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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Love it or hate it, private equity has an important place in modern economies.While equity markets play a role in allocating capital effectively, private equity companies are at the cutting edge.Whether buying up struggling businesses to turn them around or helping a growing business take its next step, it is an industry which can make a big difference.There are occasions when the industry...

Dell-EMC's nostalgic tie-upInvestors partial to 1990s nostalgia should note Dell's $67 billion (£43.5 billion) acquisition of computer storage outfit EMC (EMC:NDQ). The deal (12 Oct) is the biggest since AOL's (AOL:NYSE) year 2000 $164 billion purchase of Time Warner (TWX:NYSE) at the height of the tech, media and telco (TMT) boom. In a further nod to the 90s, part of the business will remain...

Stick the word fintech into Google and you'll get the predictable deluge of entries you might expect from one of the biggest buzzwords doing the rounds. There is more to the financial technology theme once you take a closer look.According to technology website TechCrunch, global investment in fintech has tripled in the past five years, underpinning the seismic shift taking place across the...

Investment funds allow you to pool your money with that of lots of other investors and the capital is then invested in a portfolio of assets by a professional fund manager. For many people this is the easiest and most cost-effective way to achieve a diversified exposure to the markets.The three main types of actively managed funds are unit trusts, open-ended investment companies (OEICs), and...

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,...

Latham (James) (LTHM:AIM) 577.5pSheet and hardwood supplier Latham has been consistently profitable for the past 10 years, more than doubling operating profit in the same period. The Hemel Hempstead-based company is expected to grow earnings per share 19% to 39.5p this year.Leaf Clean Energy (LEAF:AIM) 34pRenewable energy investor Leaf Clean is a closed-end fund in run-off. At a meeting in...

With a market cap of almost £1.9 trillion, the FTSE 100 is home to the very biggest and most powerful firms quoted on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange. With market capitalisations ranging from £144 billion at Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) to £3.1 billion at AMEC (AMEC), the benchmark covers the cream of the current corporate crop and the largest generators of sales and profits...

Motivations for director share disposals tend to be much more complex than for purchases and investors should treat the signal strength of sales with a greater degree of caution. This is especially so when dispositions coincide with a director's departure but in the case of Informa's (INF) chief executive officer (CEO) Peter Rigby we believe attention should be paid.With a 30-year track record...

To gain a place in it represents the pinnacle of achievement for a UK quoted company. Every firm aspires to be part of it, in the knowledge the 'blue-chip' status afforded by inclusion is trusted all around the world. Investors know that a FTSE 100 firm is expected to meet the highest standards of governance and has to be on top of its game to get and then stay there.But the trick to making...