FOMO Driving Lyft Valuation March 8, 2019 | City Talk Fear of missing out – FOMO – in financial markets is a powerful emotion. It can propel a bull market to record highs as investors watch stocks rise and want a piece of the action. It’s panic buying to a degree. And it’s just such a phenomenon that is behind investor appetite for stocks like [...]
What’s Mike Ashley’s game with Debenhams? March 8, 2019 | City Talk Mike Ashley is consistent in the way he always manages to surprise us. On Thursday night in a post-market RNS the Sports Direct boss announced he was planning a boardroom cull at Debenhams, installing himself as chief executive officer. Only the recently appointed Rachel Osborne would survive the cull. On Tuesday, after Debs warned on [...]
How climate change claimed its first corporate casualty and the lesson for income investors March 8, 2019 | City Talk The last few decades have seen the perception gain ground in markets that a combination of cash generation and state backing makes utility companies pretty much shockproof as income-yielding investments. The fate of Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), which last week filed for bankruptcy protection in the US, should serve as a stark reminder no [...]
Chinese exports suffer biggest drop in three years amid US-China trade war March 8, 2019 Chinese exports fell at their fastest rate in three years last month as fears grow about the world’s second largest economy. Read more: China backs Huawei's bid to sue United States The US-China trade war sent exports to a 20.7 per cent year-on-year drop, official data revealed, as imports fell 5.2 per cent. Markets reacted [...]
Two analyst downgrades take big chunk out of Rio Tinto shares as iron prices set to drop March 7, 2019 Rio Tinto weighed on the London exchange today after the miner was hit by two analyst downgrades in two days, wiping around £4bn off its market value. Shares dropped around 7.6 per cent in the mid afternoon to 4,137p as Societe Generale advised investors to sell their shares in the iron miner. Read more: Iron ore [...]
Majority of UK consumers unable to define cryptocurrency, City watchdog finds March 7, 2019 More than 70 per cent of UK consumers do not know what a cryptocurrency is, new research has found, as the City watchdog warned that crypto investors should be prepared to lose all their money. The term cryptocurrency, which is a digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography coding for security, is understood by 29 [...]
Funding Circle shares rise despite widening losses on IPO costs March 7, 2019 Shares in peer-to-peer lender Funding Circle jumped as much as five per cent this morning despite widening losses following the fintech firm’s initial public offering (IPO) last year. The figures Funding Circle fell to a £51.6m operating loss in 2018, 40 per cent up from a loss of £36.9m the previous year. Read more: Funding [...]
Small international oil companies eye London for float, says Jadestone chief exec months after listing March 7, 2019 More small-cap oil and gas firms are likely to follow Jadestone Energy to choose London for a listing, its chief executive has said just months after it floated in the capital. Paul Blakeley said that the London market is proving the most responsive for small international companies in the upstream space. “I think the London [...]
There are plenty of reasons for investors to be optimistic about China March 6, 2019 Since the election of Donald Trump, one story has dominated global markets news: the trade war between China and the US. As negotiations reached a critical phase last month, markets fluctuated as setbacks led to breakthroughs, only for talks to stall again. But while investors are right to worry about currents of protectionism in the world’s [...]
Newmont’s Goldberg and Barrick’s Bristow had ‘constructive’ meeting March 6, 2019 The chief executives of gold miners Barrick and Newmont, who are locked in a battle over a hostile takeover bid, had a “constructive” dinner on Tuesday. Incoming Newmont chief executive Tom Palmer said his predecessor Gary Goldberg and Barrick chief Mark Bristow laid the foundations for a deal over their assets in Nevada. Read more: [...]