These six charts caught our attention in July August 2, 2017 Safe as houses In the UK, house price growth began to slow noticeably last year when stamp duty on buy-to-let and second homes increased. The slowdown continued after the announcement that the UK would be leaving the EU. Perhaps surprisingly, London has been hit harder than the rest of the UK. UK growth is sluggish [...]
The global financial crisis 10 years on: six charts that tell the story July 31, 2017 It is hard to believe but it is 10 years since the start of the global financial crisis. Triggered by a collapse in the US housing market it caused the deepest recession in living memory and the near-collapse of the financial system. Banks failed, government institutions were bailed out, stockmarkets crashed and countries had to [...]
The FTSE in 2017: six charts that tell the story so far July 25, 2017 The FTSE 100, 250 and All-Share indices have all made strong gains and reached record highs in the first half of 2017. The strong performance of London-listed shares is somewhat surprising given the backdrop – June’s snap general election arguably left the government in a weaker position going into Brexit negotiations, while household finances are [...]
Emerging market equities: unloved and under-owned June 21, 2017 “Emerging market (EM) equities has a history of headlines — mostly negative — and volatility,” said Devan Kaloo, Head of Global Emerging Markets Equities at Aberdeen Asset Management. Yet there is reason for optimism, Kaloo assured attendees of the 70th CFA Institute Annual Conference, especially for those value investors who dive deeply into the fundamentals, [...]
Uber is expanding its electric car plans in London to tackle air pollution, with more Nissan Leafs and a network of chargers March 28, 2017 Uber is expanding its fleet of electric vehicles in London in a bid to tackle air pollution in the capital. Another 100 Nissan Leafs will join the 50 already on the road since last summer, while the transport startup will create a network of charging points across the city. Initial analysis of the electric car [...]
Mkango and Metalysis team up to develop 3D printed earth magnets to power up electric vehicles in the UK March 20, 2017 Two firms have teamed up to develop 3D printed rare earth magnets, components for electric vehicles, in the UK. Aim-listed Mkango Resources and South Yorkshire-based Metalysis have entered into a memorandum of understanding to jointly research, develop and commercialise rare earth metal alloys for use in 3D printed permanent magnets. Read more: Business Committee launches inquiry [...]
The trends the world’s top firms are cheering March 15, 2017 Corporate fundamentals are now seen to be improving – in all regions and sectors. After three years of deteriorating sentiment, our annual Analyst Survey, encompassing the views of 146 equity and fixed-income analysts, has found there’s much more confidence among the world’s largest companies. Demand growth is back, and we find signs of reflation, rather [...]
SSE is hiking electricity prices as energy firm follows Npower, EDF, Eon and Scottish Power March 13, 2017 Customers of SSE can expect a rise in their electricity bill as the energy company announces its first price rise in three years. A rise of 14.9 per cent will kick in from 28 April due to the increasing price of wholesale electricity across the market. On average, it expects customers' electric bills on a [...]
Competition, not price caps, is the solution to lowering Britain’s energy bills March 10, 2017 Recent weeks have seen the cost of energy bills climbing up the news and political agenda, as suppliers large and small have imposed eye-watering hikes to their standard variable tariffs. To date, four of the Big Six (EDF, E.On, Scottish Power and Npower) and several smaller suppliers have announced rises of up to 15 per [...]
The International Energy Agency says it is inevitable that oil prices will see a massive increase March 8, 2017 Three years of drastic cuts to upstream spending because of the meltdown in oil prices could result in a shortage of oil supply in a few years, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency. When oil prices collapsed in 2014, oil producers quickly took an axe to their spending. Global oil and [...]