Wealth managers least likedBank of Georgia gets full houseReal estate popular among analystsHumans generally feel more comfortable in groups which partly explains why stock prices often move in broad trends: knowing other investors and analysts have come to the same conclusion about a company breeds confidence in the investment case, whether or not it turns out to be correct.A rarer breed of...

BT finance chief sells £200,000 worth of stockMcBride non-exec buys £32,000PayPoint CEO buys £231,000BT FINANCE CHIEF SELLSSimon Lowth, chief financial officer of BT (BT.A), offloaded £200,000 worth of shares in the UK telco on 13 December.Vodafone (VOD) and BT shares fell this week following news the telecoms regulator has proposed banning inflation-linked price rises in the middle of...

Questions have been raised over RIT Capital's (RCP) capital preservation credentials of late thanks to its exposure to private investments. The shares have notably underperformed those of rival trusts and the discount to NAV (net asset value) has widened significantly.In this article we look at whether the criticism and discount is warranted and consider the recent underperformance of the...

The sell-off in technology stocks since the September 2021 peak as the markets rotate out of growth and into value picks has given DIY investors plenty to chew over.Many UK tech companies have seen valuations hammered, with share prices falling by up to 40% with no meaningful change to earnings, said Canaccord Genuity analysts in a note to clients on Tuesday (1 February 2022).This, Canaccord...

After a strong morning session, lifted by hopes of further fiscal stimulus in the US, UK stocks gave up most of their day's gains on Thursday as momentum was undermined by weak economic data and a sharp fall in oil prices.At the close the FTSE 100 index was up just 13 points or 0.2% to 5,879, with Brent oil prices tumbling 5% to $40 per barrel which sent shares in big oil stocks BP (BP.) and...

Despite Wall Street heading higher on stimulus package hopes on Wednesday afternoon, helping European markets to regain their footing, the FTSE 100 finished 0.53% lower at 5,866.10.Weighing on sentiment was the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which revealed UK GDP dropped 19.8% in the second quarter of this year, better than the first estimate of 20.4%. Despite the...

London's FTSE 100 rose 0.6% to 6,179 on Thursday, an 11-week high, driven by early signs of a pick-up in business sentiment fuelled by hopes of a post lockdown economic rebound. The mid-cap index was 0.7% higher at 17,262.Shares were higher across Asia overnight with Japan's Nikkei 225 2.3% up and the China's SSE composite 0.3% ahead, while the tensions in Hong Kong pushed stocks there 0.7%...

A founder cashing in and two finance directors buying and selling shares are among the most significant director deals of the past week.The biggest deal comes from Paypoint (PAY) founder Tim Waktin-Rees and his spouse Eve Watkin-Ress, who sold just under 500,000 shares in a series of transactions, at an average price of 973p for a total amount of £4.9m.Paypoint shares have had a bit of a...

The FTSE 100 got off to a slow start this morning after US president Donald Trump signed into law a bill backing Hong Kong's protesters.Stock markets around the world fell sharply on the news, fearing that China will retaliate. Beijing has consistently warned the US and other countries against interfering in what it sees as its internal affairs.The UK's benchmark index no different to other...

The FTSE 100 opens marginally lower at 7,304 on Thursday after the Prime Minister was boxed in by Parliament overnight. MPs from both sides blocked both a no-deal Brexit and a call for a snap election. In addition a number of stocks are trading ex-dividend today, dragging on the index.After the close last night FTSE Russell announced its quarterly index review, making three changes to the FTSE...

If you are new to stock market investing you may still have heard of the FTSE 100. It frequently appears on TV news bulletins and in the papers, its relative direction up or down giving viewers/readers a steer as to how the UK economy is going and how optimistic, or not, investors feel about the nation's prospects.By contrast, the FTSE 350 the has a very low profile and seldom gets a mention...

Luxury sports cars maker Aston Martin Lagonda (AML) has issued a profit warning on Wednesday blaming pressure on its caused by ongoing economic uncertainty, much of which is being caused by Brexit unknowns.Shares in the company crashed 23% to 799.8p with full guidance for full year car volumes and earnings cut, and worryingly, hinting that things may yet get worse.'We anticipate that this...

Crowd funding business Funding Circle (FCH) spooked investors after halving revenue growth guidance on 2 July. Its shares tanked 20% to 132p as it warned that demand for small business loans had weakened. Because we still don't know whether the Government will strike a deal with the EU, it is likely that entrepreneurs are nervous about borrowing to grow start-ups.Stockbroker Numis thinks...

The number of deals involving stocks being bought by third party investors from the troubled Woodford Equity Income Fund (BLRZQ73) is picking up pace.Dealing in the fund is currently suspended while fund manager Neil Woodford restructures the portfolio, selling the most illiquid holdings and reducing exposure to many other stocks in an effort to raise cash to meet redemptions and be able to...

The latest quarterly shuffling of the deck in the FTSE 100 list of blue-chip companies and the FTSE 250 index of mid-cap stocks sees a significant amount of change.To qualify for inclusion in the FTSE 100 index a stock needs to meet certain liquidity requirements and have a sufficiently large market capitalisation to rank in the top 100 companies.Stocks which fail to meet these criteria are...

UK stocks fall in line with continental Europe and US index futures as worries over the strength of the US economy begin to weigh on sentiment. In early trade the FTSE 100 index gives up almost 2% to 6,792.10, a new two-year low, while the FTSE 250 gives up 1.5% to a low for the year of 17,995 points.Tomorrow sees the release of three closely-watched indicators of the health of the US economy...

Shares in payment technology firm PayPoint (PAY) have jumped 7% to 850p following the release of better-than-expected first half results.Despite a technical disruption in July which impacted a third of its UK retail network, total revenues were still up 8.7% to £106m in the six months to 30 September. Operating profits rose 4% to £25.5m.INSTALLATIONS ACCELERATEPart of the increase is due to...

The FTSE 100 opens up 43 points at 7,434.69 as a busy day of corporate news starts with ITV leading the way.Free-to-air broadcaster ITV (ITV) sees its shares rise 3.8% to 181.4p despite a 10.4% drop in pre-tax profits to £381m in the six months to 30 June. Total revenues of £1,697m are down from £1,712m a year ago but the company says its results are very much as it anticipated and its...

Investors in convenience store payment specialist PayPoint (PAY) should be aware of growing risks to the investment case, as reflected by a weak share price since April.Full year results on 25 May perhaps represent a turning point for the business. Net revenue was flat at £123.9m and adjusted operating profit nudged ahead by 4% to £52.3m.The mobile payments business has been sold and a new...

Failing to pick the right stocks is one of the biggest reasons why individual investors struggle to make money on the stock market. Don't despair; we are help to help.We believe an investment journey can be greatly enhanced by following a few simple steps in order to filter out the bad stocks and leave you with a universe of more interesting - and hopefully profitable - shares.In this article...