Energy services firm Wood Group (WG.) is under pressure to deliver after ultimately unrealised takeover interest from private equity firm Apollo Global Management earlier this year.In May Apollo said it would not proceed with a takeover, despite Wood finally opening its books to the firm at the fifth time of asking in response to a bid of 240p per share. With no reasoning given for Apollo's stance

It is one thing for analysts to forecast which stocks and sectors will do well in a rising-rate or inflationary environment, but when it actually comes to pass it's always fascinating to see what works in practice.Judging by the list of stocks making 12-month highs over the past week, those who favoured real assets were on the money.Standing tall are 3i Infrastructure (3IN), AEW UK REIT (AEWU), GC

A combination of low interest rates, increased life expectancy and the demise of final salary pension schemes means most of us will need to invest our money when we stop working. Very few people will have saved up enough cash to fund a comfortable retirement and will need equity-type investments to ensure the pot doesn't run out.We've spoken to the experts to find out what types of assets you shou

Historically low inflation rates across many of the world's largest economies could be set for a bounce in the next 12 months.Measured by the consumer price index, the government's preferred measure of inflation, prices gained just 0.5% in March and did fall back to 0.3% in April, according to the Bank of England's May inflation report.Prices are expected to firm in the latter half of the year as

Fridges-to-washing machines seller AO World (AO.) looks overvalued at 166.5p, even after a big share price sell-off at the start of 2015. The £715 million cap faces intense competition over the festive period and is presently loss making.Operating in a low margin industry, AO World's brand awareness remains weak and while interims (24 Nov) demonstrated double-digit UK sales growth and revenue acc

The trend is well and truly the investor's friend in the stock market's bull run.Research by analysts at Liberum (see tables later) shows stocks gaining on results day enjoy market-beating performance for the next six months. Results day winners go on to outperform results day losers by 7.8%, according to Liberum's study of performance over the last four years.Building on Liberum's research, Share

A bond is an interest-bearing IOU. An investor lends cash to a government or company, which agrees to give it back on a certain date. Until the debt is repaid the investor receives a percentage of the investment each year as interest, known as the coupon.A fixed-income investment can be an important part of building a balanced portfolio to hedge against volatile equities. Bonds are not a get-rich-

A bond is an interest-bearing IOU. An investor lends cash to a government or company, which agrees to give it back on a certain date. Until the debt is repaid the investor receives a percentage of the investment each year as interest, known as the coupon.A fixed-income investment can be an important part of building a balanced portfolio to hedge against volatile equities. Bonds are not a get-rich-

Retail bonds could be the place to be for income-hungry investors in 2014, even if the coming year may prove difficult for the fixed-income asset class overall.Potential interest rate rises, increased yields on government paper and hints the US Federal Reserve will continue to reduce the $75 billion it pumps into the economy each month are all issues that could impact the bond markets. Despite the