The FTSE 100 opened in the red on Wednesday, outperformed by European peers, with the CAC 40 in Paris shaking off political uncertainty.The FTSE 100 index fell 18.05 points, 0.2%, at 8,341.36. The FTSE 250 added 31.42 points, 0.2%, at 20,924.16, and the AIM All-Share rose 0.75 of a point, 0.1%, at 735.84.The Cboe UK 100 lost 0.3% at 838.05, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.2% at 18,423.95, and the Cboe Sm

That chip designer Nvidia (NVDA:NASDAQ) is now vying for the position of the world's largest company is arguably less startling than the 'blink and you've missed it' manner in which it has happened. It took Apple (AAPL:NASDAQ) five years to bridge the $1 trillion to $3 trillion market cap gap, Microsoft (MSFT:NASDAQ) about the same. Nvidia did it in barely a year.At the beginning of 2023 Nvidia wa

Given recent share price-denting profit warnings, the pressure is on motoring-to-cycling products retailer Halfords (HFD) to halt the cycle of downgrades with upcoming results for the year ended 29 March 2024 on 27 June.Shares doesn't hold out much hope for upgrades any time soon as the backdrop is tough, with the bicycles market highly promotional and the retail motoring market choppy, notably fo

The events of the past three years have completely altered the investment backcloth against which fund managers are trying to earn above-average returns.Fund managers can have an investment framework to operate within, but what do they do when a 'black swan' lands? How do they adapt their strategies and reshuffle portfolios when a once-in-a-century event happens - like a global pandemic or an outb

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 at al

What's the secret of a fund's success? Using data from the industry body AIC (Association of Investment Companies) we have identified and canvassed the views of the people running the investment trusts which have performed best for investors in 2015.We quiz them on what's gone right and how they are positioning themselves for 2016. We also include VCTs (venture capital trusts) which fall under the

Last week saw poor results from energy provider and British Gas owner Centrica (CNA). The utilities sector of the stock market is something of a broad church, but a popular one with both institutional and private investors due to its perceived stability and usually reasonable dividend income prospects. We take a closer look from a technical perspective.Centrica (CNA)Sell 275pTarget 200pStop Loss 3

Amazon.com (AMZN:NDQ)Buy $330Target $450Stop Loss $275The chart of the ubiquitous online retailer was last covered in Shares on 25 September, when it was mentioned as a buying opportunity at $320. The shares at $354 are now up 10% from our previous entry level. Amazon received a sharp boost (30 Jan) in response to its latest quarterly results. Sales were lower than expected but profits came in a b

BUY 310p Target 375p Stop Loss 275pIf you look at a very long-term chart, back to the early 1990s, of FTSE All-Share Aerospace and Defence sector constituent Cobham (COB), you can see that the major trend has been up for some time. During June 2014, the share price hit fresh all-time highs once again and it's the move over the past 18 months or so that leads to this event which provides th

The market is often drawn towards previously influential levels and there is a helpful method which can help you decide where these indicators sit on the chart.The ZigZag indicator coarsens up price moves, based on the minimum counter trend move needed to reverse it. You can plot a series of horizontal lines across the chart originating from the price peaks and troughs to highlight clustering pric

Speculation surrounding business telecoms supplier Daisy (DAY) seems to be coming to a head as rumours spread of takeover talks between the company's entrepreneurial boss Matthew Riley and Virgin Media, now owned by John Malone's Liberty Global. According to reports, negotiations may have broken down over price, with Virgin seemingly reluctant to meet the mooted 220p per share demanded by Riley, a

Correctly isolating the prevailing trend is the critical factor in making a success of technical trading. Screening price action can help reveal the market's real intent. A percentage filter, whereby a minimum price movement is required before the chart updates, can be used to create a 'ZigZag' line. This approach removes the noise that is inherent in day-to-day as well as intraday price action.Th