Blue-chip stocks in Europe ended lower on Thursday, with a handful of ex-dividend shares hurting the FTSE 100, though there was bullishness in New York, as major benchmarks across the Atlantic hit record highs.The mood in New York was supported by retailer Walmart's first-quarter earnings beat and outlook raise.The FTSE 100 index edged down 7.15 points, 0.1%, at 8,438.65. The FTSE 250 added 47.21

Stocks in London and Europe on Thursday failed to share in Wall Street?s Wednesday triumph, with easyJet and Sage dragging down the FTSE 100 despite a rally at BT.The FTSE 100 index was down 23.84 points, 0.3%, at 8,421.96. The FTSE 250 was down 13.91 points, 0.1%, at 20,761.72, and the AIM All-Share was up 0.98 of a point, 0.1%, at 792.59.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.2% at 841.60, the Cboe UK 250 w

EasyJet CFO Kenton Jarvis to become CEOJarvis joined EasyJet in February 2021Outgoing CEO Johan Lundgren to leave early 2025Shares in EasyJet (EZJ) were down more than 5% to 498p as investors reacted to the announcement that the low-budget airline?s CEO Johan Lundgren is stepping down after seven years in the role.Kenton Jarvis, board member and chief financial officer will takeover from Lundgren

Posts biggest revenue decline in 15 yearsCovid indigestion buckling normal IT refresh cycleQ3 beat of low expectations to spark share priceLooking purely at third quarter (to 27 Apr) numbers paints a bleak picture for the core IT kit that Cisco Systems (CSCO:NASDAQ) provides. Adjusted EPS (earnings per share) was down from $1.00 a year ago to $0.88 on a 13% fall in $12.7 billion revenue, the firm?

Organic revenue up 6.5% in Q1Advanced wound care outlook cutFull-year outlook maintainedShares in Convatec (CTEC) fell 4% to 255.7p after the medical products maker flagged short-term uncertainty in Advanced Wound Care leading to a softer outlook for the division.The news took the shine off a strong start to the year with first-quarter organic revenue up 6.5% which was slightly ahead of market for

The FTSE 100 started poorly on Thursday, despite Wednesday?s record closes across the pond, as Sage Group and easyJet offset a boost from BT.The FTSE 100 index opened down 31.09 points, 0.4%, at 8,414.71. The FTSE 250 was up 34.30 points, 0.2%, at 20,809.93, and the AIM All-Share was up 0.2 of a point at 791.81.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.3% at 840.90, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.3% at 18,152.47, and

Retail bellwether Marks & Spencer (MKS) may need to deliver a modest ?beat? to the £679.8 million consensus pre-tax profit estimate, along with a reasonably confident outlook statement, when it serves up full-year results (22 May) if the foods-to-fashion giant is to sustain recent positive share price momentum.Led by CEO Stuart Machin, the FTSE 100 company?s turnaround is gaining traction and Mar

It was the best performing stock in the ranks of the FTSE 350 by some distance in 2023, and aircraft engine-maker Rolls-Royce?s (RR.) share price has started 2024 in fine fettle to trade above pre-pandemic levels.There is no doubt Tufan Erginbilgiç has brought real seriousness to the business of turning around a company which had been struggling for years even before Covid grounded planes a

Have US equity expectations run ahead of themselves? Certainly, for some companies, the answer seems to be yes. One of the features of second-quarter earnings season has been the number of companies that have met or ever beaten revenue and earnings expectations yet have cost share prices and investors dearly.High-growth companies including ARM (ARM:NASDAQ), Airbnb (ABNB:NASDAQ) and Shopify (SHOP:N

One of the factors undoubtedly helping lift the UK stock market to new highs this year is an upturn in M&A (merger and acquisition) activity.According to Dealogic, the value of UK takeovers so far in 2024 is more than $78 billion, the highest level since 2018, as overseas buyers in particular home in on the undervaluation of the market.?The UK has become structurally very attractive for M&A. There

Discounts and premiums to NAV (net asset value), which is the value of all the investments an investment trust holds minus any debt or loans, are among the trust universe?s unique quirks and can confuse novice investors. At the moment the vast majority of trusts trade at a discount.Annabel Brodie-Smith, the AIC?s (Association of Investment Companies) communications director, says: ?Only around 20

If we took a straw poll of readers and asked which country has the world?s biggest sovereign wealth fund, the chances are Saudi Arabia and Singapore would come high up the list if not at the top.In fact, the largest is Norway?s Government Pension Fund Global which has a value of more than $1.6 trillion.When the country discovered large offshore oil fields at the end of the 1960s, the government de

The cost of going to university has ballooned, and it means the average graduate leaves university with around £50,000 worth of debt. That?s a large sum to pay off, and the way the student loan system has changed means that many people will have this debt for 40 years before it?s wiped out.The debt doesn?t work like typical debt, as you only repay it once you earn more than a set threshold ? mean

This is the first in a series of articles focused on the fundamentals of investing. Don?t worry if you are relatively new to investing because the series starts at the very beginning and explains what investing is, how it works and is intended to provide a useful framework for thinking about investing.The series is not exclusively for beginners and later on it will include more advanced features s

Copper is already one of the most important materials underpinning human civilisation, and the energy transition is only likely to see demand for the industrial metal build in the years to come.Limits and pressures on supply and this growing demand profile are already seeing copper prices mount a charge and recent M&A activity ? with BHP?s (BHP) unsuccessful (for now) attempt to take over Anglo Am

The American financial markets writer and publisher Jim Grant once observed that: ?Successful investing is having everyone agree with you ?. Later.? This makes perfect sense, as it distils the concept of going against the crowd to buy cheaply and then sell expensively to lock in the gain and the initial thesis is now the consensus view and thus reflected in the valuation.However, this column does

This year has been a struggle for Intel (INTC:NASDAQ) ? investors don?t seem to be buying the optimism the chip firm has spun around its PC and data centre business, while it has thus far failed miserably when it comes to convincing the market it hasn?t missed the AI (artificial intelligence) boat.Data from Sharepad shows Intel is the second-worst performer on the S&P 500 in 2024, down nearly 40%

Investors got seriously spooked back in February 2024 when Palo Alto Networks (PANW:NASDAQ) lowered revenue and billings guidance for fiscal year 2024 (to 31 May), causing analysts to lower forecasts and price targets. Palo Alto stock tanked, losing nearly 30% in a day, a savage reckoning after running hot since the start of 2023. That?s been a problem. Equity markets can get carried away when a s

3i Infrastructure (3IN) 342.5pGain to date: 8.7% When we recommended buying into private equity firm 3i Infrastructure (3IN) last summer at 315p we flagged the undervaluation of its portfolio, as shown by the sale of Dutch waste treatment and recycling firm Attero for more than 30% above its most recent valuation and 2.7 times the purchase price.We stuck with our call even when the shares dipped t

Equities on both sides of the Atlantic registered record highs on Wednesday, as a slowdown in US inflation prompted stocks to move higher as Federal Reserve interest rate cut hopes strengthened.Aside from the US data, there was a slew of M&A developments threatening to steal some of the spotlight in London. The owner of the Royal Mail backed a possible bid, while Wood Group said no to a suitor aga