ii view: Sales boom at Amazon, but so do costs July 26, 2019 | City Talk By Keith Bowman from interactive investor. Rising costs and disappointing profits overshadow further sales growth at the online retailer. Second-quarter results to 30 June 2019 Net sales up 20 per cent to $63.4 Operating income up 3.3 per cent to $3.1 billion Diluted earnings per share up 3 per cent to $5.22 Chief executive Jeff Bezos said: “Customers [...]
ii view: Citigroup beats forecasts July 16, 2019 | City Talk By Keith Bowman from interactive investor. Investors have been cautious regarding US banks. Has anything changed with these results? Second-quarter results to the end of June 2019 Revenue up 2 per cent to $18.8 billion Net income of $4.8 Billion, up 7 per cent Earnings per share up 20 per cent to $1.95 Operating expenses down 2 per [...]
Turnaround time for struggling food giant July 12, 2019 | City Talk By Rodney Hobson from interactive investor. The proof of the pudding lies with a new chief who looks set to sell off poor performers to boost spending on premium lines. A heavy burden lies on the shoulders of Miguel Patricio, who took over as chief executive officer of food and beverage giant Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC)last month. The reputation of [...]
Investors forecast returns of 10.7% – millennials expect more July 10, 2019 | City Talk Investors expect total annual returns of 10.7 per cent over the next five years, according to a major new global study. Regionally, returns expectations were highest in the Americas, at 12.4 per cent. In Asia, investors expect 11.5 per cent and the figure was lowest in Europe at 9.0 per cent. The returns include growth [...]
Is this market losing its marbles? July 4, 2019 | City Talk The chart that caught the eye of the Schroders Multi-Asset Investment team this month shows that the relationship between the ISM Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) and the S&P 500 index has broken down. The PMI is based on a survey of purchasing managers from more than 300 manufacturing firms. It is a widely followed [...]
Is the financials sector priced for disruption? June 26, 2019 | City Talk We think all industries are likely to be vulnerable to disruption in the coming years. We’ve seen it already in retail and media, for example, and this is likely to be a growing theme in markets for the long term. Financials, and banks in particular, are currently facing disruption to their business models. We can [...]
Chance to buy one of the world’s largest retailers cheaply June 20, 2019 | City Talk By Rodney Hobson from interactive investor. After a temporary technical hitch, this highly resilient company should soon shake off the blip. Rodney Hobson is an experienced financial writer and commentator who has held senior editorial positions on publications and websites in the UK and Asia, including Business News Editor on The Times and Editor of Shares magazine. He [...]
Stiglitz’s 2020 vision: Left-wing economist makes a pitch for the soul of the Democrats June 17, 2019 Who will take on Donald Trump in next year’s battle for the White House? At the time of writing, an absurdly long list of Democratic hopefuls is dominated by Joe Biden, the septuagenarian former vice president who currently enjoys a huge lead in the opinion polls. Read more: President Trump endorses Boris Johnson as next PM [...]
‘Return of the CDO’ – how scary could that sequel prove? June 3, 2019 | City Talk CDOs 2 (complete, of course, with the tagline ‘Just when you thought it was safe to go back into collateral debt obligations’) is unlikely to have filmgoers queuing round the block – and yet ‘Overconfident group reckon they can do better than previous set of unfortunates in the face of all warnings and evidence to [...]
Three reasons why the UK stock market looks compelling May 31, 2019 | City Talk Whatever the opposite of a sweet spot is, many investors think UK equities are currently in one. With Brexit still unresolved, some have put the market in the “too difficult” basket. While it is understandable to fear uncertainty, as stock pickers we embrace the mis-priced opportunities created by it. The global nature of the market [...]