Last week was a fantastic one for the FANG stocks – Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google − with Amazon and Google (now Alphabet) posting market beating earnings that prompted sharp rises in their share prices. Amazon reported earnings of 52 cents a share after the market closed last Thursday, which was well ahead of the…
While the gold price has risen by 10% this year, it faces an uncertain future. In the US, UK and Europe monetary policy looks set to tighten, with a rise in interest rates on the cards over the medium term. Alongside this, a new Federal Reserve Chair could adopt a more hawkish stance next year.…
Quite how HSBC (LON:HSBA) this morning records higher profits I do not know. My personal experience of this bank in recent times not merely on my own account but also that of others persuades me that HSBC has a death wish. ***** Pay no attention to Hexagon AB‘s (STO:HEXA-B) rise on Friday. The fraud is…
Many British investors are buying property – sorry, real estate – in America. Houses and apartments in the Land of the Free are generally extremely appealing and offer the potential for decent rental incomes and capital gains. But America is not for the low-budget buy-to-let investor. Today I’ll share four US Property hot spots where…
With the mainstream markets looking increasingly vulnerable it could be a good time to increase your exposure to listed hedge funds. The sector is currently out of favour with the majority of the constituents available at a discount to net asset value (NAV). The broker Numis has trading buy recommendations on two of these funds…
If what you were ‘taught’ about the Great Depression is anything like my school time experience, it will go something like this: There was a Great Crash in 1929, which ushered in hard times, notably in the US. Someone called Franklin Delano Roosevelt then rode in to the rescue, and set up a bewildering array…
P2P lending for the traditional investors P2P business lending helps both individual and corporate investors lend to small and medium-sized businesses. Access to this alternative finance is achieved by borrowers entering their information into an online application portal, where they benefit from rapid loan approval. Put simply, a P2P lending platform perfectly matches borrowers with…
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…
