CT Private Equity Trust (CTPE) 482pMarket cap: £348.2 millionDiscount to NAV: 28.6%Companies are staying private for longer, yet retail investors struggle to access the rapid earnings growth on offer in the unlisted space, which is where private equity trusts play a vital role.Private equity has a role as part of a well-diversified portfolio, since it has outperformed other major asset classes ov

Stock prices in London, Paris and Frankfurt were higher at midday Tuesday, with London's FTSE 100 up slightly despite oil major BP losing ground as it eyes lower production figures.Meanwhile in the UK, Chancellor Rachel Reeves will move to reassure turbulent markets amid high government borrowing costs as she faces a grilling from MPs later today.The UK chancellor will answer questions in the Hous

Strong festive salesOnline and international drive growthTougher FY26 expectedFirst out of the blocks with its Christmas trading statement, fashion and homewares colossus Next (NXT) raised full-year profit guidance yet again following better-than-expected festive trading with online sales growth accelerating in the fourth quarter.Shares in the FTSE 100 retailer ticked up 3% to £98.40 on the news,

Apple and AMEX lift BerkshireFisher's tech holdings pay offAs we enter the final trading days of 2024 and tot up how our personal investments have done over the course of the year, analysts at CMC Markets (CMCX) have been looking at how the 'gurus' such as Warren Buffett have fared ahead of the release of their year-end 13-F filings.For the record, every US-domiciled fund with more than $100 milli

Pubs group JD Wetherspoon's (JDW) value credentials continue to shine through. According to fund manager Anna Farmbrough at Ninety One the company has doubled its average price advantage over competitors to 40% since the pandemic.Farmbrough notes that a few years ago there were three pubs in her local area while today there is just a single Wetherspoons, demonstrating its ability to benefit as con

The Nasdaq Composite index closed at a record high in mid-December as tech continued to drive returns ahead of the last Federal Reserve policy meeting of the year.Having recently smashed through the 20,000 mark, the index closed at 20,173.89 on 16 December, boosted by sharp jumps for Tesla (TSLA:NASDAQ) and chipmaker Broadcom (AVGO:NASDAQ).The Nasdaq 100 also closed at an all-time high 22,096.66.B

Sales weakness persistsDeflation to impact profitsFurther £200 million buyback announcedRenowned for its resilience, outsourcing business Bunzl (BNZL) said it expects to deliver a 'strong' year-on-year adjusted operating profit increase for the year ending 31 December 2024 in the face of an uncertain economic backdrop.So why were shares in the distribution and services business the FTSE 100's big

European stocks were down at midday in London, as new economic data from China showed continued sluggish domestic consumption.China's retail sales growth weakened last month, official data showed on Monday, missing forecasts as demand remains muted in the world's number two economy. Retail sales expanded 3% year-on-year in November, the National Bureau of Statistics said, slowing from a 4.8% rise

Predicting what will happen to the global economy and markets over the next 12 months is hard enough at the best of times, but with Trump's election victory on 5 November that job has become even more difficult.As Deutsche Bank's head of global economics and thematics Jim Reid put it, the outlook is no longer 'business as usual' which opens up a much wider range of potential outcomes for the globa

Whether you love or hate cryptocurrencies, you cannot deny the spectacular performance. Since Donald Trump's White House race victory (5 November) Bitcoin has surged 35% to an all-time $94,795 high. Since the start of 2024 it has more than doubled. Ethereum and Elon Musk pet crypto Dogecoin, are up 33% and 300% respectively this year.If you own crypto assets, or are considering doing so, it's valu

Three tried and tested market principles were reinforced by the latest update from beleaguered energy services firm Wood Group (WG.).I have followed this business for nearly two decades and it's hard to remember a time when it was in a worse state than it is today.That's backed up by the share price which traded at all-time lows below 50p in response to the company's devastating missive on 7 Novem

Stock prices in London were mixed at midday Wednesday, amid cautious optimism from the UK housebuilding sector, as eyes are set on upcoming US consumer price inflation data.'US inflation figures will be closely watched this afternoon, with expectations for the cost of living to have edged higher,' commented AJ Bell's Russ Mould. 'The consensus is for the annual rate of inflation to move from 2.4%

It is generally thought that owning shares in conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B:NYSE) is equivalent to holding a microcosm of the US economy, given the broad reach of its investments, from insurance to utilities and railroads.That notion is becoming more nuanced following the revelation by chair Warren Buffett on 2 November that the Omaha Nebraska-based company sold $36 billion of its share p

The FTSE 100 made a tepid start to the week on Monday, ending just about in the green and falling below earlier highs, as caution prevailed ahead of the US presidential election.The FTSE 100 index closed up 7.09 points, or 0.1%, at 8,184.24. The FTSE 250 ended down 18.45 points, or 0.1%, at 20,461.29, and the AIM All-Share closed down 3.63 points, 0.5%, at 735.37.The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.1% at 8

Cash pile hits $325 billionApple stake reduced to $70 billionShare buybacks haltedInvestment conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-N:NYSE) revealed it has added to its mountain of cash and further sold down its Apple (APPL:NASDAQ) stake in the third quarter.Traditionally the Omaha, Nebraska-based company, headed by legendary investor Warren Buffett, releases results on a Saturday to give investors

The recent legal wrangling between UK chip architecture designer Arm Holdings (ARM:NASDAQ) and one of its major clients Qualcomm (QCOM:NASDAQ) is likely to be one of the big talking points when the firm reports second-quarter earnings for fiscal 2025 next week (6 November).The dispute is over a license agreement which Qualcomm obtained through its acquisition of Nuvia back in 2021.Arm has been una

Revenue and profit ahead of guidancePositive contribution from CPS acquisitionImproving momentum going into 2025Shares in online research data and analytics group YouGov (YOU:AIM) jumped more than 10% to 441p after revealing better-than-expected full-year revenue and profit and predicting a pick-up in sales bookings.The stock is down 64% so far in 2024 following a profit warning in June when the c

4imprint (FOUR) £50.80Market cap: £1.43 billionWe think the sell-off in shares of 4imprint (FOUR) since the direct marketer of promotional products released its first-half trading update in August presents a good opportunity to buy into a high-growth, cash-generative business at an attractive price.The firm is one of the leading players in the $25 billion-a-year North American promotional market

Another winning week for US stocks shouldn't disguise the stickier than hoped for inflation that investors are seeing. US stocks retreated from record highs as headline inflation slowed on an annualised basis in September, but was still faster than expectations, providing the Federal Reserve with less impetus to cut interest rates at a fast pace. The consumer price index was 0.2% in September, unc

H&T (HAT:AIM) 376.7pMarket cap: £165.7 millionA 15% year-to-date drawdown at H&T (HAT:AIM) presents a buying opportunity at the UK's biggest pawnbroker, a beneficiary of the cost-of-living crisis and the elevated gold price whose long-run prospects appear underrated on a single-digit PE (price to earnings) ratio.Caused by inflation and rising interest rates, the cost-of-living crisis has turbo-ch