4 January 2021
FTSE starts 2021 with a bang, Entain rebuffs blockbuster bid from MGM“The FTSE 100 started 2021 with a bang. Surging more than 2% higher and closing on the 6,700 mark amid M&A news and confirmation that roll-out of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine will commence today,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“MGM’s blockbuster bid for gambling group Entain and plumbing firm Ferguson’s sale of its UK...
23 December 2020
World Investment Outlook 2021: Chapter two – USA PoliticsDonald Trump continues to contest November’s election result but without much success at either state or Supreme Court level. He is unlikely to go quietly into the night but December’s Electoral College vote in favour of Joe Biden, by a score of 306-232, puts the Democrat in pole position for inauguration day on 20 January 2021.
Intriguin...
23 December 2020
World Investment Outlook 2021: Chapter three – Europe PoliticsFrench diplomat Jean Monnet, one of the European Union’ founding fathers, once asserted that "Europe will be forged in crises” and 2021 could be an interesting test of that.
Even if the EU appears to have staved off a major clash with Poland and Hungary over its €1.8 trillion budget plan and €750 billion COVID recovery scheme, relations...
23 December 2020
World Investment Outlook 2021: Chapter Four – Emerging Markets PoliticsAzerbaijan and Armenia may have signed a truce with Russian peacekeepers but this was a rare example in 2020 of tempers cooling rather than fraying. The EU applied sanctions to Belarus over the sixth consecutive election victory for President Lukashenko, the US hit Turkey with sanctions after Istanbul’s $740 billion arms deal with Moscow...
23 December 2020
World Investment Outlook 2021: Chapter Five – Asia PoliticsThe Chinese Communist Party’s removal from its constitution of limits to Presidential terms back in 2018 tightened Xi Jinping’s grip on power. His drives to enforce party and public discipline on the domestic front and reassert his country’s position on the world stage have both continued at full speed. A military spat with India in the...
23 December 2020
World Investment Outlook 2021 – Chapter Six: Japan PoliticsIt was doubtless a frustrating way to go, but politics has always been that way. One short year ago, Shinzō Abe was looking forward to hosting the Tokyo Olympics in July 2020, perhaps the crowning moment of his career, having just become Japan’s longest-serving, modern-day Prime Minister (PM). The Olympics were postponed and Abe had to...
22 December 2020
European markets bounce back after Manic Monday for investors“After yesterday’s carnage on the markets with approximately 2% declines seen across Europe, investors are in a better mood as we draw closer to Christmas,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
“Yesterday’s declines were driven by investors getting a cold shower from covid-related setbacks. Optimism had been running high and so the...
21 December 2020
Retailers face peak trading period disruption and Shell sunk by miserable pre-Christmas update“Markets are reeling from the latest twist in the coronavirus crisis which has clouded the outlook for the remainder of 2020 and much of the first quarter of 2021,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“The emergence of a new strain in the south east of England raises the prospect of strict restrictions for an uncertain period while the UK...
18 December 2020
FTSE higher as investors eye another Sunday deadline for Brexit and Flutter hit by $875 million court judgement in the US“It’s Groundhog Day all over again. This week ends just like last week with the market focused on an apparent Sunday deadline to approve a Brexit deal,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“Sterling has come back a bit as Government ministers and Boris Johnson himself have appeared to pour cold water on the prospects of a deal. Overall...
17 December 2020
FTSE 100 dividends forecast to grow by £10.9 billion in 2021There is no doubt that 2020 has been tough on income seekers. In total, 53 current or former members of the FTSE 100 index have cut, deferred or cancelled over £37 billion of dividend payments in calendar 2020 thanks to the covid-19 outbreak and subsequent recession.
Yet the news flow is starting to improve. Fifteen FTSE 100 firms have either...
17 December 2020
WPP outlines dividend and growth plans, and jury still out on Serco and the outsourcers“Belief continues to build in the idea a Brexit deal can be brokered, despite slightly guarded comments from both sides of the negotiation, with sterling advancing strongly,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“The FTSE 100 was also higher, pushed up by domestic-facing stocks and miners. The other big story is the US stimulus package...
16 December 2020
Black Friday effect lowers inflationInflation dropped in November thanks to a Black Friday effect, with increased discounting by retailers pushing down the cost of clothing and footwear. Of course, Black Friday occurs every year, but this time around discounts were particularly steep in clothing sales, which led to an unseasonal fall in prices. That highlights the continued pressure...
16 December 2020
Dixons Carphone continues to ride the electricals boom, and airlines face CMA probe over refunds“The FTSE 100 was up more than 1% in early trading after gains in Asia and the US overnight amid hopes a US fiscal stimulus package could be launched now senior Republicans have acknowledged Joe Biden as President,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“Investors also seem to think a Brexit deal is in the offing, with news of an extended...
15 December 2020
London’s woes weigh on Shaftesbury’s rents, dividends and share priceBen Affleck is planning to direct ‘The Big Goodbye,’ a film based on a book about the making of the classic 1974 Roman Polanski and Jack Nicholson movie ‘Chinatown,’ but investors do not seem to be looking at Shaftesbury, the owner of large chunks of London’s Chinatown, with anything like the same degree of reverence or affection. Even though...
15 December 2020
Fund & Investment Trust options for 20212020 has been a rollercoaster year for DIY investors and the market crash in March, combined with the nationwide lockdown that followed saw new investors flock to investment platforms in record numbers. Ryan Hughes, Head of Active Portfolios at AJ Bell, takes a look at the funds and investment trusts investors might consider as they position their...
15 December 2020
Markets eerily quiet as pressures build and West End property firm Shaftesbury posts big loss“Are we in the calm before the next storm? Equity markets were very quiet on Tuesday with little large cap corporate news to drive trading volumes and investors sitting patiently for updates on the rate of covid infections, the vaccine roll-out and EU/UK trade talks,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
“Under normal circumstances...
14 December 2020
Almost half of AJ Bell Youinvest pension savers plan to invest more in companies with a positive environmental impact in 2021While investing in a pension is, of course, primarily about building a pot of money to fund your lifestyle in retirement, there is some evidence to suggest a strong appetite to invest this money in a socially responsible way.
Almost half of AJ Bell Youinvest pension customers we asked* believe their pension savings can be put to good use to protect...
14 December 2020
AstraZeneca’s big deal booed by the market, and Codemasters receives higher takeover bid“Sterling has rallied 1.2% to $1.3390 versus the US dollar as markets showed some relief that EU trade talks haven’t collapsed,’ says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
“The fact that negotiations have been extended to the end of the year gave investors hope that a deal could still be reached. The FTSE 250 jumped 1.2% to 19,852 while the...
11 December 2020
Dividends back for the banks and Rolls-Royce sputters as cash outflows mount“A no-deal Brexit is starting to be factored in by the markets after Boris Johnson warned the country to prepare for such an outcome with sterling coming under renewed pressure,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“It remains hard to determine how much of this is the usual brinkmanship around negotiations – EU agreements often go right...
10 December 2020
The FTSE 100 has a chance to challenge its all-time high in 2021The FTSE 100 is back where it was in summer 2016, and still languishes below the peaks of 2007 and 1999, while the pound trades near five-year lows against the dollar and close to a ten-year trough against the euro. It is therefore deceptively easy for value-seeking contrarians to make a case for a UK stock market which has underperformed and feels...
10 December 2020
Market’s patience tested on Brexit, and Ocado boosts guidance as M&S venture makes strong start“Everyone’s patience is really being tested with yet more delays to sorting out a UK/EU trade deal,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
“The pound fell 0.8% against the euro to €1.1004 and down 0.7% against the US dollar to $1.3309.
“This reaction suggests the market is losing confidence in Boris Johnson being able to strike a deal...
9 December 2020
Primark calls for high street bailout, and Howden boosted by home improvement boom“In a rare move in concert, sterling and the FTSE 100 were higher on Wednesday morning as Prime Minister Boris Johnson headed to Brussels to try and thrash out a Brexit deal,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“In the short-term the FTSE and the pound often move in opposite directions because the index is so heavily biased towards...
8 December 2020
GB Group shows it is still in the right place at the right timeOctober’s trading update had already hinted that these interim figures from cybersecurity specialist GB Group would be strong and they have not disappointed. The company is well placed in what remains a rapidly-growing industry as identity and location detection and fraud protection become ever more important as more and more of the world’s...
8 December 2020
Markets struggle for direction with Brexit and US stimulus up in the air, while Ofgem plays hardball with the energy sector“Another day and the markets are still no clearer on the two big stories which currently dominate the agenda, both a case of economics meeting politics,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“Brexit remains unresolved despite extensive talks with an apparent deadline fluctuating between Wednesday and Thursday this week while efforts to get...
7 December 2020
Ashley’s 11th hour bid for Debenhams, and there is no stopping Games Workshop“The FTSE 100 started lower on Monday with Brexit risks front and centre. Hopes that a deal would be completed this weekend have failed to materialise and downbeat commentary on the prospects for an agreement have driven a big slump in sterling – to its lowest levels since November,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“It is very...