An easing of energy crisis fears and a positive start to trading on Wall Street helped the FTSE 100 to a solid finish on Thursday. By the close, the blue chip benchmark was up 1.2% at 7,078.04 points, while the FTSE 250 finished 0.77% higher at 22,559.22. In the US the S&P 500 was up 1.35% to 4,422.55 by 4.30pm UK time. Wall Street’s indices pushed higher after a temporary agreement ...

Hopes that Russia will pump more gas to Europe to address the current energy crisis helped boost sentiment on Thursday. Concerns over elevated gas prices started to ease after Russia offered to increase supplies while house prices rose by 1.7% in September according to the Halifax building society, the biggest monthly increase since February 2007. By noon, the FTSE 100 traded 1.1% higher at ...

UK stocks started Thursday’s session on a firmer footing, responding to a positive performance in both the US and Asia, with all the major US indices ending the session in positive territory and the Hang Seng and Shenzhen indices ending 2.8% and 1.6% higher respectively. On the domestic front, concerns over elevated gas prices started to ease after Russia offered to increase supplies while ...

London’s FTSE 100 finished Friday’s trading session just 0.07% higher at 7,029.2 points after US markets turned lower on a PPI inflation reading of 8.3%, which highlighted the risk of inflation-driven monetary tightening. Worries over the spread of the delta variant and weaker than expected UK GDP growth also weighed on sentiment, with the more domestically-focused FTSE 250 ended ...

London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.4% to 7,051.64 by midday on Friday with sterling also higher despite weaker than expected UK GDP growth. Growth of 0.1% in July compared to a consensus estimate of 0.6%, inhibited by the proliferation of the Delta variant that prevented many workers from being able to participate in the labour market. Significantly the largest sector of the British economy, the ...

The FTSE 100 index was 0.35% higher at 7,048.96 in early trading despite the release of official statistics indicating that Britain’s economic growth in July was significant below expectations. Growth of 0.1% in July compared to a consensus estimate of 0.6%. Growth was inhibited by the proliferation of the Delta variant that prevented many workers for being able to participate in the labour ...

Roland has only been looking after his own investments for around eight years, but he has already turned £350,000 into £1.7 million. This includes an injection of £100,000 after a defined benefit pension was transferred into his SIPP (self-invested pension). The performance equates to an 18% compound annual return per year. He has subsequently had to give £700,000 to his former wife as ...

One of the very few positive effects of last year’s pandemic was an increase in consumers spending on the repair, maintenance and improvement of their flats and houses. Having been confined indoors for months at a time, it didn’t take long for people to set about redecorating and adding more indoor or outdoor space so they could live and work remotely more comfortably. That led to an ...

UK stocks inched higher after two days of strong gains in US markets. At 8.30am the FTSE 100 index was up 7 points to 7,005 points led by house builders and leisure stocks while consumer goods and utility companies were on the back foot. Oil prices retreated slightly after a strong bounce overnight with Brent crude futures dipping 0.2% to $72 per barrel while the gold price retreated to $1,800 ...

Volution (FAN) 400p Gain to date: 121.6% Original entry point: Buy at 180.5p, 9 July 2020 Ventilation products firm Volution (FAN) has been a superb performer since we added it to the Great Ideas portfolio last summer. We were right to conclude that demand for its portfolio of solutions would be supported by Covid-19 with the latest evidence coming in the form of very strong first ...

Stocks eased on Friday as prime minister Johnson warned of a ‘strong possibility’ that the UK would eave the EU on 1 January without a trade deal. The two sides have set a deadline of Sunday to resolve their differences over fishing rights, a ‘level playing field’ and ongoing regulation. At 8.30am the FTSE 100 index was down 29 points or 0.4% at 6,571, pulled lower by telecoms, house ...

Volution (FAN) 244p Gain to date: 35.2% Original entry point: Buy at 180.5p, 9 July 2020 News of positive trading and a new sustainability-linked debt facility have given a lift to Volution’s (FAN) share price. The company says favourable revenue and margin trends seen in late summer have continued into October and November. Further information will be published on 11 ...

Volution (FAN) 189.2p Gain to date: 4.8% Original entry point: Buy at 180.5p, 9 July 2020 After an up-and-down start our faith in ventilation products firm Volution (FAN) is beginning to be rewarded – helped by a fairly robust set of results for the year to 31 July. Alongside the numbers the company announced strong recent trading and a plan to resume dividends for the ...

A 9.4% discount to net asset value at Odyssean Investment Trust (OIT) looks attractive for investors keen to pocket a ready-made portfolio of small caps with significant performance improvement potential. The trust looks to generate attractive total returns, principally through long-term capital growth, by backing often under-researched and undervalued smaller companies. Besides the ...

Volution (FAN) 165p Loss to date: 8.6% Original entry point: Buy at 180.5p, 9 July 2020 Our positive call on ventilation products specialist Volution (FAN) is off to a bit of a shaky start after a mixed trading update (30 Jul) but we still thing its long-term prospects are good. While there was no really bad news in the announcement, the continuing lack of medium-term guidance and ...

There aren’t too many businesses plugged into emerging trends for a post-coronavirus world which trade on attractive valuations but in our view Volution (FAN) is one. Headquartered in Crawley, the company is an international operator engaged in the design, assembly and marketing of ventilation fans, systems and ducting for domestic and commercial buildings. Investors should buy now ...

There are flickers of light at the end of a very long tunnel. Doctors are learning more about Covid-19 every day; how it spreads, which treatments are showing promise, and how to create effective testing methods. Inevitably, after being cooped up during many weeks of lockdown, restrictions are slowly being lifted and consumers and businesses are focusing on how they can transition back to ...

A ‘rockstar’ biotech entrepreneur, the first company boss in a decade to sell shares and a trio of directors cashing in were all involved in the biggest director deals of the past week. The three biggest deals involve biotech company Abcam (ABC:AIM), ventilation product supplier Volution (FAN) and office real estate company Workspace (WKP). The biggest of these comes from Abcam founder ...

‘It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future,’ as they say. Variations of this quotation have previously been attributed to physicist Nils Bohr, writer Mark Twain, movie mogul Sam Goldwyn and baseball player Yogi Berra, yet the identity of the originator is less important that its implication, which feels very relevant for today’s financial markets. The swings in the ...

Well-regarded stock-picker Stuart Widdowson says there is now ‘obvious value’ in UK markets, a domain being shunned by international investors, for the first time in four years. His comments accompany maiden half year results from his new vehicle, Odyssean Investment Trust (OIT), where his first seven portfolio picks are revealed. Odyssean Investment Trust listed on the Main Market in May ...