We would hesitate to call it a wave of consolidation - maybe a ripple would be more appropriate - but this year has seen a number of mergers among investment trusts.There is a long tail of sub-scale funds and trusts in the UK all desperate to attract more investors, but with the average discount to net asset value hitting 18% at the end of October, according to research from Winterflood...

Markets generally appear to have been somewhat quieter over the past week and the same goes for director dealing, with a lower than normal number of noteworthy trades.But there have been some interesting transactions, one of which involves Michael Dobson, the outgoing chairman and former chief executive of FTSE 100 fund manager Schroders (SDR).Dobson sold over 17,000 shares at a price of...

Investment trusts provided an income sanctuary for investors in 2020, according to a new study. Even as dividends around the world succumbed to the pandemic, investment trusts continued to increase payouts to shareholders, research from the latest Link Dividend Monitor found.The data shows that investment trust dividends rose 4.2% to £1.88 billion, and even in the teeth of the pandemic...

The past week has seen a number of notable deals with directors taking the chance to sell some of their holdings while share prices are up.The biggest deal of all involves Will Adderley, the deputy chairman and biggest shareholder in home furnishings retailer Dunelm (DNLM), who sold 15 million shares in the business - a 7.4% stake - at a price of £12.80 per share, netting him a total of £192...

UK stocks closed slightly lower on Monday, despite positive Covid-19 vaccine news over the weekend from AstraZeneca (AZN) and Pfizer.At 16:30, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was down 0.1%, at 6,032.Pfizer chief executive Albert Bourla said on Sunday that the US company's Covid-19 vaccine could be distributed to Americans before the end of the year.AstraZeneca, meanwhile, announced it had resumed...

UK stocks drifted lower during the morning session on Monday, despite positive Covid-19 vaccine news over the weekend from AstraZeneca (AZN) and Pfizer.At midday the benchmark FTSE 100 index was down 0.21%, at 6,027.Pfizer chief executive Albert Bourla said on Sunday that the US company's Covid-19 vaccine could be distributed to Americans before the end of the year.Meanwhile AstraZeneca...

UK stocks started the week strongly after further signs of progress towards a coronavirus vaccine.Pharma giant AstraZeneca (AZN) has resumed phase three of its vaccine trial, while investor sentiment was also boosted by comments from Pfizer chief executive Albert Bourla, who believes a vaccine could be ready for approval as soon as next month, and for distribution by the end of the year.In...

As income statistics go, this one is pretty impressive. Brunner Investment Trust (BUT) has increased its annual dividend for the 46th year in a row (subject to shareholder approval, although we wouldn't expect any trouble there). The 16.5p payout, for the year to 30 November 2017, represents a 4.4% increase on 2016.There are other investment trusts with similar 40-year plus runs of rising...

What links global consumer products group Proctor & Gamble and Coca-Cola, the drinks giant? Yes, their respective brands are pretty much ubiquitous around the world, but the pair have also been paying increased dividends for more than 50 years.In the US, where both are listed on the New York stock market, they are known as 'dividend kings'.This is important because of the power compounding has...

Investors interested in a stock earning £1 million a month pre-tax with a market cap of less than £100 million might consider checking out asset manager City of London Investment Group's (CLIG) website.City of London Investment Group, not to be confused with a number of similar-named stock market companies including City of London Group (CIN:AIM), publishes regular updates on its investor...

UK shares remain largely flat as traders reveal their caution ahead of Bank of England issuing its interest rate and quantitative easing decisions at midday. Resources, financials and some retailers were softer. Wall St ended higher, and Asian bourses lower.US-focused miner Atlantic Coal (ATC:AIM) rises 14.3% to 0.16p after reporting a 26% rise in turnover so far this calendar year. It says...

Emerging markets investment trust specialist City of London Investment Group (CLIG) rises 5.6% to 248p on the back of reassuring interims.As per Ashmore's (ASHM) second-quarter trading update(14 Jan), City's results reveal nervousness among investors for emerging market assets, in light of the Federal Reserve's tapering of quantitative easing and rising benchmark bond yields in the...

Mother and baby retailer Mothercare (MTC), which recently rocked the market with a profit warning, moves 5.5% higher to 286.9p on a report in The Sunday Times that Tesco (TSCO) is weighing up a takeover bid.Emerging markets investment trust specialist City of London Investment Group (CLIG) rises 5.6% to 248p on the back of and relief that the dividend has been maintained despite a difficult...

Mike Ashley's Sports Direct International (SPD) slips 34p to 737p as strong half-time results to the end of October fail to trigger hoped-for forecast upgrades. Interim numbers from the highly-rated retailer reveal continuing healthy growth with group sales up 23.5% to almost £1.35 billion and online sales skipping 43% higher to £158 million. However the market appears disappointed with a...

There's little festive cheer for the supermarket sector. The market is bracing itself for poor numbers from Tesco (TSCO) when it issues a trading update on Wednesday (4 Dec). The shares fall 2.2% to 340.4p after several analysts downgrade their forecasts for the supermarket. Sainsbury's (SBRY) is also weak, down 3% to 395p, after news that discount food retailer Lidl plans to more than double...

Mobile phone giant Vodafone (VOD) is attempting to woo Kabel Deutschland (KD8Gn:DE) shareholders ahead of its Wednesday deadline for fear of the ?7.7 billion takeover collapsing. Failure could hurt the UK group's quad-play attempts in Europe, but the shares stay flat at 210.75p with its own investors firmly focused on the 45% Verizon Wireless stake sale, which Shares looked at online last...

The worry that other financially-weak countries would copy Cyprus and sell gold reserves, together with weaker-than-expected growth figures from China, have put the boot into the mining sector. Widespread falls were recorded in gold producers and bulk commodity miners including an 18% drop in Russia-based Petropavlovsk (POG) to 152.3p which has the double whammy of being exposed to gold and...