The first Budget from a Labour Government in 14 years continues to stir heated debate and sceptics readily point to the increase in the yield in the UK's 10-year gilt to a one-year high to support their case that chancellor Rachel Reeves is on the wrong track. It does not look great that yields are rising in the wake of August's interest rate cut from the Bank of England, but 10-year government bo

US-listed large-caps shone last year with shares in mega-caps, and the ?Magnificent Seven? in particular, surging higher. However, this outperformance only widened the valuation gap between US large and small-caps and left shares in the latter cohort languishing at the low end of historical valuations.Over one and five years, the Russell 2000 index of US small-cap stocks is up 14.6% and 30.5% at t

Year-to-date shares up 30% to £58Total revenue up 16% to £1.32 billionNew customers increased to 311,000Shares in 4imprint (FOUR) were little changed this morning as the promotional products maker reported a 36% rise in pre-tax profit to £140.7 million for the 52 weeks ending 30 December 2023.4imprint?s lacklustre share price movement was in sharp contrast to year-to-date gains of nearly 30%.Th

Guidance in line with expectationsShares down 80% over the past yearNet debt is expected to be towards the lower end of the guided rangeShares in Martin Sorrell?s S4 Capital (SFOR) were up over 6% to 42p in morning trading after the advertising group said that trading in the fourth quarter of 2023 ?was in line with expectations? outlined in the last trading update in November.The latest share pric

It is a year to the 60th US presidential Election, on 5 November 2024, and although financial markets are more concerned right now about events in the Middle East, the oil price and inflation right now, they will soon start to take a keener interest in the race to the White House.Incumbent Joseph R. Biden will start his campaign for the Democratic Party's nomination in January with the Iowa caucus

Stocks in London finished in the red on Tuesday, as interest rate rise fears continued to grow following unexpectedly strong US job openings data.The FTSE 100 index closed down 40.56 points, or 0.5% at 7,470.16 on Tuesday. The FTSE 250 ended 299.53 points, or 1.7%, at 17,677.76. The AIM All-Share closed down 14.20 points, or 2.0%, at 703.44.The Cboe UK 100 ended down 0.5% at 745.71, the Cboe UK 25

It is the biggest, most liquid stock market in the world, offers huge diversification, access to top innovation, and all under the watchful eye of strict governance rules to protect investors.That there should be a place in every UK investor's portfolio for US equities is to bang a well-worn drum and such is the market cap might of the US's largest companies, even world index ETFs will provide sig

Global equity funds have been popular over the past decade, with returns driven by companies with the potential to deliver high levels of earnings growth in the future and investors happy to pay a premium price to own these stocks.The market rotation away from high growth stocks this year has now left a lot of investors wondering what to do as many popular global equity funds have struggled of lat

Rotation has been a hallmark of 2021 with the early part of the year seeing growth shunned for value, before whipsawing back again as the year progressed. As the Omicron strain keeps Covid-19 very much in the headlines it looks like volatility will remain elevated in global stock markets as we approach 2022.Pullbacks and shakeouts can be useful for investors, creating buying opportunities and help

The plunge into bankruptcy of the Softbank-backed, self-styled 'construction industry disruptor' Katerra spares investors in US equities the decision over whether to buy into what would have doubtless been an eventual IPO (initial public offering).Katerra had been given 'Unicorn' status - a valuation in excess of $1 billion - before it ran out of cash, so investors may have ducked one there, altho

Tesla wiped the floor with analysts' consensus forecasts for its third-quarter results and Netflix missed, to get the reporting season off to a mixed start for momentum-fuelled technology stocks.Netflix's shares sagged and Tesla's advanced only modestly to again raise the issue of valuation and just whether there is so much good news baked into these stocks that they may find it hard to make furth

The 29.2% discount to net asset value at ICG Enterprise (ICGT) represents an excellent opportunity to gain targeted exposure to the private equity space.The trust has typically traded at a discount to reflect its exposure to unlisted assets which do not have a daily market value. However, given its long-term track record and a compelling strategy the current gap between the NAV and share price loo

Copper's surge from its spring lows to a three-year high at around $6,500 a tonne is an eye-catching development and one that will quicken the pulse of those investors who are exposed to miners, cyclical stocks or even equities more generally.The metal is malleable, ductile and a terrific conductor. As such, it has many industrial uses, ranging from construction to automotive production to wiring

UK markets start the week flat with energy stocks such as BP (BP.), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) and John Wood Group (WG.) supporting the FTSE 100 at 7,437 as Brent crude prices continue to move up while Travel stocks are the main losers.On a quiet day for company news, airline Ryanair (RYA) reports full year profits down 29% to €1.02bn as strong traffic growth is offset by lower fares.Growth in

You may find it odd to celebrate the start of the new tax year as 6 April often brings rising taxes and falling benefits. However, the one thing in investors' favour is that the ISA allowance clock is reset. It means you can invest up to £20,000 over the coming tax year and not pay any tax or capital gains on investments inside the wrapper.The start of the new tax is often one of the busiest time

Well-regarded stock-picker Stuart Widdowson says there is now 'obvious value' in UK markets, a domain being shunned by international investors, for the first time in four years. His comments accompany maiden half year results from his new vehicle, Odyssean Investment Trust (OIT), where his first seven portfolio picks are revealed.Odyssean Investment Trust listed on the Main Market in May having ra

Anyone seeking exposure to very small companies on the UK stock market via the funds route should look at LF Livingbridge UK Micro Cap Fund (GB00B55S9X98) which has a great record of outperformance.Managed by Ken Wotton, it has generated annualised trailing returns of 17.35% and 20.85% on a three year and five year basis respectively, according to Morningstar.The brains behind the fund is asset ma

Six of the world's seven biggest companies by market capitalisation hail from the technology sector, which also offers 10 of the most valuable 25 companies. The six are Apple, Alphabet (Google's parent), Amazon, Microsoft, Tencent and Alibaba.Investors with exposure to this sector, either directly via technology stocks or specialist funds or indirectly via markets which have a heavy weighting in t

A potential takeover bid for a fourth FTSE 100 stock this year is helping the index to try to cling on to the 7,000 mark, as Takeda's plan to consider an offer for drug manufacturer Shire (SHP) adds to the offers for GKN (GKN), Smurfit Kappa (SKG) and Sky (SKY).But that 7,000 mark is still awfully close to the 6,930.2 mark reached on 31 December 1999. At the time, the latter level represented a ne

The technology, media and telecoms (TMT) space encompasses a diverse grouping of companies - but at their heart the majority of these companies are focused on different forms of communication.To place it in a physical context the sector could include the company which provides your smartphone, the firm which designs the microchips which power that device, the broadband provider whose wi-fi you tap