magazine archive
magazine archive
Editor's View
The divergence between oil and gas prices and what it means
Thursday 08 Sep 2022In all the debate about gas prices, the fate of the oil price has been somewhat overshadowed. You may have noticed at the forecourt that the cost of filling up has gone from mind-blowing to merely eye-watering and this roughly reflects what’s happened with the global oil market. Brent crude, the...
The benefits of long-term thinking: from energy to UK tech to your own investing
Thursday 01 Sep 2022The newly announced energy price cap will have provided a big jolt to many households around the country. Contained in the current energy crisis is an important lesson about thinking and investing for the long term – a lesson which can be applied across multiple different spheres. Back in December...
Keep some cash back even though markets are rising
Thursday 25 Aug 2022As the long hot nights become a distant memory, many investors will be giving their portfolios a sneaky peek to see how their investments are faring. Hopefully it will be a nice surprise as markets have risen since June. A lot of people will have been too scared to look at their portfolios over the...
Rejoice! The retail investor is no longer being ignored for share placings
Thursday 18 Aug 2022At 4.36pm on 10 August, industrial thread manufacturer Coats ( COA ) announced its second acquisition in as many months. Not only was this unusual behaviour in that Coats rarely buys companies, but it also asked retail investors for financial help. Historically Coats has relied upon bank debt for...
BHP’s move on Oz Minerals suggests big mining deals are back
Thursday 11 Aug 2022Three years ago, I posed the question in this column whether it was deal time again for the big mining companies. Now it seems appropriate to repeat the same question, given that BHP ( BHP ) has entertained Oz Minerals (OZL:ASX) with a near-$6 billion takeover offer. Back in February 2019, it felt...
JD Sports’ Footasylum own goal shows why governance really matters
Thursday 04 Aug 2022It’s easy to dismiss ESG (environmental, social and governance) investing as a fad. Certainly there has been a backlash in 2022 after a period where slapping those three letters next to any investment seemed to guarantee double-digit gains According to data from Morningstar, US funds with a...
It could be good news fund managers are sitting on most cash in 20 years
Thursday 28 Jul 2022If the darkest hour is just before the dawn then brighter skies cannot be too far away. When you consider the events of the last two decades, let alone the last six months, it’s no surprise investors are feeling pretty gloomy. A dot-com crash, a Great Financial Crisis, a pandemic and the largest...
Why focusing on the long term can help when so much is going on
Thursday 21 Jul 2022We live in an information age. Our minds are constantly bombarded by such a deluge of facts and figures that it’s increasingly hard to keep track. An important skill for successful investing is to narrow your focus to only the most salient data and news flow. This can help you to make informed...
Falling commodity prices could mean the worst of rising inflation is nearly over
Thursday 14 Jul 2022The excitement seems to be coming out of the commodities space judging by share prices in miners and oil and gas companies. This suggests inflation could soon ease and/or investors are taking profits in stocks that have done well this year. Both factors imply a potential rotation into other parts...
GSK and Haleon: why the spin-off can be the more interesting part of a demerger
Thursday 07 Jul 2022One of the UK market’s biggest corporate splits in years is about to happen, with GSK ( GSK ) demerging its consumer healthcare business called Haleon. The latter should become a FTSE 100 company and give investors exposure to some of the best-known brands in toothpaste, painkillers and more. This...