We start the review on a positive note with the news of two small-cap IPOs (initial public offers), one in the healthcare space and one in the red-hot AI (artificial intelligence) space.Having sold its governance, risk and compliance software business to private equity earlier this year and returned £225 million to shareholders via a buyback and special dividend, business services group Marlowe (

Twentysomething Dinah has an enthusiastic interest in investing:'I began [investing] because I loved it and found it enjoyable. But now I'm investing to get on the property ladder, so that's my motivation. As much as I can, I want to buy a property in London and my timeframe is approximately 10 years - or shorter, depending on where house prices go.'Having started at an intern at a private bank an

Europe has world leading companies spanning most sectors of the market. Many of these businesses consistently generate high returns and have demonstrated an ability to weather economic storms.The good news is many are currently 'on sale' after the turbulence European markets have experienced year-to-date, triggered by red hot inflation, central bank rate hikes and the potential severity of a loomi

Public sector digital technology company Made Tech (MTEC:AIM) has the potential to be a big part of Government plans to get public services online in future.Set-up by founder and chief executive Rory MacDonald in 2008, it quickly developed a reputation for getting the job done, cutting its teeth on projects with the Home Office, DVLA, HMRC, Department for Education, Department for International Tr

- Benefiting from Government digital push- Shares rally 7% - still a third of 122p IPO- More than £50 million of future work already bookedPublic sector digital technology provider Made Tech (MTEC:AIM) has seen growth accelerate, with full-year revenue soaring 120% thanks to significant contract wins across healthcare, central, and local government organisations.The company said in a statement th

The UK's technology sector has been hammered in recent months as investors ditched high growth companies for safer havens amid stock market and geopolitical uncertainty. Hot running inflation risks eating into future profits, which means investors now prefer lower growth companies which are enjoying good profit today, not waiting for bigger earnings years down the line.This shift has had a savage

There are many interesting businesses on the AIM market which fly under the radar as they do not get the same attention as their counterparts on the Main Market. Research coverage by analysts is thin, AIM stocks aren't discussed much in the media, and only fund managers with a mandate to look at small companies might even be aware of their existence.This means there is a big opportunity for invest

Investing in smaller companies often involves greater risk and volatility with the promise of higher rewards, and this perhaps explains why there is a significant disparity between the winners and losers in the European small cap funds space.There's no disputing the star performer and it comes from the investment trust ranks - Montanaro European Smaller Companies (MTE) has an enviable track record

In recent months market commentators have highlighted the diminishing appeal of the London equity market as a destination for fast growing life science and technology companies to make their stock market debut. However, there are still reasons to be optimistic.A fifth of all companies that undertook an IPO (initial public offering) in 2005 selected the London Stock Exchange. A decade and a half la

UK stocks ended the month and the quarter in negative territory, despite positive economic data and a revival across the mining sector, a major contributor to the leading FTSE 100 index, with Anglo American's (AAL) 3% gain topping the leader board.At the close the benchmark FTSE 100 was down 22 points or 0.3% at 7,086 points, with gains in miners and drug maker AstraZeneca (AZN) - up 1.4% after it

UK stocks continued their recovery on Thursday helped by positive economic data and a revival across the mining sector, a major contributor to the leading FTSE 100 index, with Anglo American's (AAL) 3% gain topping the early leader board.At midday, the benchmark FTSE 100 was up 19 points or 0.3% at 7,127, with drug maker AstraZeneca (AZN) contributing to the rally after its Covid vaccine performed

UK stock markets continued their recovery on Thursday helped by positive economic data and a revival across the mining sector, a major contributor to the leading FTSE 100 index, with Anglo American's (AAL) 3% gain topping the early leader board.At 9am, the benchmark FTSE 100 was up 0.57% at 7,148.35, while mid-caps were even stronger, the FTSE 250 rallying 0.7% to 23,316.7.UK GDP increased by 5.5%

Strong revenue gains delivered by QinetiQ's (QQ.) international business is underappreciated by investors and will continue to drive double digit growth. At some point the market will wake up and value the business on a higher rating.Defence, cyber security, evaluation and testing company QinetiQ initiated a new growth strategy four years ago to increase the proportion of international sales from

AlibabaChina offers huge growth potential in 2021 and beyond and Alibaba (BABA:NYSE) is arguably the best way to play this theme.The country?s answer to Amazon, Alibaba owns the largest online marketplaces in China while Alibaba Cloud is the region?s leading cloud platform. The company went public six years ago, and its share price has since risen nearly 300%.Ambitious plans, which include doublin

From a human standpoint, 2020 has proved a shocker of a year, with the unforeseen pandemic wreaking havoc on health and the associated lockdowns precipitating a global economic downturn that may take years to battle back from.Yet paradoxically, 2020 has been anything but negative from a markets perspective, with equity indices roiled by the onset of the crisis then recovering strongly with a boost

Shares in defence and security company QinetiQ (QQ.) gained 9% to 317p after the company delivered first-half revenues and profit ahead of expectations and increased full-year guidance.INCREASED GUIDANCEDespite Covid-19 related disruptions earlier in the year QinetiQ said it was on track to report a fifth consecutive year of organic growth.After reinstating full-year guidance on 30 September indic

QinetiQ (QQ.) 301.7pLoss to Date: 11.5%Original entry point: Buy at 341p, 12 December 2019In a recent trading update defence and security specialist QinetiQ (QQ.) reported strong first-quarter orders and cash generation, despite the challenges presented by Covid-19.QinetiQ is in a more fortunate position than some companies because it provides mission critical services to governments on long-term

Defence and security specialist QinetiQ (QQ.) said first-quarter orders and cash generation to 30 June continued to be strong, but declined to provide guidance due to ongoing uncertainties. The shares rallied 1.6% to 304p.STEADYING THE SHIPProactive management action on costs has increased the resilience of the business, allowing it to maintain a strong balance sheet and position it for continued

Defence and security firm QinetiQ (QQ.) said full year revenues to 31 March 2020 grew 18% and operating profit was up 7%, around 5% higher than analysts were expecting, lifting the shares 5.6% higher to 321p.The company has so far seen limited impact from the global lockdowns, limited to some delays in trial activity and reduced orders. This is because the work QinetiQ does is vital to maintaining

QinetiQ (QQ.) 372.4pGain to date: 9.2%Original entry point: Buy at 341p, 12 December 2019Shares' positive view on QinetiQ (QQ.) was based upon its underappreciated transformation into an integrated global defence and security business with sustainable growth prospects.The third quarter trading update on 4 February confirmed that the group is on track to deliver high single digit revenue growth and