In just the first 20 days of 2025 the FTSE 100 index of blue-chip stocks has equaled its gains for the entirety of 2024, in the process closing at an all-time high of 8,505 points on 17 January.A better-than-expected inflation report for December together with weaker-than-expected retail sales for the same month appeared to open the door to faster Bank of England rate cuts, pushing the index to it

No-one could accuse the CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) of sitting on its hands, least of all this year.As well as investigating several high-profile mergers ? including this month alone Aviva (AV.)/AIG Life, SpreadEx/Sporting Image, RedBird IMI/Telegraph Media Group, Pharmacy2U/Lloyds Direct and Hitachi/Thales ? the regulator has been busy looking into pricing in the funeral market (again

Recent UK house price surveys seem to show the property market is beginning to cool, so should investors steer clear of the housebuilders or does their poor share price performance this year mean the worst is already factored into their valuations?In this article we look at the survey data, compare it with the messages coming from the housebuilders themselves and pick two stocks we think offer the

Investors for whom the housebuilders were a low-risk place to put their money up to and even after the pandemic have had a rude awakening in the last month or so.While most firms had already put money aside for fire safety work, the government's warning they were liable for up to £4 billion of additional costs to remove cladding from high-rise buildings completely blind-sided them.The fact that w

The FTSE 100 is managing to consolidate the gains it managed yesterday, up 0.16% to 7,070.76 and comfortably above the key 7,000 barrier for now. After taking their cue from a solid US close, investors' focus is likely to switch to Brexit and the EU summit in Brussels which gets underway later today.Online clothing retailer ASOS (ASC:AIM) bounces back in fine fashion this morning after being caugh

This year's commodities bull-run could continue well into 2018 for many products, according to investment bank Macquarie. Most of the major metals have risen in price this year and Macquarie believes gold, silver, nickel and uranium have the best prospects over the next one to two years.For gold and silver, we like Polymetal International (POLY) among the larger London-listed miners. Glencore (GLE

Two important developments among junior uranium miners are worth closer inspection as they put the companies in a stronger position to bring their respective mines into production. However, a weak uranium price may weigh on market sentiment towards their share prices near-term.Berkeley Energia (BKY:AIM) has secured the necessary funding to build its Salamanca mine in Spain. Aura Energy (AURA:AIM)

The FTSE 100 is 36.23 points higher this morning at 7,373.66 taking its cue from strength in US and Asian markets overnight as concerns over North Korea died down.Troubled tool hire outfit HSS Hire (HSS) slumps 18.9% to 45p as it warns a recovery in sales will be 'materially slower' than expected and reports an increase in its first half pre-tax loss from £7.8m to £30.1m.Soft furnishings busines

Shares in most of the big housebuilders have fallen on talk that the Government could potentially scrap the Help to Buy scheme earlier than planned. Barratt Developments (BDEV), Persimmon (PSN) and Taylor Wimpey (TW.) are worst hit with more than 3% declines in the value of their shares.The investor worry relates to an article in trade magazine Property Week which says the Government has called fo

The FTSE 100 declines 0.6% to 6,800 at the start of the new trading week. There are notable declines in banks and oil producers, more than offsetting positive returns from miners and utilities.Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) jumps 3.6% to 296.45p as full year results are ahead of expectation, despite reporting a 39% decline in pre-tax profit to £352.7m. Pre-tax profit and earnings per share beat

US stocks slumped to their longest losing streak since the financial crisis as markets brace for heightened volatility ahead of the US election on 8 November.The S&P 500 posted its eighth consecutive day of losses yesterday and the 'fear gauge' VIX volatility index spiked to 22, almost as high as the days after the UK voted to leave the EU.Shares in the FTSE 100 are down 0.8% at 6,733 and the mid

Uranium miner Aura Energy is hoping to raise a new slug of cash and join the AIM market in September. The company hasn't publicly disclosed its fundraising target but we understand it is between £2 million and £3 million.The money will help fund a feasibility study on its Tiris project in Mauritania which is expected to be completed in 2017, as well as top up working capital and cover the AIM ad

London shares rally in early deals on Wednesday, bouncing having initially slipped modestly lower, as traders go cautiously on the hunt for value buys after yesterday's hefty sell-off. Wall Street was lower overnight, while Asia is mixed this morning. Europe is modestly higher.The FTSE 100 index is up around 65 points, or 1.15%, at 5,698.In corporate news, microchips designs company ARM (ARM) post

FTSE indices are mixed in early deals with larger companies fading but small caps on the rose, modestly. Among the blue-chips, Sage (SGE) rallies 5% to 598.25p as it confirms that it remains on track for full year guidance, with analysts anticipating largely flat earnings of 25.7p per share.The FTSE 100 index nudges close on 40 points lower to 5,878, with Wall Street and Asian markets firm overnig

Analysts believe Berkeley Energia (BKY:AIM) is worth four times as much as its current market value, assuming that it can successfully raise money to build a uranium mine in Spain. The project economics are very good for the Salamanca project; Berkeley is one of the few miners that could theoretically make a profit at current depressed commodity prices.Is this a no-brainer stock to own or should y

London shares made decent gains in early trade on Wednesday, buoyed by positive economic news from China and a smattering of upbeat corporate statements. The FTSE 100 index rallies 55 points, or about 0.8%, to 6,436, echoing a positive showing for US markets overnight.Heading the Footsie leader board is metal and mining group Glencore (GLEN), its' shares surging 4.7% to 125.1p thanks to 'significa

Waiting for a commodities revival can be extremely frustrating. Like any money manager who can find a suitable chart to show their fund is outperforming a particular benchmark (the good old 'discrete' performance data that cherry picks a positive period), there's oodles of people in the resources industry who can always find data that implies a bullish outlook for commodities. That means expectati

The stock market's smallest and riskiest companies have always held fascination for private investors. On the premise that 'elephants don't gallop, but fleas leap,' to borrow Jim Slater's often quoted phrase, it's easier for a tiny company to double its size, and investor's money, than for a big one. Let's face it, a blue chip company worth £1 billion will find it much harder to double or even tr

Trading at $30 per pound Uranium has staged a 7% rally since May. Bullish investors can play a continued recovery through Spanish miner Berkeley Resources (BKY:AIM) at 17.8p or get more diversified exposure via fund Geiger Counter (GCL) at 25p, which invests in uranium miners.Uranium peaked at $136 per pound in June 2007 and the market fundamentals were shaken up by the Japanese nuclear disaster f

Aspiring uranium miner Berkeley Resources (BKY:AIM) is trading below the average valuation for advanced explorers of the radioactive metal. This markdown is undeserved, especially since the £33 million cap has just secured a mining licence which makes it attractive to suitors wishing to secure future supplies of uranium. Berkeley received a takeover approach four years ago from Russian steel gian