Can investors spot the Amazon stocks of the future? June 8, 2017 May was a big month for Amazon. Not only did it celebrate the 20th anniversary of its stockmarket floatation, its share price edged past the $1,000 (£776) mark for the first time. It's not bad going for an internet book-seller that began trading at just under $2 a share. This 49,000%-plus return means anyone who [...]
Electric cars and oil prices: should investors be concerned? June 5, 2017 What is more likely to cause a long-term collapse in oil prices – the electric car or the humble combustion engine? If you were to judge solely by media coverage or perhaps even by gut instinct, you might well answer "the electric car". But you would be wrong. So at least argues a single, thought-provoking [...]
Exclusive interview: Theresa May says she’ll defend the City as she warns EU that nowhere else can do what it does June 1, 2017 Theresa May’s brand of conservatism doesn’t include a natural affection for global financial institutions. In almost every sense, she’s more Maidenhead than Moorgate. And yet surprisingly, she has a stronger connection to the City than any Prime Minister since John Major, having spent 20 years in and around the Square Mile first with the Bank [...]
It’s official: The UK has fallen to the bottom of the G7 for GDP growth June 1, 2017 Bad news for Theresa May ahead of the election: the UK’s GDP growth puts it right at the bottom of the G7. Growth figures published by Canada late last night confirmed what most economists already knew: the UK’s 0.2 per cent growth in the first quarter of this year put it next to Italy as [...]
Is it still worth investing in bank shares? May 31, 2017 Bank shares rose sharply toward the end of 2016 leaving many investors questioning whether the rally would continue. The global banking sector returned 13.7% in 2016 with dividends included, according to MSCI data. In comparison, the MSCI World index returned a more modest 8.2%. Among banks, the biggest gains were made by the US and [...]
Blockchain consortium R3 has raised a $107m series A round of funding from top banks like HSBC, Barclays, UBS and Wells Fargo May 23, 2017 One of the biggest consortium’s working on blockchain technology has raised $107m from the world’s top banks and other big name investors, it’s been revealed. R3 founder and chief executive David Rutter announced the huge figure for its series A round on stage at a blockchain conference in New York, calling the investment “unprecedented”. Investors [...]
Bank of England under fire from Lucy Worsley for airbrushed Jane Austen picture on banknote May 21, 2017 The new £10 note featuring Jane Austen is set to come into circulation this year, but Jane Austen aficionados have said the design makes the author look airbrushed. The Bank of England chose a portrait by James Andrews as the basis for the new design. But historian Lucy Worsley told the Sunday Times that it [...]
Which UK stock market sectors have performed best over two decades? May 19, 2017 When the stock market rises and falls the sectors within it can move very differently, especially in the short-term. Perhaps the best example was the dotcom boom and bust, when technology shares soared in 1999 and then spectacularly crashed in the three years that followed. A balanced and carefully managed portfolio can ease the impact [...]
British employment reaches record high as jobless rate falls to lowest since 1975 May 17, 2017 The level of people in employment in the UK reached a new record high in the first quarter of the year as unemployment hit its lowest since 1975. Unemployment in the UK fell to 4.6 per cent in the first quarter, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The total proportion of people employed [...]
A political checklist for stock market investors May 12, 2017 Brexit, Trump and European elections all had the potential to cause chaos in the stockmarket. Yet investors have remained calm. What next? How markets have responded to elections When global equities fell 7% in the days following the UK’s European Union (EU) referendum, it appeared that the tone for markets may have been set for [...]