Stocks in London opened lower on Thursday morning following the US Federal Reserve's rate cut yesterday, as investors prepare for the Bank of England's decision this afternoon.The Fed announced another 25 basis point cut as expected, but hinted that that it will be slowing down next year in contrast with its 'jumbo' 50bp cut in September.'The market reaction was very aggressive, of course,' said S

UK takeovers moved up a gear in 2024 as predators targeted bigger companies. The average value of deals was £1.07 billion, nearly three times higher than the £390 million average in 2023. In total, there were £49 billion worth of recommended bids versus £17.2 billion last year.A bounty of unloved or underappreciated companies were swept off their feet, signalling the UK market as being 'on sal

Investment trusts have experienced challenges this year, with discounts remaining wide across various sectors and some consolidation occurring. However, certain trusts have performed well compared to both the wider market and their peer group. This article highlights the top performers across four of the Association of Investment Companies' most widely followed equity-facing sectors.GLOBALAn inves

What a mixed year this has turned out to be for Shares' best ideas for 2024.That our one star turn stock was an annuities and lifetime mortgage specialist, even if it was 'screamingly cheap at its current price', as we originally noted, and the supposedly exciting tech growth picks have been dull-to-dismal, might make you hark back to school days studies of Christopher Hill's The World Turned Upsi

Premium mixer drinks company Fevertree Drinks (FEVR:AIM) has had a torrid time of late with the shares down 38% from the highs in the spring of 2024 and down two-thirds from the all-time high in December 2021.On a longer-term basis, the shares are still up 440% since listing on the AIM market in 2014, equivalent to a compound annual growth rate of 15% a year.Recent poor performance is down to a dr

Strange as it may sound, the pandemic turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the auction industry as it forced firms to join the 21st century and offer an online service.Whereas previously many small auction houses were limited to the number of buyers they could accommodate due to lack of physical space, today they can not only tap into their local market but a whole army of online punters at

Pubs group JD Wetherspoon's (JDW) value credentials continue to shine through. According to fund manager Anna Farmbrough at Ninety One the company has doubled its average price advantage over competitors to 40% since the pandemic.Farmbrough notes that a few years ago there were three pubs in her local area while today there is just a single Wetherspoons, demonstrating its ability to benefit as con

Airline and package holidays provider Jet2 (JET2:AIM) is an example of why treating your customers well is not just a good ethical position to adopt but also makes excellent business sense.The company recently won European Airline of the Year and scores highly on review platforms TripAdvisor and Trustpilot and its excellence in this area, including during Covid when it stood out compared with seve

I am 67 and currently have a SIPP worth approximately £500,000. Because the favourable IHT regime is now ending I am now considering whether to reduce the amount in my SIPP and look at alternatives.My understanding is that I can take 25% tax free from my SIPP at any point and then the remaining pot is taxed on withdrawal at marginal rates. We do not need the cash immediately as we have other reso

Few doubt that 2025 will be another huge year for AI, but when looking for interesting investment opportunities, investors can sometimes allow details to obscure the bigger picture. In our view, Alphabet (GOOG:NASDAQ) remains an outstanding growth business with strong AI levers to pull, currently trading a large discount to other 'Magnificent Seven' stocks.This valuation gap will, we believe, narr

Specialist business services firm FRP Advisory (FRP:AIM) is one of those businesses which many investors may have heard of but few are sure exactly what it does.Put simply, FRP helps companies through each stage of their development, giving advice on raising capital, managing debt, acquisitions, corporate finance and forensic accounting. It is probably best-known for 'crisis management' where it h

Ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East and calls from incoming US president Donald Trump for NATO members to increase defence spending as a percentage of national income will continue to provide a tailwind for the defence sector.AIM-quoted Cohort (CHRT:AIM) is well positioned to benefit from an increase in defence spending and at the first-half results on 11 December, the group disclosed

In terms of an early Christmas present, the UK market received its very own 'secret Santa' gift last month with the first net inflow into funds invested in UK stocks since April 2021.According to data from consultants Calastone, fund flows turned positive in November after record outflows in October and a negative run lasting 41 consecutive months.Admittedly, the £317 million of net buying was a

The Nasdaq Composite index closed at a record high in mid-December as tech continued to drive returns ahead of the last Federal Reserve policy meeting of the year.Having recently smashed through the 20,000 mark, the index closed at 20,173.89 on 16 December, boosted by sharp jumps for Tesla (TSLA:NASDAQ) and chipmaker Broadcom (AVGO:NASDAQ).The Nasdaq 100 also closed at an all-time high 22,096.66.B

The last 10 years have been pretty rough for UK stocks but there could be some signs of life emerging as we head towards 2025.Brexit, Covid and other political and economic shocks as well as a tilt towards 'old economy' stocks and a minimal footprint in technology have combined to undermine the relevance and appeal of the UK market.The resulting underperformance has led to people consistently poin

In the first part of a three-part series featuring opinions and ideas from some of the UK's leading fund managers, we asked which stocks have surprised them the most over the course of the 2024 and why.While it was hard to avoid the influence of AI (artificial intelligence) on portfolios, the breadth of responses was surprising and goes to show how skilled stock-pickers can turn up gems in parts o

We live in a world of seemingly endless data. Parsing and analysing this information is crucial across a range of industries and that is something GlobalData (DATA:AIM) really excels at.We think the company will make a compelling investment for the year ahead due to a renewed focus on growth. The company is committed to developing its artificial intelligence offering and has a strong balance sheet

Anyone who has walked past a building site in the UK recently might well have seen Kier (KIE) branding on it. This infrastructure and construction services outfit is actively at work on more than 400 developments across the UK. Having emerged from a difficult period with much stronger foundations, this improvement is not yet reflected in its current valuation, but we think that will change through

Alcoholic drinks outfit Diageo (DGE) has endured a rough period of late, partly thanks to problems of its own making. We think that has put the valuation in a place where, if there are signs the business is getting its act together, the shares can deliver significant upside for investors in 2025.Unless there is evidence of improved performance soon then activist investors could be tempted to join

After what has been a poor year for UK listings, the London Stock Exchange could afford to celebrate this week with the float of French media group Canal+ (CAN) which debuted with a market value of around £2.5 billion.Although the shares were listed in London, and at that value would normally be eligible for inclusion in the FTSE 250 mid-cap index, they are excluded as the company is still French