Investing in equities comes with risks attached. How investors must wish they could see into the future so they know what to expect and could take action accordingly.
Obviously, this is impossible but by using handy tools like Shares’ market diary, you can at least know when to expect updates from UK companies and key bits of economic news.
As a general rule of thumb, companies in the same sector report around the same time. This is certainly the case with banks and retailers.
So if you are invested in a stock it is worth keeping an eye out for their peers' updates for any potential read-across.
Located under the Shares tools section, you can use the easy-to-use market diary to search for upcoming events, including financial results, economic updates and shareholder meetings.
EXPECTATIONS VS. REALITY
Depending on the situation of an individual company, people may be hoping for certain outcomes - and meeting or missing those expectations could result in material moves in the share price.
While some investors will wait for the results before reacting, others may look to top up or sell off part of their position ahead of news.
An example of this is online fashion star Boohoo.com (BOO:AIM), which hiked sales growth guidance in September as it trades on a hefty valuation of 39.1 times earnings per share in the year to February 2020.
In the run-up to Boohoo’s half year results in September, the share price was noticeably weaker, implying the market was unsure of what to expect and probably reflecting some caution over the valuation (39.1 times the forecast earnings per share in the year to February 2020).
Companies on high valuations can struggle if they don’t continually upgrade forecasts as investors expect to be rewarded for paying a high price with stellar growth.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF AGMS AND EGMS
Annual general meetings (AGMs) are pretty standard for listed companies, offering the opportunity to elect directors and vote on directors’ pay.
Not that they always run smoothly. In May, nearly 60% of satellite firm Inmarsat’s (ISAT) shareholders voted against its pay package plans.
Typically more worthy of note are extraordinary general meetings (EGMs) where shareholders decide the fate of board members and vote on juicy takeovers.
Shares in Frankie & Benny’s owner Restaurant Group (RTN) tumbled by over 10% after its acquisition of Wagamama was approved last week (28 Nov) - but only just.
Approximately 40% of shareholders voted against the deal on concerns over the expensive price tag and the high level of borrowing involved
ECONOMIC NEWS
Economic updates, including data on the construction, manufacturing and service sectors, offer an insight into the UK’s economic health and potentially the direction of interest rates and currencies.
If the economy picks up, interest rates are more likely to rise, every month, the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee meet to decide whether to hold, hike or cut interest rates.
Its US counterpart, the Federal Reserve, is often influenced by monthly employment data, also known as non-farm payrolls. This is published every first Friday of the month.
