education and the ability to offer our lenders exclusive rewards. Launched in March, Huddle was founded by Terry Fisher and…
Real-Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) can provide a valuable source of income and a useful hedge against inflation as the underlying property values rise over time, but the share prices of many of these funds have been bid up to dangerous levels. One potential pocket of value is the new M7 Multi-Let REIT that is planning…
In the light of events in and around Catalonia I reached for George Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia. It is a truly astonishing book (£6 on Amazon) in that Orwell was only 34 years or so old when he wrote it and here recounts his involvement on the Republican or socialist side in the appalling Spanish…
So people are going to live longer. And old age will not necessarily mean infirmity. The demographics are already changing rapidly: by 2045 over 65s will make up one quarter of the population in the UK – that will be nearly 19 million citizens. This trend is even more pronounced in Japan and Germany. Companies…
