DEBATE: Will the M&S venture with Ocado turn around its fortunes? DEBATE: Can M&S turn its fortunes around with Ocado? Will Marks & Spencer’s joint venture with Ocado turn around the struggling retailer’s fortunes? YES, says Adam Vettese, investment analyst at multi-asset investment platform eToro When you think of Marks & Spencer, you think of food. And not just any food, but top-quality food. In fact, food is so important to M&S that it now [...]
How much stimulus will the ECB deliver? City Talk A great showman always leaves people wanting more. In his penultimate showpiece, ECB chief Mario Draghi may do exactly that. Expectations ahead of the European Central Bank (ECB) meeting are running very high. Whilst it seems the ECB will throw the kitchen sink at slow growth and persistently lacklustre inflation, markets seem to want the [...]
How did banks get their PPI sums so wrong? City Talk Lloyds, RBS and CYBG have all had to admit they’ll take much larger hits for PPI claims than originally thought. The end is in sight for banks and PPI claims, but what’s been made abundantly clear is just how badly they estimated the losses. The total cost to Britain’s banks from PPI is now a cool £50bn. These [...]
We burn cash: deciphering the WeWork IPO filing August 15, 2019 It burns through boats loads of cash, no one knows if it will ever make money and it’s going to be snapped up by millennials with their Robinhood accounts – WeWork is perfect IPO material in 2019. The last funding round valued the company around $47bn, but this looks lofty. 2019 has been hit-and-miss for [...]
UK GDP preview: Banks down, sterling ready to break out? August 8, 2019 Ahead of the UK Q2 GDP print on Friday, gilts and UK bank stocks betray concerns about the economy that the official figures are likely to back up. Meanwhile GBPUSD is nearing the end of a narrowing wedge that could signal it’s ready to move out of its August range on whatever the GDP point [...]
DEBATE: Was the Aston Martin IPO a folly? July 26, 2019 Given the company’s troubles, was the Aston Martin IPO a folly? Neil Wilson, chief market analyst for Markets.com, says YES. Lowering sales guidance less than a year after listing is a crime that many investors would feel warrants some devious Bond-villain style punishment. Aston Martin has gone bust seven times. Investors should be wary of [...]
After Facebook, what to expect from Amazon and Alphabet earnings? July 25, 2019 Facebook delivered a beat to earnings forecasts, but with the US Department of Justice launching an investigation can Big Tech continue to deliver for shareholders? Results from Facebook were even better than expected, showing that it continues to drive user growth and ad revenue growth. Facebook is still loved by advertisers. Remember it’s not just Facebook [...]
Charging up ahead of Tesla earnings – Q3 profit target to go? July 23, 2019 Production has improved, but can Tesla manage to stick to its guidance to return to profitability in Q3? Again we are looking at whether the company has borrowed from Peter to pay Paul by taking on additional costs in order to hit delivery targets. We also note reports that Tesla employees were pressured to take [...]
Three big questions corporate America must answer this week July 15, 2019 The seond quarter earnings season kicks off this week as investor attention for a while shifts away from central banks to how well actual companies are performing. There are several big questions facing corporate America as we hit this important period. Earnings recession Earnings season is coming with fairly low expectations. Two weeks prior to earnings season [...]
Ocado, Dunelm and Superdry show there’s always winners & losers in retail July 10, 2019 It’s not all doom and gloom in retail. Whilst we have certainly seen a downturn on the high street, there are winners as well as losers. Next shares are among the best performers on the FTSE in 2019, up 30% so far. And they’re not alone in outperforming the market despite the trouble on the [...]