With US stocks trading close to all-time highs, valuations looking stretched and one of the narrowest markets on record, this could be an opportune moment to consider adding some defensive qualities to your portfolio through capital preservation funds and trusts.These products aim to protect your capital during periods of heightened volatility and equity market drawdowns as well as growing capital

Gold has had a great year. Spot prices hit another all-time high (30 October) of $2,781 per ounce, based on Bloomberg data, chalking up 35% gains so far in 2024, having broken through the $2,600 level in September for the very first time.That trumps global equities, based on the FTSE World Index's 18% returns, and even high-flying tech firms have struggled to keep pace, based on the 27% year-to-da

Over the long haul, small-caps have historically outperformed large caps, fuelling the research highlighting the so-called 'small-cap effect' ? the idea that smaller companies offer higher risk-adjusted returns than larger ones. Unfortunately, the higher interest rate environment of recent years has proved tough for the stock market's small fry, who've spent more than a decade lagging more sizeabl

Victorian Plumbing CEO sells £2.7 million sharesBig Technologies CEO ups stake againYouGov CFO sells £513,446 sharesMark Radcliffe, CEO at online specialist bathroom retailer Victorian Plumbing (VIC:AIM) has sold 2,700,000 shares at 100p for a total value of £2.7 million on 27 August 'to help satisfy institutional demand' for ordinary shares.Over the past year, Victorian Plumbing shares have ga

Wetherspoon chair sells 1% of companyCreightons and hVIVO executives sell upAssetco director adds to holdingTim Martin, chairman of pub group JD Wetherspoon (JDW), sold 1,361,000 shares at 739p each for a total value of more than £10 million on 29 July.As a result of the deal, Martin's voting rights now comprise of 30,382,253 shares, equivalent to 24.6% of the issued share capital of the company

Experian COO sells over £7 million worth of sharesYouGov directors? cash in on robust performanceChemring CEO sells just over 192,000 sharesAfter a 33% rally since the end of October 2023, is Experian?s (EXPN) chief operating officer (COO) Craig Boundy simply skimming some profit from his stake, or is this something more meaningful?The executive of the global data company sold 226,166 shares this

Stocks in London soared on Wednesday, outperforming European peers, after a sharp drop in the annual rate of UK inflation fuelled hopes for interest rate cuts next year.The FTSE 100 index closed up 77.65 points, 1.0%, at 7,715.68. The FTSE 250 ended up 313.11 points, 1.6%, at 19,629,09, and the AIM All-Share closed up 6.05 points, or 0.8%, at 751.44.The Cboe UK 100 ended up 1.1% at 771.19, the Cbo

Early market focus in London on Thursday was on company updates, with the last big risk events of the year looming next week in the form of three key central bank decisions.Retailers were particularly prominent, as Frasers reported half-year results and In The Style put itself up for sale and recalled its founder to the CEO hot seat.The FTSE 100 index opened down 2.68 points at 7,486.51. The FTSE

Stocks in London closed broadly higher on Thursday, as investors take a 'wait and see' approach as a slew of central bank decisions loom next week.The US Federal Reserve will unveil its latest interest rate decision on Wednesday next week, before the Bank of England reveals its own interest rate decision the next day.'The US central bank has already pushed through four rate hikes in 2022 and in do

Why would you invest in a product which has the limited ambition of not losing you any money?For the uninitiated that question might be prompted by the existence of capital preservation investment trusts and funds whose principal aim is, as their name suggests, to preserve your cash.However, Warren Buffett once observed that the first rule of investing is not to lose money and the second rule is n

It's been relatively quiet in terms of director deals over the past week, but two deals that caught the eye involve major stakes traded by bosses at two technology companies.The biggest transaction over the last week involves Jonathan Satchell, chief executive of Learning Technologies (LTG:AIM), and his wife who, via The Satchell Trust, yesterday sold 2.1 million shares at a price of 170p each in

High-end designer furniture site Made.com plans to float on London's Main Market with a £100 million funding that would reportedly value the online retailer at around £1 billion.The company plans to capitalise on the online shift accelerated by the Covid crisis and gobble up share in a fragmented market, although risk-averse investors should note this is a competitive industry where players incl

As another year begins, a number of directors have wasted no time in buying or selling their company's shares.The biggest deal so far in 2021 comes from Harry Hyman, the chief executive of FTSE 250 healthcare facilities investor Primary Health Properties (PHP).Hyman has bought £16.5 million worth of shares in the real estate investment trust (REIT), snapping up almost 11.5 million of them at a pr

Despite fears Trump's planned tariffs on aluminium and steel might prompt a trade war the FTSE 100 is 0.3% higher in early trading at 7,092.36. Though this represents a modest recovery from Friday's sell-off when the index hit its lowest level in more than a year.Defence firm Ultra Electronics (ULE) falls 17.3% to £12.23 as it terminates its $234m acquisition of Sparton after anti-trust review fr

Online bingo and casino operator Jackpotjoy (JPJ) has announced a parting of the ways with chief executive Andy McIver a mere nine months after listing its shares in London.Jackpotjoy says 'further operational expertise is needed to maximise future growth prospects through its core business segments'. Seasoned gaming executive Simon Wykes has been drafted in as group managing director.Wykes looks

Bluejay Mining (JAY:AIM) 18.5pGain to date: 34.5%Original entry price: Buy at 13.75p, 13 April 2017Shares in the mineral sands explorer have been on a strong run since late July. We attribute this success to positive feedback from an analyst site visit to its Pituffik project in Greenland and better than expected drill results.Chief executive Roderick McIllree says the first drill hole immediately

Buy into the positive share price momentum at Bluejay Mining (JAY:AIM) as we believe it could be on the cusp of something very big in Greenland. It is confident of becoming one of the world's lowest cost mineral sands producers.Minerals sands contain minerals including ilmenite, rutile and zircon. These are generally used in paints, plastics and other applications that require bright colours.Bluej

A bidding war has emerged for Punch Taverns (PUB) after revealing approaches from both Heineken and entrepreneur Alan McIntosh.Heineken has teamed up with Patron Capital to table a 174p per share proposal. McIntosh has proposed to pay 185p through his Emerald Investment vehicle.Punch has confirmed the approaches and is in talks with both parties.The pubs company announced on 8 November a move into

The sell-off in South African investment group Old Mutual (OML) continues on Friday with the shares slumping 8.9% to 158.7p following Thursday?s 10.8% decline.Investors are worried by South Africa?s President Jacob Zuma firing business-friendly finance minister Nhlanhla Nene. The country?s version of George Osborne was kicked out after trying to persuade the president to cut public spending, accor

Beleaguered Tesco?s (TSCO) third profit warning in as many months has rocked confidence in its turnaround and corporate governance alike. Given heightened risks, we retain our bearish stance (see Agenda, 4 Sep).In a shock update (22 Sep), Britain?s biggest retailer warned interim profits may have been overstated by £250 million at the time of its previous profit warning (29 Aug). New CEO Dave Le