We begin this article with the cautionary tale of former high-flying cloud telephony and conferencing firm LoopUp (LOOP:AIM).At the beginning of March, the firm dropped a bombshell on investors by announcing the board had unanimously decided that canceling its listing on AIM and raising money from a handful of private backers was ?in the best interests of the group and our shareholders?.The...

- Shareholder group calls for board changes- Letter expresses 'deep concerns' over management- Statements over Samsung settlement called 'misleading'A group of shareholders at Manchester-based materials technology company Nanoco (NANO) are making public a letter they sent to the board on 10 March expressing deep concerns over 'certain actions and activities'.The group of shareholders is led by...

- Analysts predict settlement could net Nanoco up to $500 million- EU outlaws use of cadmium in consumer products- Could be substantial scope for new commercial deal with SamsungManchester-based materials technology company Nanoco (NANO) has reached a settlement with electronics giant Samsung in a long-running legal battle that analysts have projected could net the UK company up to $500...

Boris Johnson's thumping general election victory saw a swathe of unloved stocks come charging back, with the Gervais Williams-run Miton UK MicroCap Trust (MINI) among them.Shares in the investment trust reversed more than a year of poor stock price performance to rally 4.7% to 50.9p with investors clearly far more confident that the Prime Minister can get his Brexit deal through Parliament...

Nanotechnology designer Nanoco (NANO:AIM) has put itself up for sale, a move that will ultimately end a sad decade on the stock market in which the University of Manchester spin-out consistently failed to make its cadmium-free quantum dot technology profitable.The company said today that it had entered 'preliminary discussions with certain parties about a potential sale of the company', and...

London's FTSE 100 was broadly flat early on Wednesday as raised tensions between the US and China over Hong Kong helped renew trade war fears and led to subdued investor sentiment. Sterling slipped back amid concern over the fate of a possible Brexit deal, providing a boost to the blue chip benchmark's overseas earners.Fallen online fast fashion retailer ASOS (ASC:AIM), which has issued two...

Stocks are bouncing back after yesterday's Apple-inspired bout of weakness, with London's FTSE 100 gaining 50.6 points to trade at 6,743.3 on Friday on hopes that next week's talks between the US and China can help temper the tensions on trade.However, online musical instruments retailer Gear4music (G4M:AIM) crashes 44% lower to 287.5p on a warning full year earnings before interest, taxation,...

The FTSE 100 is in a tentative mood, opening up slightly with around a three point gain to 7,614. The market may be waiting for an update on inflation due in shortly. Miners such as BHP Billiton (BLT) continue to struggle, the company is down 1.3% to £16.78.Pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) shifts on 1.3% to £15.80 as its two drug treatment for HIV has met an important goal in...

The FTSE 100 is up 0.86% to 7,583 points following strong market performances in Wall Street and Asia. There is some trepidation over President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal although so far these have not translated into market ructions.UK challenger ban Virgin Money (VM.) gains 9.8% to 343p as it confirms it has received an offer of acquisition by peer CYBG...

The FTSE 100 gets off to a solid start on Monday - a smidge higher at 7,368.98 - after hitting its highest levels since February at the end of last week.Support services firm Capita (CPI) gains 13% to 180.75p as the market demonstrates relief the company is addressing its financial problems with a £701m fully underwritten rights issue. Impairments saw 2017 pre-tax profit widen to £513.1m...

London's FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 skip higher on Tuesday, up 23.5 points to 7,218 and 68.5 points to 19,553 respectively, as investors put aside growing geo-political tensions over Syria to focus on a softening tone from China over its trade dispute with the US.Budgets gifts-to-greetings cards seller Card Factory (CARD) improves 5.8% to 201p on news of a decent start to the new financial year,...

Thirty out of the 38 sectors in the FTSE 350 have fallen in value since the start of 2018. The market as a whole, as defined by the FTSE All-Share, is down by 8.5%. The FTSE 100 index has fared even worse, down 9% year-to-date.Five of the FTSE 350 sectors in positive territory have mustered up gains of less than 2%. The other three sectors have been driven by individual stocks having a...

Shares in cadmium-free quantum dot technology developer Nanoco (NANO) are on the move as the company signs a commercial supply agreement with a large US electronics manufacturer.The news excited investors to chase the stock from 23.55p to heights of 44.35p, before easing back to the current 39.4p. But Shares believes that investors need to tread carefully. This may be the company's first...

Unloved parcel delivery service Royal Mail (RMG) rises 3.4% to 402.2p on better than expected half year results. CEO Moya Greene reports 'a good start to the year' and says her charge is performing well in a highly competitive UK parcels market.Royal Mail's overseas division GLS was the star performer, strong growth offsetting flat revenue from domestic parcels and letters business UKPIL in...

Many investment experts believe there is a strong correlation between a change in earnings forecasts and a company's share price.Analysts raising their expectations for future earnings often results in a higher share price (and vice versa) for the recipient company, hence why investors like to know which stocks are in this situation.Investment bank Canaccord Genuity has this week published a...

The FTSE 100 opened slightly higher this morning as traders awaited key addresses from US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen and European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi at the Jackson Hole meeting.Held in Wyoming this annual summit of central bankers is closely monitored by traders and investors for clues on the future direction of monetary policy.Shares in supermarkets Tesco (TSCO) and...

London's blue-chips trade 40.64 points lower at 7,502 on Wednesday, tracking falls in Asian markets and mixed sentiment on Wall Street with investors continuing to worry about Chinese growth.FTSE 250 engineer Spirax-Sarco (SPX) sparks up 135p (2.4%) to £57.10 on stellar first half results and a positive outlook statement. The valves, pumps and control systems supplier's adjusted profit before...

London's stock markets gets off to a firm start in early deals on Monday as it closes in on a return to 7,500 record territory achieved last week. The FTSE 100 index adds around 25 points, or 0.25%, to 7,496.Weekend press reports provide some of the news flow on Monday. Banking group Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is thought to be gearing up for a battle with shareholders relating back to its...

Fancy doubling your money in a year by investing in an exciting stock? Sounds great, doesn't it? It's harder than you think, but certainly not impossible.Over the past 12 months, robotic process automation specialist Blue Prism (PRSM:AIM) is up by 439%; online musical equipment retailer Gear4Music (GFM:AIM) has increased by 341%; and computer games service group Keywords Studios (KWS:AIM) is...

Tuesday 4 AprilCadmium-free quantum dots technology developer Nanoco (NANO:AIM) is apparently 'on the cusp of commercialisation', according to one analyst.It's seemingly been that way for a few years yet a financial breakthrough remains elusive.Half-year results on 4 April will continue to talk up strategic progress, even if that's not really what shareholders are now after.