“Like the proverbial canary dying in the coal mine, a handful of UK companies are becoming short of breath as the US economy slows,” says Chris Hughes in the FT. Wolseley, Tomkins and Aga are …
Large caps to gain from US slowdown
Category: Investments
Investors ignore the ghosts of ’97
“A 1997-like feeling is again in the air,” says William Pesek on Bloomberg.com. Recent crises in emerging markets – including a coup in Thailand and riots in Hungary – are raising the spectre of nine …
Paul Hill’s tip of the week: leave expensive supermarkets on the shelf
Paul Hill, one of Britain’s most successful private investors, picks the best – and worst – tips from the press and brokers’ reports This week my top recommendations come from the cut-throat £120bn UK grocery …
What is the Peak Oil theory of value?
“NONE OF US can go a little way with a theory,” wrote John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890) in his book Essays Critical & Historical. “When it once possesses us, we are no longer our own …
The changing face of commodities
In a low-return world, high-yielding commodities have become the siren song of the asset-liability mismatch. Well supported by seemingly powerful fundamentals on both the demand (i.e., globalization) and the supply sides (i.e., capacity shortages) of …
Why the UK faces a chilly New Year
Back in the spring, weathermen noticed unusually low sea temperatures around Iceland and the Azores. This gave warning of a phenomenon known as the ‘North Atlantic Oscillation’. It has resulted in some of the harshest …
What are the markets really afraid of?
After the shake-out starting last month, the investment community is deeply divided. In one camp sit those who believe the markets have much further to fall. Buying shares amid the current turbulence is as dangerous …
Is this the start of a crash – or a great buying opportunity?
Have we just witnessed the start of a crash or a healthy correction? As the world’s stock markets, commodity prices and property continued to climb higher last month, Warren Buffett, the legendary US investor, said …
Is Europe facing a long, slow decline?
In George Orwell’s classic novel ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ the world was divided into three competing super-states. Oceania represented the USA and other advanced English- speaking economies. Eurasia meant Continental Europe and Russia. Eastasia signified China …
How to profit from bankruptcy
First debt lost its stigma and now bankruptcy is losing its sting. Two years ago, some 45,000 people were declared bankrupt in Britain. In 2005, the figure topped 70,000. That easily surpasses the rate recorded …