magazine archive
magazine archive
Editor's View
2021: boom year for investments
Thursday 16 Sep 2021Equity funds have taken in more money in 2021 ($1 trillion) than in the previous 20 years combined ($0.8 trillion), according to Bank of America. For many individuals who first invested after the global financial crisis of 2008/2009, stock markets may have seemed an easy place to make money. Indeed...
Ways to beat the FTSE 100’s 3.2% income yield
Thursday 09 Sep 2021The income hurdle for UK investors to beat is 3.2%, which is the prospective yield from the FTSE 100 according to Stockopedia data. Buying a simple FTSE 100 tracker fund will give you access to the index and therefore the yield. But how easy it is to beat this figure? It’s simple if you’ve got time...
Too soon to consider buying into Chinese sell-off
Thursday 02 Sep 2021The sell-off in various Chinese stocks has been one of the big investment stories of the year. The threat of regulatory interference from China was quietly bubbling away as 2021 began, but few people thought it would blow up to become such a major force on the markets. China-related products were...
The questions buybacks pose for investors
Thursday 26 Aug 2021In recent months the practice of companies buying their own shares has made a comeback. Insurance firm Aviva ( AV. ) was the latest to add its name to a growing list which includes Diageo ( DGE ) , Unilever ( ULVR ) and BP ( BP. ) . On 12 August Aviva announced a £750 million buyback as part of...
Why markets aren’t worried about global debt (yet)
Thursday 19 Aug 2021According to asset manager Janus Henderson global government debt soared by a fifth to a record $62.5 trillion by the end of 2020 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. On the corporate side Janus Henderson reported borrowings up 10% worldwide to $13.5 trillion. So we’re looking at a combined...
What a bombshell climate report and global wildfires mean for markets
Thursday 12 Aug 2021Wildfires are raging across Europe and North America, while the latest report from the IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change) warns temperatures are likely to rise 1.5 centigrade above pre-industrial levels in the next two decades, prompting extreme weather and environmental devastation. And...
Doling out the dividends: are the best days almost over?
Thursday 05 Aug 2021Billions of pounds worth of dividends have been declared in recent weeks by names such as Anglo American ( AAL ) , Rio Tinto ( RIO ) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB ), meaning there is a cash bounty on its way to shareholders. These companies, along with other big names declaring dividends including...
Bank of America still thinks oil will hit $100 in 2022
Thursday 29 Jul 2021Guessing where the oil price will be in a year’s time feels like the equivalent of pinning the tail on the donkey except you are underwater and your hands are tied behind your back. There are so many moving parts to the crude market and intangibles around what direction the economy might take...
Why Freedom Day has been such a dud on the markets
Thursday 22 Jul 2021It is often said that it is better to travel than arrive when it comes to investing and England’s ‘Freedom Day’ seems to be a case in point. The long-awaited lifting of restrictions has come against the backdrop of rising infections and the FTSE 100 plunged to a two-month low on the day itself (19...
Will Freedom Day represent the top of the market?
Thursday 15 Jul 2021The UK’s Freedom Day should have been cause for celebration. Instead, we’re having to navigate choppier stock market conditions, hundreds of thousands of children and workers are stuck at home isolating, and don’t even mention the Euro 2020 result. It’s worth understanding what has driven the...