24 September 2019
TUI’s golden opportunity and Metro Bank shares sink (again) on bond failure"Trade talks and the UK parliament were the focus for investors on Tuesday. European shares strengthened on chatter that US/China trade talks would soon be back on the agenda," says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
"UK stocks also moved ahead as the market waited for the Supreme Court’s decision on the suspension of parliament. Sterling...
23 September 2019
The impact of Thomas Cook’s demise and Marks & Spencer’s latest departure spells trouble in the boardroom“The FTSE 100 managed to escape the gloom that spread across other European markets on Monday morning. The blue chip index was flat at 7,348 versus declines of between 0.3% and 0.7% across markets in Amsterdam, Paris and Frankfurt.
“India’s BSE Sensex extended last Friday’s rally with another 3.5%, spurred by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman...
20 September 2019
Royal Bank of Scotland has a new CEO and Keller’s latest setback could attract takeover interest“The pound is doing its best to fight back after a tough period. A 0.3% rise against the dollar to $1.2557 has stirred up investor interest in UK domestic stocks again, as illustrated by retailers, supermarkets, housebuilders and banks rallying on Friday,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
“The currency has been spurred by comments...
19 September 2019
Next faces autumn challenge and Saga profit halves“The US Federal Reserve has left investors confused. Last night’s rate cut was widely expected but the market doesn’t know what to think about split views in the Fed as policymakers in the committee failed to agree on economic conditions,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
“US markets barely moved last night and today we’ve got a...
18 September 2019
FTSE 100 down to five female CEOs as Laury prepares to leave KingfisherWhen Kingfisher boss Véronique Laury steps down on 25 September she will become the tenth FTSE 100 CEO to do so this year, with five other already-announced changes at the top yet to become effective. In addition, her departure, as she is replaced by Thierry Garnier, will take the number of female FTSE 100 CEOs down to just five following on from...
18 September 2019
Cobham takeover probed and Kingfisher still struggling“All eyes are on the US Federal Reserve which is expected to cut interest rates later today. While investors often welcome rate cuts, history shows that the Fed reduces rates in response to an economic slowdown. And slowdowns can hit corporate earnings and profit downgrades tend to stop stock markets in their tracks.
“Ahead of today’s Fed decision...
17 September 2019
Sirius Minerals setback for thousands of UK investors and Ocado customers increase order frequency“European markets were fairly quiet on Tuesday with the FTSE 100 dipping 0.1% to 7,313. Oil prices retreated from yesterday’s sharp rally, albeit only slipping by a small amount. Brent Crude retreated by 0.5% to $68.71 per barrel and WTI fell 0.9% to $62.31 per barrel.
“Hong Kong experienced another day of pain with the Hang Seng index falling 1.5%...
16 September 2019
Oil price spike hurts investors and fuels expectations for higher inflation“One would have thought a major spike in the oil price would lead to a surge in the FTSE 100 given how Royal Dutch Shell and BP account for a large chunk of the index. However, the commodity price is not enough to lift the index, which fell 0.1% to 7,356 at the start of the new trading week,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
“It...
13 September 2019
SSE offloads retail arm and Wetherspoons profit disappoints“The pound looked lively heading into the weekend with a 0.67% gain against the US dollar to $1.2415. London-listed companies with lots of overseas earnings were therefore marked down including Diageo, Experian, Unilever and Reckitt Benckiser. The FTSE 100 traded 0.1% lower at 7,335.
"However, UK domestic stocks were in demand once more, with...
12 September 2019
Morrisons has fingers in many pies and US vaping crackdown hangs over British American Tobacco“Trump’s decision to delay a planned tariff hike on $250 billion of Chinese goods has raised hopes among investors that relationships between the US and China aren’t as battered as many had feared. This has led investors to bid up shares in commodity producers such as Glencore and Anglo American,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
“A...
11 September 2019
The FTSE 350 companies delivering inflation-busting dividendsIncome investors can easily be lured in by high yields, but instead of taking a big ticket payout on day one they need to hunt for income that’s going to increase each year to keep up with inflation. Inflation gradually eats away at your money each year, so if you’re relying on stocks to hand you income you want to make sure they are at least...
11 September 2019
Sports Direct faces angry investors and is Peloton really worth $8.2 billion? Sports Direct“Retail kingpin Mike Ashley faces a crunch Sports Direct annual general meeting later with an expected shareholder rebellion against his re-election as a director.
“It’s probably not a coincidence that the media is banned from the AGM as the company finds itself increasingly under siege.
“Ashley’s own shopping spree in the past year...
11 September 2019
Ashtead looks to shrug off worries over US slowdown“ Ashtead’s first-quarter sales and profit figures are in line with the forecasts for the full-year put out by the management team alongside June’s full-year results but the shares are down, to partly reflect their recent good run to within a whisker of late 2018’s all-time highs but also niggling worries over the macroeconomic outlook,” says Russ...
10 September 2019
JD Sports seeks to broaden its appeal and Bovis Homes has another go at buying part of Galliford Try“Markets were mixed on Tuesday with Chinese shares slipping on the back of weak producer price data. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.4% to 7,209 as investors lost their appetite for the pharma, tobacco and utilities sectors.
“On the currency markets, the pound eased back against the dollar, falling 0.16% to $1.236,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at...
9 September 2019
PPI claims rush crimps Lloyds’ cash return plansLloyds is joining RBS and CYBG in admitting that it needs to set aside more money to cover a final rush of PPI compensation claims and – like CYBG – the provisions look set to hit the bank’s plans to return capital to shareholders.
Lloyds has stated that it will suspend its share buyback programme with some £600 million still to go, owing to the...
9 September 2019
Lloyds' PPI nightmare is still haunting the bank, and Associated British Foods flags margin pressures at Primark“The pound took a step back as the markets digested comment over the weekend that Boris Johnson will go to court to challenge law blocking a no-deal Brexit. The currency fell 0.4% against the euro to €1.1100 and dipped 0.25% against the US dollar to $1.2257,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
“This wasn’t enough to put the FTSE 100...
6 September 2019
AJ Bell Favourite fundsPaul Angell: Head of Investment Research, discusses our Favourite funds list, a carefully selected list of active and tracker funds.
6 September 2019
Brexit: How we’re positioning the AJ Bell fundsThe markets rallied after the Referendum vote in June 2016 and Trump’s election in November 2016, proving that share price moves are not always in line with economic events.
Matt Brennan, Head of the Passive Funds at AJ Bell, discusses why a No-Deal Brexit might actually lead to positive returns for multi-asset investors and how AJ Bell are...
6 September 2019
UK markets still lagging behind and SIG is caught in a fierce storm“Having overseas exposure has proved to be the winning strategy for investors so far this year, with the main UK market indices trailing behind most other big markets in the world. Only the key benchmarks in India, Hong Kong and Japan have fared worse than the FTSE 100, 250 and All-Share,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
“The UK...
5 September 2019
Utilities weigh on FTSE, BooHoo’s shares hit new record high, and bear raid in the rear view mirror for Future“UK markets continued to be volatile with the FTSE 100 falling 0.3% to 7,286 with utility companies among the biggest contributors to the index’s decline. “It was a different story in Japan where the Nikkei jumped 2.1% after China said it would hold new trade talks with the US next month. The top riser was metals producer Toho Zinc Co, up 8.5%,”...
4 September 2019
PPI comes back to bite RBS one final time“Just when investors were wondering whether the worst of RBS’ regulatory woes were behind it, the bank has confirmed that a final rush of PPI claims applications ahead of the 29 August deadline has forced it to take another big provision to cover compensation claims,” says Russ Mould, AJ Bell Investment Director.
“The additional cost of £600...
4 September 2019
Will the iPhone 11 launch give Apple’s shares a lift?Shares in Apple have surged by more than 40% from the low reached after the profit warning of 3 January but they have yet to recapture the all-time high reached last September, when the firm’s market valuation briefly exceeded $1 trillion. The major reason for this is poor earnings momentum and investors will be looking forward to the iPhone 11...
4 September 2019
Halfords is stuck in reverse gear and Dunelm is still on top form“Boris Johnson’s Commons vote defeat put a new lease of life into the pound, sending the UK currency up 0.55% against the dollar at $1.2152 and up 0.35% against the euro at €1.1051. The FTSE 250 was a key beneficiary with UK retailers Dunelm, B&M and Dixons Carphone among the biggest risers on the mid-cap index,” says Russ Mould, Investment...
3 September 2019
How long should I hold a fund for?One of the simplest questions faced by an investor is also one of the most important; how long should you hold an investment for?
An oft-cited statistic about stock markets is that they deliver, on average, returns of around 7-8%. This isn’t guaranteed, of course, since the future is unknowable by anyone, but it’s what history has told us we should...
3 September 2019
Stomach ache for Restaurant Group investors, and Ferguson seemingly bows to activist pressure“There is only one thing on investors’ minds today: the sinking pound. A drop in sterling below $1.20 for the first time since 2017 weighs on the UK-focused FTSE 250 index and drags it down 0.1% to 14,463. It is also bad news for UK domestic FTSE 100 stocks including the housebuilders, supermarkets and various banks,” says Russ Mould, Investment...