'Quality investing' is the style pursued by the world's most famous investor Warren Buffett and Terry Smith, arguably the best-known British fund manager who runs the five-star Morningstar-rated Fundsmith Equity (B41YBW7) and consistently favours quality firms. Quality investing has generated strong long-run returns for its practitioners, including Buffett, but how do the leading fund managers off

Investment bank's late jump on Nvidia growth gravy trainCybersecurity and biotech options for high returns potentialUnexciting business with appealing returns recordEach month, investment bank Goldman Sachs pulls together its analysts' best stock investment ideas, which it calls its conviction list. It's a bit like a stock pick cheat sheet for clients, where they're given a rough outline of the th

Another week, another bank failure, or so it seems these days.News that ailing European lender Credit Suisse (CSGN:SWX) had been saved from insolvency over the weekend thanks to a take-over by its larger rival UBS (UBSN:SWX) should in theory have eased concerns of 'contagion' across the banking sector.However, details of the rescue - and in particular the fact the regulator decided to mark the val

ChatGPT is the hot topic around the world. It's therefore no surprise investors are now wondering whether generative AI (artificial intelligence) is the next big thing in technology, and if so, which companies are best positioned to ride it.After years of research, it appears AI is reaching a tipping point, capturing the imaginations of everyone from students saving time on their essay writing to

Investors instinctively know sectors such as utilities, consumer staples and healthcare are defensive and have historically provided shelter during stock market turbulence. Yet the analysis usually focuses on sector performance alone.This article takes a different approach and seeks to identify stocks within the S&P 500 and FTSE 350 indices which have had the least number of down years over the pa

The emergence of cloud computing has been one of the most successful investment themes over the past decade, and it promises to create wealth for investors long into the future.That's why we believe First Trust Cloud Computing ETF (FSKY) is not just a play for the next few years, as we (hopefully) recover from economic hardship, but for the next decade at least.It's a simple, low cost way to get e

It's been argued that the coronavirus pandemic has, rather than changing the world entirely, acted more like a time machine in accelerating trends so that shifts which might have taken years or decades have come through in a matter of months.That argument is supported by the list of the best performing exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in 2020.The shift to cloud computing, more spending on healthcare,

Shares in insurer Hiscox (HSX) were among the better performers on Monday, gaining 5% to £12.85 despite a big hit to profits last year from storm claims.While net premium income for the 12 months to December rose slightly to $2.635bn, pre-tax profits were down by more than 60% for $135.6m to $53.1m due to large catastrophe events and lower commissions.WEATHER-BEATEN PROFITSHiscox's London market

Bookmaker William Hill (WMH) rebounds 5% to 274.9p on relief a 10% dip in full year operating profit to £261.5m meets downgraded guidance. CEO Philip Bowcock flags an encouraging start to 2017, positive trends in amounts wagered seen in all four divisions in the seven weeks to 14 February.International Consolidated Airlines (IAG) rises 2.8% to 518.5p on news of improved fourth quarter operating p

Global stock markets finished 2016 in a buoyant mood with the FTSE and the Dow starting the new year at or close to all-time highs. In bull markets it is easy to ignore the potential pitfalls of investing, but the list of macro events that could bring it all crashing down seems to be longer than ever.In Europe there is a real risk that Brexit could help to inspire a far-right win for Marine Le Pen

The FTSE 100 ticks through the 7,000 mark after rising strongly yesterday afternoon on sterling weakness.Pest control firm Rentokil (RTO) advances 7.9% to 228p as the market gives a nod of approval to a joint venture with German peer Haniel for its workwear and hygiene units. Under the terms of the agreement Rentokil will bank an initial €520m and will have an 18% stake in the JV.Specialist t

A sharp drop in demand for residential property sends housebuilders into a spin during early trading on the stock market in London.The FTSE 100 is down 0.8% at 6,253 on the back of choppy overnight trading which saw losses in Tokyo and gains in New York.European markets also trade lower this morning.In London, all eyes are on Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) data which reports demand

London stocks start the week in the red, marginally reversing gains on Friday, after the European Central Bank hinted at further stimulus in December and China cut rates. That tips the benchmark FTSE 100 index around 12 points lower, or 0.2%, to 6,431 with midcaps posting similar declines. The FTSE Small Cap index remains largely flat.On the company front, advertising giant WPP (WPP) slumps despit

London shares limp higher in early trade on Friday despite more bleak views after the latest Greece debt talks and limited corporate news. But at least the FTSE looks capable of halting a run of days in the red, including touching five-month lows earlier in the week, the blue chip index nudging 0.1% higher to 6,715.Midcaps and the wider market are similarly sluggish, tracking similarly higher to t

Chocolate buying is soaring and a cocoa supply crunch looms, with West African production unable to keep pace with demand. A canny way to play these dynamics is via United Cacao (CHOC:AIM), the first publicly-listed pure-play cacao stock.Having joined AIM on 2 December at 128p United Cacao seeks to be the largest grower of sustainable, fully traceable cacao - the tropical tree crop that yields coc

On Wednesday last week (22 May) US Federal Reserve chairman Ben S. Bernanke gave his latest testimony to Congress' joint economic committee in Washington. As is the norm with such events, the central banker's words were carefully chosen, well hedged and largely non-committal. He reiterated the Fed would continue to focus on its dual mandate of driving unemployment down toward 6.5% and ensuring inf