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Stagflation fears rise on resilient US economy and sticky core inflation
Thursday 02 May 2024With around 40% of S&P 500 constituents reporting earnings last week including heavyweights Microsoft (MSFT:NASDAQ) and Alphabet (GOOG:NASDAQ) , the micro picture was widely expected to be the main investor focus. As things turned out, a surprisingly weak first quarter GDP (gross domestic...
Alphabet joins Meta in shareholder dividend commitment
Thursday 02 May 2024Google-owner Alphabet (GOOG:NASDAQ) shocked the market with a first-quarter announcement that it plans to kick-start regular quarterly dividends. In February 2024, Meta Platforms (META:NASDAQ) made headlines with its own dividend announcement, joining Apple (AAPL:NASDAQ) , Microsoft (MSFT:NASDAQ)...
What is happening at Smithson after continuation vote dissent?
Thursday 02 May 2024Investment trust Smithson (SSON) has work to do to repair its relationship with shareholders after recent controversy over a continuation vote at the stablemate of Terry Smith’s Fundsmith Equity (B41YBW7) . Smithson, which looks to apply Smith’s ‘buy good companies, don’t overpay, do nothing’...
Barclays breaks to 52-week high despite lower earnings
Thursday 02 May 2024It has been a while since investors in UK banks had cause to celebrate but shareholders in Barclays (BARC) were toasting a small win last week as the high-street lender posted first-quarter profit above market expectations, sending its shares to new 12-month high of 200p. !function(){"use strict";...
Shoe Zone shares slump on fears over trading and higher costs
Thursday 02 May 2024It has been a turbulent couple of months for value retailer Shoe Zone (SHOE ), which seems to have metamorphosed from cost-of-living-crisis winner to stock market pariah on the strength of a single comment by chief executive Anthony Smith. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message...
Ocado shares wobble after M&S relationship turns sour
Thursday 25 Apr 2024Shares in Ocado (OCDO) have fallen by 20% over the past month as the online grocer continues with its fractious relationship with joint venture partner Marks & Spencer (MKS ). Despite reporting average orders per week of 414,000, an 8.4% increase compared with the first quarter of 2023, and a...
United Airlines soars on upgrades despite Boeing-related hit
Thursday 25 Apr 2024Over the past six months United Airlines (UAL:NASDAQ) shares have gained over 45% as the US airline managed to shrug off negative news concerning delayed deliveries and canceled flights related to safety issues at aircraft maker Boeing (BA:NYSE) . On the day of its first quarter results (16 April)...
Retail sales not as bad as reported, while consumer confidence rises slowly
Thursday 25 Apr 2024There was a general wringing of hands on 19 April over the latest monthly retail sales figures published by the ONS (Office for National Statistics) which showed the volume of goods bought flatlined from February to March rather than increasing by 0.3% as expected. However, when measured on an...
Warnings from chip giants cast doubt over semiconductor optimism
Thursday 25 Apr 2024Chip stocks are coming under pressure from investors made nervous by hints of weakening demand during the first half of 2024. During the past week or so there have been warnings from industry bellwethers from Europe and the Far East, dampening enthusiasm just as earnings season gets going in...
FTSE 100 finally joins the new-highs club despite being unloved for years
Thursday 25 Apr 2024After almost closing at a new high in early April, the UK’s blue-chip FTSE 100 has finally made it into the ranks of indices hitting new all-time highs thanks to a 4.5% gain since the start of January. On 22 April the index reached its highest ever close and on 23 April it moved through its...