The world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund is set to reshape the FTSE 100 June 16, 2014 Times are changing for one of the world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund. The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the $175bn behemoth which invests money on behalf of the Qatari state, is expected to dampen its more ambitious dealmaking. It will instead adopt an increasingly "conservative" approach, according to a research note published today by political strategists [...]
How this UK discount retailer nearly beat Prada June 12, 2014 A budget department store founded by a shopkeeper in Blackpool during the late 1970’s has today become the biggest retailer to come to the stock market since fashion house Prada three years ago. According to fresh figures released this afternoon B&M Retail, which started life in the seaside resort in 1978, raised £1.1bn ($1.8bn) in [...]
UK savers know more about finance than you might think June 11, 2014 Good news for proponents of financial education. People in the UK have are more financially literate than almost every other nationality on earth, a new study has found. Brits came third in a global study of 16 countries that examined who knew their passive from their active, beating out countries such as the US, Japan, [...]
London IPO frenzy: Investors put off by low quality of new issues June 10, 2014 2014 is well on its way to claiming the crown as the best year on record for initial public offerings (IPO) in London yet dark clouds have started to gather, with one IPO pulled and an underwhelming aftermarket in a number of floats. So where next for the IPO market? At a conference hosted this [...]
How China’s A-Shares are being brought in from the cold June 5, 2014 China took a step closer to becoming a fully signed up member of the international stock market community today after a series of benchmarks were launched by FTSE to help stockpickers gradually integrate the burgeoning superpower into their investment portfolios. Chinese A-shares, shares of Chinese companies traded on Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock [...]
How a hot summer and expensive R&D could hit agribusiness June 3, 2014 Growth in the multi-billion dollar weed killer industry is set to tank from high single digits to zero next year, according to figures released today, a sign of tougher times ahead for European agribusinesses. A sizzling dry summer forecast across Europe and the US looks set to lower prices, with forecasts suggesting corn prices could [...]
Who is responsible for you in retirement? May 29, 2014 Despite chancellor George Osborne's strong hint in this year’s Budget that the burden of retirement provision will fall more heavily on savers’ shoulders in future it seems most Brits didn’t get the memo. A new Ipos Mori poll out this morning reveals one in two of us think the government should ultimately be held accountable [...]
What the World Cup tells us about stock markets, inflation and crime May 28, 2014 The great thing about football is its unpredictability, but what if those seemingly random scorelines and results foreshadowed more quantifiable trends in society, like crime rates, inflation, and stock market performance? In a well received report out today, analysts at Goldman Sachs have looked at the links between World Cup statistics and finance and business [...]
Why the World Cup is so bad for stock markets May 22, 2014 With the 2014 Fifa World Cup due to kick off three weeks today nerves are already starting to jangle among the City soccerati – but perhaps not for the reasons many would expect. It’s likely that all but one of the 32 teams will experience heartache in the coming weeks, but for stock markets, which [...]
Is the love affair with Whole Foods over? May 20, 2014 Whole Foods, the supermarket of choice for health conscious organic food lovers, is being stalked by scores of hedge funds betting on a further fall in its share price, figures out today show. Short selling interest in the business – which is measured by calculating the number of shares out on loan in a company [...]