ii Winter Portfolio doubles after fifth market-beating year May 22, 2019 | City Talk After an amazing fifth winter, our portfolio almost doubles in value and beats all the global indices, proving that international investors are wrong to ignore UK stocks. It also proves it is possible to time the market. Five years ago, our interest was piqued by a stock market phenomenon that promised consistent market-beating returns year [...]
UK inflation rises above two per cent target as energy costs increase May 22, 2019 The UK’s core inflation rate climbed to 2.1 per cent in April, as rising energy costs pushed up by the higher Ofgem price cap fed into dearer prices in the economy, official statistics have revealed. Read more: UK economy bounces back, but is growth just a ‘flash in the pan’? Traditionally, inflation above the Bank [...]
Barrick Gold mulls $787m bid for Acacia Mining as it makes ‘significant progress’ in spat with Tanzania May 22, 2019 Acacia Mining today hit out at its largest shareholder Barrick Gold for keeping it frozen out of negotiations with the Tanzanian government, after the Canadian giant yesterday revealed it was mulling a bid to take Acacia private. Barrick said last night it has presented a proposal to Acaica’s board to take the London-listed miner off [...]
The extremist Green party is trying to overthrow capitalism May 22, 2019 The Green Party is doing well. It gained nearly 200 council seats in the recent local elections and is hoping for a strong showing in the European ones this week. Publicity over school children going “on strike” to protest about climate change has helped. With politicians competing to fawn over the truants, the Green Party [...]
Puzzled over Australia’s shock election result? Economics can help explain May 22, 2019 The surprise of the week was the re-election of the centre-right Coalition government in the Australian General Election. The Labor opposition had led every major opinion poll for the past two years. But Scott Morrison of the Coalition is still Prime Minister – and it is his Labor opponent who is resigning as leader. Economists, regardless [...]
Watches of Switzerland targets £660m London listing May 21, 2019 Luxury retailer Watches of Switzerland said today it is targeting a London float that could hit a valuation of £660m. The company sells luxury watch brands such as Rolex, Patek Philippe, Cartier and Hublot. Read more: Jaguar sues watchmaker Christopher Ward over D-Type watches It has 125 shops in the UK and 21 in the [...]
US-China trade tensions a major threat to global growth, says OECD May 21, 2019 Global economic growth is under threat from the escalating US-China trade conflict, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has warned. Read more: Global markets in tailspin after Trump threatens huge China tariff rise The OECD’s closely-watched Economic Outlook said if current tariffs between the two countries are maintained, they will shave between 0.2 [...]
Britain’s small businesses deserve a simpler, fairer tax system May 21, 2019 “When you look after small business,” Sajid Javid said last week, “you look after Britain”. But too often, he admitted, the government has focused its attention elsewhere – big government finding it easier to talk to big business than small. Britain has an enviable record of company creation. Indeed, alongside our stellar job creation rates, [...]
Sterling falls below $1.27 for first time since early January as Brexit fears intensify May 21, 2019 Sterling has fallen below $1.27 for the first time since the beginning of the year as Brexit fears intensify. It comes as Prime Minister Theresa May prepares to unveil her “new and improved” Brexit plan to her Cabinet this afternoon in a bid to pass a deal through parliament at the fourth time of asking. [...]
Are emerging markets ready to fight back? May 21, 2019 You know there’s an underlying problem when investment firms start to cut exposure to a particular asset class. Goldman Sachs’ decision last week to slash exposure to emerging markets is an indication of the current situation for these economies. The bank’s asset management arm said that it had scaled back its “overweight” exposure to emerging [...]