The takeover bandwagon is picking up speed as the year progresses with deals seemingly now being announced each week. On 9 June US chipmaker Qualcomm (QCOM:NASDAQ) agreed to take over Alphawave IP Group (AWE), which designs high-speed data transmission technology and licences it to semiconductor designers and manufacturers, much like Cambridge-based ARM (ARM:NASDAQ), once the UK's biggest...

Jefferies cuts stocks to 'hold' or 'sell'Analysts see 'recession' in officesMorgan Stanley takes a more positive viewShares in four of the UK's biggest property companies fell after analysts at investment bank Jefferies cut their recommendations on the basis office rents in the capital are headed for recession.British Land (BLND) shares eased 1.9% to 320p, Derwent London (DLN) shares were 1.6%...

Student accommodation is a segment of the property market with supportive dynamics coming out of the pandemic and we think Empiric Student Property (ESP) is an attractively valued way of gaining access to this space.Empiric trades at a substantial discount to its larger peer Unite (UTG), reflecting a somewhat more uneven track record and its smaller scale, but we think the managers of the real...

With cash savings rates approaching 5% if you're prepared to lock your money away for a few years, investors are starting to ask if this is a better place for their savings than taking the risk of investing in the stock market.Over the past decade or so, income funds have been popular investments as they've offered more generous yields than you'd get on cash. Now the Bank of England's base...

Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, dividend investors have had a rough old time of it. Quoted company after quoted company has cut or cancelled the shareholder reward.Against this backdrop the investment trust sector has acted as a partial safe haven. Income seekers have long been attracted to investment trusts. Their ability to keep some dividend income aside during good times has...

The investment trust sector has seen huge price moves over the last couple of weeks, exacerbated by increased volatility in stock markets. The sector trades at an average 15% discount to net asset values (NAV), a level only seen at the depths of the financial crisis in 2008.ONE-DAY MOVEMENTSAs stock markets have recovered this week, we have seen some wild moves in the prices of some trusts and...

They say an Englishman's home is his castle and plenty of investors like the idea of retreating to the safety of bricks and mortar and pulling up the drawbridge during spells of market volatility.In this article we examine why it's not necessarily that simple, plus we look at some smarter ways to invest in the property market.We highlight two property stocks which operate in attractive niches...

Investors hunting for reliable income streams are helping drive the value of investment trusts up to new heights, some up almost ten-fold over past five years.Research by the Association of Investment Companies has reveals how the net asset value of dividend-paying investment trusts has soared, pushing many to hefty premiums.Some 77 investment companies were launched in the five years to June,...

Take a stake in student housing developer Watkin Jones (WJG:AIM) ahead of its maiden half year results on 9 June. The company is a really interesting take on the property market where developments tend to be pre-sold and forward funded by the buyer. That makes the £285 million cap an asset light, low working capital business.Its business model has the potential to support attractive dividends...

Conservative estimates create scope for earnings upgrades at sports marketing outfit and baseball agent TLA Worldwide (TLA:AIM).The shares have drifted to 47p since the publication of half-year results (15 Sep) and this has created an opportunity for investors with the stock trading on a 2016 price to earnings ratio based on house broker Numis' forecasts - which it admits are potentially...