?Milestone? deal in luxury branded jewellery strategyRoberto Coin is sixth biggest jewellery brand in USEarnings and margin-enhancing acquisitionWatches of Switzerland (WOSG) has splashed out $130 million (£104 million) to buy Italian handcrafted jewellery business Roberto Coin Inc in a deal that skews the FTSE 250 firm?s sales mix a bit more towards the lucrative branded jewellery market.Shares

Investors in the high-profile Royal London Global Equity Select (BF93W97) fund face a dilemma following the surprise resignation of star manager Peter Rutter from RLAM (Royal London Asset Management) alongside several of the firm?s global equities team.The managers are expected to set up their own company, having secured financial backing from Australia?s Pinnacle Investment Management. The news r

The pilgrimage to Omaha for Berkshire Hathaway?s (BRK-B:NYSE) annual shareholder meeting had a tinge of poignancy this year following the passing of Warren Buffett?s long-term business partner and vice-chair Charlie Munger in November 2023.In memory of the ?abominable no-man?, as Buffett sometimes referred to Munger, the book stands at the meeting which would normally offer several investment book

The journey of online clothing retailer ASOS (ASC) on the stock market has been a pretty extraordinary one. It started life as a penny stock on AIM ? when Shares first covered the story in 2003 it traded at 4.5p.Within a little less than five years the share price had reached more than £4, by 2014 it had hit £70 and, after another retreat, at its 2018 height it traded close to £80. Even its pan

Postive cancer trial resultsPotentially increases patient poolNew standard of careShares in AstraZeneca (AZN) got a further boost today, rising 2% after posting positive late-stage trial results for breast cancer treatment Enhertu which demonstrated clinically-meaningful progression-free survival improvements.This follows strong market-beating first-quarter results last week (25 April) which sent

Second-quarter guidance disappointsAI spending plans spook investors$200 billion wiped off market valueSocial media and technology outfit Meta Platforms (META:NASDAQ) saw its recent share price momentum stall in a big way overnight as investors fretted its ?year of efficiency? in 2023 would give way to a period of profligacy.At one point more than $200 billion had been wiped off the company?s valu

There 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 annual basis rather than a month-on-month basis ? which to our mind seems a much fairer comparison ? volum

Margins beat across the boardInterim dividend raised sharplyFull-year outlook increasedGrocery-to-retail conglomerate Associated British Foods (ABF) delivered investors a double helping of good news with consensus-beating first-half results and a 46% increase in the interim dividend.In response the shares jumped 9% to £27.50, topping the FTSE 100 leader board and returning to their pre-pandemic p

Weak first-half sales priced inProfit seen ?significantly? higher New finance director appointedShares in ASOS (ASC) rallied 10% to 366.2p in early dealings after the online fast-fashion retailer maintained its full-year 2024 guidance and flagged progress in shifting its mountain of excess stock as chief executive Jose Calamonte?s turnaround plan gains traction.Nevertheless, the retailer?s transit

Audioboom have fallen 30% over the past yearWilson previously worked for AudioboomHarvey previously worked for SiriusXM and CBS RadioShares in Audioboom (BOOM: AIM) were up 4% to 260p in morning trading as the podcast specialist said it was hiring two key sales executives ?to expand the company?s revenue operations.?Molly Harvey, formerly of SiriusXM and CBS Radio, joins Audioboom as vice presiden

Positive late stage trail results for ImfinziFirst and only immunotherapy to demonstrate survival benefitImfinzi is Astra?s second biggest selling cancer drugPharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca (AZN) said a late-stage trial for its blockbuster lung cancer drug Imfinzi significantly improved overall survival and disease-free progression in patients with aggressive small cell lung cancer.Small cell lun

US stock markets took a turn for the worse after Minneapolis Fed president Neel Kashkari threw a cat among the pigeons by introducing the possibility of zero rate cuts this year.?If we continue to see inflation moving sideways, then that would make me question whether we need to do those rate cuts at all?, Kashkari told journalists. ?There's a lot of momentum in the economy right now.?That was evi

Confected or not the recent round of international football fixtures was coloured by outrage over two major kit makers. With Nike (NKE:NYSE) in the firing line thanks to its ?playful? update of the St George?s Cross on the latest England jersey.For its part Adidas (ADS:ETR) was caught up in controversy over Die Mannschaft switching allegiance to its aforementioned US rival, ending a 77-year associ

The shrinking UK stock market is a worry for fund managers and has wider implications for the UK as a listing venue as well as the UK?s economic growth, say analysts at Peel Hunt.This article explores the so-called de-equitisation of the UK stock market, or plainly put the substitution of debt for equity via share buybacks and cash acquisitions.More than 45 companies exited the UK market in 2023 d

European stocks closed lower on Tuesday, after the long Easter holiday weekend and a day full of economic data.The FTSE 100 index closed down 17.53 points, 0.2%, at 7,935.09. The FTSE 250 ended down 170.84 points, 0.9%, at 19,713.89, and the AIM All-Share closed down 0.86 of a point, 0.1%, at 742.40.The Cboe UK 100 ended down 0.3% at 793.40, the Cboe UK 250 closed down 1.1% at 17,147.56, and the C

Shares slump to all-time lowTakeover offer from founder Dunkerton unlikelyDiscounted rights issue on the cardsShares in beleaguered fashion chain Superdry (SDRY) slumped more than 50% to an all-time low of 14p today as investors finally got the chance to price in the barrage of bad news released after the market close on Thursday 28 March.Takeover hopes were dashed as the troubled jackets-to-hoodi

THIS IS AN ADVERTISING FEATURE An equity income option to suit all tastesEquity income offers a breadth of investment options, depending on the regionThe UK is an option for recovery, Asia for growth, and the US for diversificationEquity income strategies may have a tailwind from falling interest ratesThere remains considerable debate over when and by how much interest rates could fall this year.

$2 billion cash acquisition beefs-up cancer portfolioFusion has prostate cancer drug in mid-stage trialsCash consideration pitched at 126% premiumPharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca (AZN) has agreed to buy Nasdaq-listed Fusion Pharmaceuticals (FUSN:NASDAQ) for around $2 billion in cash to boost its cancer portfolio.The proposed deal is pitched at $21 per share, which is double the $10.64 closing pric

Indices in London were largely unmoved at the start of trading ahead of a batch of US data due on Thursday afternoon.Among individual shares making waves, however, Trainline jumped as it expects revenue growth to beat expectations. OSB Group tumbled on poorly-received earnings and a tepid outlook.The FTSE 100 index rose just 2.97 points to 7,775.14. The FTSE 250 climbed only 4.07 points to 19,567.

Semiconductors are the bedrock of the digital economy, core enablers of the data revolution and at the forefront of technological innovation. The semiconductor industry could be set for exponential growth driven by the mega forces of AI (artificial intelligence) and digitalisation, as well as those of geopolitics and economic competition.Investors looking to gain semiconductor exposure have the op