Woodford sells shrimp shares on the stock floor July 2, 2019 Neil Woodford has slashed his fund’s stake in Benchmark Holdings, a genetics firm that develops disease-resistant shrimp, offloading £23m of shares as his asset selling spree continues. The stockpicker’s company, Woodford Investment Management, cut its stake in Benchmark from 12.5 per cent to under 2 per cent in a transaction last Friday. Read more: Neil [...]
Bonmarche surrenders, while Creightons makes dramatic charge July 2, 2019 | City Talk By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. The UK consumer is the driving force behind very different outcomes for this pair of tiddlers. Over 50s fashion chain Bonmarche (LSE:BON) raised the white flag last week after seeing the British weather scupper its defence against a £5.7 million takeover by billionaire Philip Day. The retailer, which was valued at £100 million when [...]
Neil Woodford keeps flagship fund under lock and key July 1, 2019 Embattled stockpicker Neil Woodford remained defiant last night despite confirmation that his flagship Equity Income Fund will stay frozen for at least another 28 days. Read more: Woodford offloads stake in Raven’s property firm In a new video promoted on social media, Woodford defended his trademark strategy of focusing on “undervalued assets”, saying it “will [...]
Top performing investment companies focus funds on small and unquoted firms July 1, 2019 Almost half of the most consistently overperforming investment companies invest in small and unquoted firms, according to new research. The Association of Investment companies (AIC) analysed members’ performance over a decade, and found that nine of the top 20 firms invest in such companies. Six of the nine top performers invest in small companies, while [...]
Regulator makes CFD restrictions permanent July 1, 2019 The City watchdog has confirmed that it will make a crackdown on selling contracts for difference (CFDs) to retail clients permanent. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it will make the European Securities and Market Authority’s (ESMA) temporary restrictions on CFDs permanent following evidence that the high-risk products had been “aggressively marketed” to the public. [...]
Woodford offloads stake in Raven property investment firm July 1, 2019 Embattled stockpicker Neil Woodford has jettisoned his 12 per cent stake in Raven Property Group, bringing the total he has raised since the suspension of his flagship fund to £459m. Raven announced today that it has bought back 72.1m shares from Woodford at 36p per share. Read more: Neil Woodford cuts stake in AI firm [...]
Long story short: What investors can learn from Carl Icahn and Netflix July 1, 2019 Seven years ago, shareholders in Netflix – the S&P 500 listed provider of online movies and shows – suffered a crushing loss as it disastrously attempted to raise prices and restructure. Roughly one million customers cancelled their subscriptions. Netflix’s share price plummeted to less than $53 from $300 in a matter of weeks, a loss [...]
Carpetright shares: Undervalued or overexcited? July 1, 2019 | City Talk By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. Carpetright’s peak trading period straddles the next Brexit deadline, but speculators are not put off. Carpetright (LSE:CPR) and its threadbare share price drew interest from speculative investors last week amid signs that the drastic measures needed for its survival are starting to pay off. While early days in the turnaround, the floor covering [...]
H2O fund downgraded over risk control concerns June 27, 2019 H2O, the London-based asset management arm of French investment bank Natixis, has seen its global macro fund downgraded due to concerns over risk controls. Ratings agency Morningstar downgraded the Allegro fund from “bronze” to “neutral” following concerns about its exposure to illiquid, high-risk bonds linked to controversial German entrepreneur Lars Windhorst. Read more: Asset manager [...]
Podcast: Why invest in AIM shares? June 27, 2019 | City Talk AIM is 24 years-old! To celebrate, our head of equity strategy Lee Wild and head of markets Richard Hunter discuss why it can be a happy hunting ground for investors, and how to do it successfully. AIM was launched in 1995, has a combined market capitalisation of more than £70 billion, and is home to [...]