magazine archive
magazine archive
Editor's View
Proposed listing rule changes are rightly drawing fire from overseas investors
Thursday 15 Feb 2024Just before Christmas we wrote about the FTSE 100’s 40th birthday which was coming up at the start of 2024. It felt too much of an open goal not to talk in terms of a mid-life crisis and life beginning at 40. The fear we expressed then and one which has been reinforced now is the London market,...
How the WPP tortoise beat the S4 Capital hare
Thursday 08 Feb 2024When Martin Sorrell completed his acrimonious exit in 2018 from the business he had built up over decades he had a point to prove. His S4 Capital (SFOR) vehicle was supposed to leave his former charge in the shade by adopting a similar buy-and-build model to that employed at WPP (WPP). The latter...
Is inflation already below target in the US?
Thursday 01 Feb 2024Ever since the inflation genie was let out of the bottle in 2021, the market has been obsessed with how quickly it can be brought back under control and back within central bank targets. On at least one measure, US inflation may already be within the 2% limit targeted by the Federal Reserve. The...
Why there could be a little too much optimism around right now
Thursday 25 Jan 2024Canadian American economist John Kenneth Galbraith once observed that ‘the only function of economic forecasting was to make astrology look respectable’. His words came to mind when great credence was given to the EY ITEM Club lifting growth forecasts for the UK recently. There is hardly an...
Bitcoin excitement builds again but it is not a credible store of value
Thursday 18 Jan 2024Bitcoin is having another moment in the sun on the back of the decision by the US SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) to greenlight exchange-traded funds which track the cryptocurrency. There is no doubting the significance of this move. It will make it easier and potentially cheaper for...
Middle East drama is obscuring oil market realities
Thursday 11 Jan 2024The recent action in oil prices could be painting a false picture. Several key markers look negative for demand yet, for now, tensions in the Middle East and the perceived threat to supplies from the region are preventing a big sell-off in crude. When the war in Gaza first started there were...
The FTSE 100 hits 40: can it shake off a mid-life crisis?
Thursday 21 Dec 2023On 3 January 2024, the FTSE 100 celebrates its 40th anniversary. And to borrow a cliche - it seems an opportune moment to ask, will life for the index truly begin at 40 or will it be plunged into a mid-life crisis? The index was launched as a replacement for the FT-30, which as its name suggests...
Don’t get carried away with DG Innovate and its Tesla trio
Thursday 14 Dec 2023On 11 December 2023, a teeny company on the UK stock market saw a sudden surge in interest. Shares in Yorkshire-based EV (electric vehicle) technology firm DG Innovate ( DGI:AIM ) almost tripled as three former senior Tesla (TSLA:NASDAQ) executives joined the board. Taking over as chief executive...
Learning big lessons from Calnex and Synthomer mistakes
Thursday 07 Dec 2023As we approach the end of the year it is a good time to take stock with your investing, and it’s no different for the team at Shares . We do our best to furnish you with strong investment ideas every week, but we clearly do not get it right every time. Two big losers from the last 12 months or so...
Find out why lithium is getting interesting again
Thursday 30 Nov 2023An insight into the extent to which environmental issues have faced push-back in 2023 is the performance of lithium. The raw element, a key component in batteries for EVs (electric vehicles), has plunged in value in 2023. It’s an opaque market but most sources suggest prices have dropped by at...