Special dividends have long been overshadowed by share buybacks. The latter has proven popular with company management due in part to its positive effect on EPS, which is often linked to bonuses, and the flexibility it brings. This contrasts with ordinary dividends, which the market expects to be repeated in future years once they have…
Driving back from Oxford on Tuesday afternoon I passed a large roadside advertisement, put up by UKIP, calling for “less intergration”. I am unacquainted with the desirability of this since I have always thought grated parmesan and cheddar compote quite delicious. But that chap Nuttall is definitely nut all there and he might have developed…
PCG Entertainment (LON:PCGE) is a company which I have had on the passive “watchlist” for quite some time. It would appear that at the very least, there are some signs of the stock bumping along the bottom. It may just be me, but there would appear to be quite a few triangle formation recovery plays…
Historians, in their quest to make sense of the past, refer to two types of source material. Primary sources are those artefacts, diaries or documents created more or less at the same time as the events they depict. Secondary sources, as their name implies, are somewhat second-hand; they refer to books or articles written subsequently,…
Normally you would expect the best performing investment trusts in a particular segment of the market to trade on the tightest discounts or largest premiums, but there are other factors that can distort the situation. A case in point is the Fundsmith Emerging Equities Trust (LON:FEET), which is run by the controversial Terry Smith. Recent…
I seem to remember (although my memory may be playing up) commentary regarding Concha (LON:CHA) being a stock to avoid. Since then the stock has doubled in the space of a week. Concha was a private investor favourite not so long ago. I have to confess I was caught up in the hype, helped along…
This week, the Halifax House Price Index said residential property prices in the UK recorded their first quarterly decline since 2012. The reasons given for this centred on affordability. House prices have apparently become too expensive given rising inflation and the squeeze on consumer spending which is beginning to be felt across the UK. While…
Cassiopeia Services introduces you to Bob Holt, chairman of Mears Group plc, for the second episode of the new show Money Lifestyle, produced by Tip TV, and hosted by Stefania Barbaglio and Zak Mir. Next week, Stef & Zak will be talking to Bob about Mears’ philanthropy philosophy and how it feels for him to…
One of the most difficult things to get right in terms of timing stocks and markets is to get on board successfully after a bearish phase. We are reminded of this with the present position at Intelligent Energy (LON:IEH). It would appear that Intelligent Energy is leading the battle in terms of the development of…
He is 39 and-a-half years old. He came top at Sciences Po and ENA. He was Minister of the Economy before he engaged in a death-defying display of political trampolining which took him to the very top. He is clever, sophisticated and good-looking. And he is President-Elect of France, taking the keys of the Élysée…
