With AI (artificial intelligence) the flavour of the month and investors focused on intangible assets such intellectual property and brand value, investors may be under valuing real, tangible assets lurking on balance sheets.The value of tangible assets has been a major feature of recent mergers and acquisition activity in the automotive retailer market.When Lookers (LOOK) received a knockout...

It's been a tricky 2022 for global stock markets and that's made life hard for ordinary and professional investors alike. In this feature several leading fund managers explain what worked out for them over the course of the year and what went wrong.James Harries - Securities Trust of Scotland (STS)What worked?At Troy (Securities Trust of Scotland's investment manager) we seek companies that...

Our portfolio of picks for 2017 has achieved 10.3% average gain versus 8.8% from the FTSE All-Share. Among the selection, one of our stocks was taken over; one defied the retail sector sell-off to deliver handsome gains; and another has bounced back after a difficult period in 2016, just like we said it would.Overall we're pleased with the performance although the portfolio wasn't without its...

Diamond producer Petra Diamonds (PDL) has become the latest miner to fall foul of meddling by the Tanzanian government.Its shares crashed 30% at the market open after saying the government had blocked the export of a parcel of diamonds and some of Petra's employees were being questioned by the authorities. The share price decline had eased back to -7.6% by 8.40am to trade at 83.13p.Petra owns...

Capital Drilling (CAPD) 39.5pLoss to date: 20.8%Original entry price: Buy at 49.9pHaving earlier this year enjoyed a tidy paper profit on our Capital Drilling Trade, issues affecting miners and their service companies in Tanzania mean now we are losing money owning these shares. Don't panic.We believe the stock won't stay weak for long. Indeed, this is starting to look like a potential...

Capital Drilling (CAPD) 58.55pGain to date: 17.3%Original entry point: Buy at 49.9p, 22 December 2016A large number of contract awards in the mining sector during the first quarter of 2017 has prompted stockbroker FinnCap to upgrade its earnings per share forecasts for [BOLD] Capital Drilling (CAPD). It lifts the 2017 estimate by 30% to 2.9c and 2018's number by 15% to 5.5c.FinnCap also raises...

Capital Drilling (CAPD) 54.7pGain to date: 43.9% Original entry point: Buy at 38p, 14 July 2016Don't be put off by Capital Drilling's (CAPD) latest full year results. Resurgence in activity across the mining sector might have suggested its results would show booming profit. That wasn't the case.Not only did the company remain loss making, it also saw average revenue per operational drill rig...

Risk appetite returns on Thursday following the US Federal Reserve's interest rate hike, investors taking it as a dovish signal that the Fed is going to tighten monetary policy only cautiously as the economy improves.While the FTSE 100 races 52.4 points higher to 7,421 early on, Sainsbury's (SBRY) cheapens 1.7% to 266.9p on a rather disappointing fourth quarter trading statement. This shows...

Major events in 2017 have fuelled our running 'Great Ideas' stock selections, as well as our '10 for 2017' annual share portfolio.Acquisitions have certainly been on the agenda for many of our preferred stocks. Other catalysts have been trading updates and broker commentary.FTSE 250 chemicals group Elementis (ELM) is to boost the size of its personal care business with the $360m acquisition of...

Our annual stock portfolio has delivered more than twice the gains as the wider market since we priced the selections in mid-December 2016. The '10 for 2017' portfolio is so far up by 7.2% on average versus a 3.5% gain from the FTSE All-Share index.One of the best performers is mining services group Capital Drilling (CAPD), up 13.2% to 56.49p. Broker FinnCap has included the stock in its top...

Every December we publish a list of stocks carefully chosen by Shares' team of journalists. We consider these to be our best ideas for stocks to buy and hold throughout the coming year.This year we've picked 10 companies that have the right qualities to shine in 2017.You will find a mixture of top quality businesses, recovery stories and companies with favourable market conditions.We will...

London's FTSE 100 falls back below the 7,000 mark on Wednesday, mirroring declines overnight from US and Asian markets and with banks under pressure; HSBC (HSBA) is off 2.2p at 624.1p, Barclays (BARC) cheapens 1.6p to 182.2p and RBS (RBS) trades 1.4% easier at 189.6p.The catalyst is a disappointing third quarter update from Lloyds (LLOY), marked down 3.8% to 53.3p as the bank reports a 3% drop...

Investors are relieved that Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has agreed a settlement over claims it mis-sold toxic mortgage-backed securities in the run up to the financial crisis in 2008. It will pay $1.1 billion which it says is 'substantially covered by existing provisions'. The shares rise 1.2% to 176.62p.Parcel delivery group UK Mail (UKM) has received a 440p takeover bid from Deutsche Post....

Capital Drilling (CAPD) 48.75pGain to date: 28.3%Original entry price: Buy at 38p, 14 July 2016Shares in mining services group Capital Drilling (CAPD) are racing ahead, giving us a 28.3% gain so far on our Plays of the Week trade. The latest catalysts have been a positive set of half year results (17 Aug) and the appointment of a new joint broker (23 Aug) which could result in increased...

A rally in gold, silver and other metals in 2016 seems to be encouraging some miners to come out of hibernation. A revival in exploration and production expansion activity would be good news for Capital Drilling (CAPD) as a contractor dependent on this sector.We see considerable upside for the shares, even after they've nearly doubled so far this year.Capital Drilling provides drilling rigs to...

London stocks start the week in the red, marginally reversing gains on Friday, after the European Central Bank hinted at further stimulus in December and China cut rates. That tips the benchmark FTSE 100 index around 12 points lower, or 0.2%, to 6,431 with midcaps posting similar declines. The FTSE Small Cap index remains largely flat.On the company front, advertising giant WPP (WPP) slumps...

Capital Drilling (CAPD) 28.5pRESULTS > TUESDAY 26 AUGUST > INTERIMSThe fierce reduction in exploration expenditure by mining firms around the world over the past few years has made it tough going for service companies like Capital Drilling (CAPD). Its half-year results (26 Aug) are unlikely to show any major improvement in market conditions although investors might be pleased by efforts to...

Africa and Middle East focused oil firm Afren (AFR) gains 4.6% to 151.5p after flaggingpotential for record revenues of £1.65 billion for 2013 as output comes in at the top end of expectations at 47,112 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd). This total represents a 13% year-on-year increase and is largely thanks to building output from its Nigerian fields - though production is expected...

A few bright spots are emerging among the companies that provide products and services to the mining sector. Yet we do not believe the market is bottoming out even after severe spending cutbacks by miners and fear there are still significant demand risks for the supply chain.Fenner (FENR) received a number of ratings and earnings upgrades after full-year results beat expectations (13 Nov) and...

We're not surprised that a negative trading update sends Tate & Lyle (TATE) up 1.7% to 751.5p. The bad news was already priced into the shares which have already been heavily sold off in the past few months amid fears of competition from Chinese manufacturers. There's a market glut of artificial sweetener, sucralose, which has triggered a sharp fall in prices. Analysts note that sucralose...