magazine archive


magazine archive

First-time Investor

What the price-to-earnings ratio means

Thursday 01 Oct 2020

When fund managers, analysts, the financial press and so on talk about ‘cheap’ and ‘expensive’ stocks, it’s important for anybody thinking about investing to know what that actually means. It does not mean that because a company’s share price is £100 it is expensive, or that because it’s share...

Six simple rules for successful investing

Thursday 24 Sep 2020

As regular readers will know, we have a soft spot for legendary value investor Benjamin Graham, author of The Intelligent Investor , which that other legendary value investor Warren Buffett describes as ‘by far the best book on investing ever written’. In the book’s introduction, Graham says his...

Explaining stock options and warrants and why they are important

Thursday 17 Sep 2020

As a beginner investor, the most important things to understand are how to buy and sell shares, what can move a company’s share price and how and where to find investment ideas. But when you gain some investing experience, you may come across things called stock options and warrants, particularly...

How companies raise cash and what it means for investors

Thursday 10 Sep 2020

In the latest instalment in our first-time investor series, we look at the various ways in which companies raise money to fuel their expansion, then explore the reasons that companies undertake ‘share splits’ and ‘consolidations’. PLACING NEW SHARES The different methods by which publicly-traded...

Important signals: why smart investors study director deals

Thursday 03 Sep 2020

You’ve opened your investment account, mastered the mechanics of buying stocks and familiarised yourself with the main catalysts that move share prices. Now the first-time investor needs to add additional weapons to their stock picking armoury. Among the signals that indicate whether a company is...

What moves a share price

Thursday 20 Aug 2020

So you have opened a share dealing account, familiarised yourself with the mechanics of buying a share and purchased a few companies for your portfolio. The next step on the novice investor’s journey is to learn about the numerous factors that drive a share price higher, or lower. From a top down...

How do I buy a share?

Thursday 13 Aug 2020

You have decided you are comfortable with the risks involved in investing in shares and are ready to begin constructing your portfolio. So what are the actual mechanics of buying a share? First you will need to open an investment account, a stocks and shares ISA or a SIPP (self-invested personal...

How the stock market works

Thursday 06 Aug 2020

Novice investors often approach the stock market with trepidation, but the market is simply a forum that brings together investors who want to buy and sell part-ownership stakes in companies, known as stocks or shares. As we have discussed in previous entries in this series, investing in shares...

Finding out what’s moving up and down in the markets

Thursday 30 Jul 2020

It’s important to keep an eye on how the market is moving if you’re investing in stocks and shares. You can get a sense of what’s hot and what’s not, and how other investors are reacting to various bits of news and world events, as well as general sentiment towards equities. For a quick overview of...

Does broker research add value and how can I access it?

Thursday 23 Jul 2020

Research reports on companies listed on a stock market can provide valuable information to investors, helping them get a handle on the opportunities and threats for a business, thus helping to shape their decision whether to buy the shares or not. For most retail investors, accessing in-depth...

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