Loungers CEO offloads 130,000 sharesCelebrus Technologies director buys 50,000 sharesHarwood Capital director snaps up £30,000 EKF Diagnostics' sharesCEO of Loungers (LGRS:AIM) Nick Collins has sold 130,000 shares at 221p for a total value of £287,300 on 9 January.Following the sale Collins has 956,276 ordinary shares representing 0.92% of the issued ordinary shares.Loungers? shares are up...

Despite having generated more than three times the return of the FTSE All-Share index over the past 10 years (304% versus 100% respectively), North Atlantic Smaller Companies Investment Trust (NAS) remains under the radar of most investors.Those already owning the shares are rarely willing sellers, says manager Christopher Mills. 'A lot of our shareholders have been with us forever. We started...

It is one thing for analysts to forecast which stocks and sectors will do well in a rising-rate or inflationary environment, but when it actually comes to pass it's always fascinating to see what works in practice.Judging by the list of stocks making 12-month highs over the past week, those who favoured real assets were on the money.Standing tall are 3i Infrastructure (3IN), AEW UK REIT...

The advent of globalisation has helped to drive considerable earnings growth for companies on the UK stock market thanks to them doing business with an ever-growing number of countries. Unfortunately, widespread geographical expansion means the list of UK stocks with exposure to Russia is bigger than you might think.Many professional and retail investors have raised a moral objective to having...

In the same way investors can make a mint by backing a mythical '10-bagger' early doors, fund fanatics can make big gains by catching an investment trust on the way up, before it begins its rise through the market capitalisation ranks and potentially even joins the likes of Scottish Mortgage (SMT), 3i (III) or Pershing Square Holdings (PSH) in the FTSE 100.We can never know with certitude...

Shares in point-of-care company EKF Diagnostics (EKF:AIM) surged 7.5% to 83p on Tuesday after it said strong trading had continued into the second quarter and it now anticipates full year results will be comfortably ahead of market expectations.Strong demand for the company's contract manufacturing services for Covid-19 sample collection devices help drive revenues 46.5% higher year-on-year to...

Shares in point-of-care business EKF Diagnostics (EKF:AIM) gained 5.5% to 74.9p after the company confirmed that strong trading since the start of the year had continued into the second quarter of 2021, in line with prior upgraded expectations.This reflects improved trading in the core business which provides blood analysers and consumables for testing patients with diabetes and anaemia, and...

Shares in point of care diagnostics company EKF Diagnostics (EKF:AIM) jumped 5% to 74p after management upgraded expectations for full-year 2021 earnings, which are set to be significantly ahead of prior guidance.The reason for the upgrade is because EKF has seen strong demand for its Covid-19 sample collection kits.This led to a significant expansion to its original UK contract into a...

In the second part of our two-part feature we get another fascinating range of responses on what did and didn't work out for top fund managers during a tumultuous 2020 and which stocks they are most excited about now.Interestingly computer games firm Codemasters (CDM:AIM) features as both a success story in the eyes of one manager and a disappointment in the eyes of another. Read on to...

Point of care diagnostics company EKF Diagnostics (EKF:AIM) said in a trading update Friday that it expected record trading in October based on orders received, underpining a 'significantly improved' core business.However, increased optimism wasn't sufficient to prompt management to upgrade full-year earnings to 31 December, which remain in line with prior expectations after several upgrades...

With the risk of a second coronavirus wave weighing on sentiment and the worst of the economic fallout from the pandemic to follow, risk-averse portfolio builders should swerve the trash and instead put cash to work in quality stocks, or in funds with a quality tilt to them.There are no guarantees, but we think shares or funds that are quality through and through will provide generous returns...

While many investment funds have recorded heavy losses this year, there have been a few outlier funds which have not only recorded a positive return when looking at the three months to 31 May, but in some cases have also outperformed their benchmarks by a decent amount.We spoke to various managers of funds in the UK smaller companies, Europe ex-UK, Asia ex-Japan, strategic bond and absolute...

The FTSE rallied 1.3% higher to 5,817.74 points on Friday after two days of losses as China reported its first rise in factory output so far in 2020, giving a boost to oil and mining shares.BP (BP.) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) traded almost 2% higher, while Anglo American (AAL) was 4% ahead and Rio Tinto (RIO) was up 3%.The midcap index was also strongly higher, up 1.4% to 15,625.9 points.In...

In-vitro diagnostics testing firm EKF Diagnostics (EKF:AIM) has soared over 30% to 26p as it revealed robust demand for its diabetes and haemoglobin tests amid the coronavirus outbreak.The company said its outlook and current business prospects remain robust due to demand for the tests, which it believes to be driven in part by the fact patients who need these tests are also in the higher risk...

Healthcare company EKF Diagnostics (EKF:AIM) could become a takeover target if it successfully expands into new geographic regions with approved products, according to stock broker Panmure Gordon.Analyst Julie Simmonds says the company has recovered from historic challenges and margins have improved sufficiently to make the business interesting.She believes the company could eventually be...

Things are looking up for medical diagnostics specialist EKF Diagnostics (EKF:AIM) as its latest trading update (6 Jul) triggered a round of earnings upgrades, putting the spotlight on strong sales and profit growth potential over the next few years.N+1 Singer analyst Chris Glasper upgraded earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) forecasts by 10% to £9.6m for...

Point-of-care business EKF Diagnostics (EKF) has beaten previously raised market forecasts for the year to 31 December 2016. In an upbeat trading update the company revealed revenue is expected to exceed £38m, up from 'at least £36.5m,' where consensus estimates sat before today.This is more welcome news for the medical diagnostics business and has sparked a 7.6% jump in the share price to...

The FTSE 100 enjoys a good start to the week, jumping 1.5% at the market open to 6,797 as Hillary Clinton makes a last-minute comeback in the race to become US President. HSBC (HSBA) also reports a strong set of financial results which gives support to the blue chip index.The market had been weak in recent sessions as it looked like Trump had a chance of winning the election amid negative news...

Medical testing kit manufacturer EKF Diagnostics (EKF:AIM) is up 14.8% to 16.8p as it ups its full year guidance in a bullish third quarter update.The Cardiff-based company ran into problems when it overpaid for diagnostic services specialist Selah Genomics in 2014. Pricing in the US for the acquired business' products were around half the $941 per unit expected. This led to a profit warning...

The FTSE 100 creeps higher this morning ahead of the key US non-farm payrolls release and after a suspected 'flash crash' saw the pound fall 6% overnight.Miners provide much of the support for the index as the market prices in a greater value in sterling for their dollar-denominated revenue. Budget airline EasyJet (EZJ) remains under pressure after yesterday's weak trading update.Packaging...