FEATURES:
With the world awash in newly printed money, concerns are being raised about the prospect of high inflation. Mark Robinson explains how to protect yourself from the 'destroyer of prosperity.'
Pumping money into domestic France is currently fraught with danger, but a reformist drive could reverse fortunes and it has plenty of global companies worth buying. Lee Wild reports.
Our benchmark portfolios show that momentum profits have returned - and they also highlight an advantage that retail investors have over professional fund managers, says Chris Dillow.
SEVEN DAYS:
■ All you need to know about investing in the past seven days: what's rising, what's falling and what's making the headlines.
NEWS:
■ Falkland Islands updates from Borders & Southern and Argos Resources
■ Genel strikes light crude in Kurdistan
■ Fastnet gets good news on Shanagarry
■ Shareholder anger at incentive deal for Persimmon executives
■ Listed student accommodation fund scores A-.
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK:
■ Wage trouble: A long-term fall in real wages could hold back the recovery.
■ Next week's economics: Next week's numbers could show that overseas economic growth is picking up, but that the UK recovery is being held back by falling real wages.
COMMENT:
■ Our columnists offer in-depth analysis and investment ideas:
■ Chris Dillow: A model theory - Laboratory experiments can teach us a lot about how real stock markets work. Plus, our investment decisions can be influenced by non-rational factors of which we might be unaware. Read more articles by Chris on his comment page.
■ Mr Bearbull: Lenin and the bankers - The world's central bankers want to party. It's dangerous, but it seems churlish to ignore them.
■ Chronic Investor: The evolution of small company finance.
YOUR MONEY:
Financial planning, tax and investment wisdom:
■ Reader Portfolio: Portfolio palpitations - This reader holds a mixture of funds and equities with the aim of building capital for the future and income for near-term needs, but she could achieve this with fewer equity funds to cut costs.
■ Financial planning: End the confusion on new state pensions.
■ SmartMoney: New fund tax will hit platform investors hard
SHARE TIPS OF THE WEEK:
■ If security is what you crave, look no further than this company - it boasts an attractive yield, an excellent dividend growth track record and is cheap compared with peers which should spell a re-rating.
■ After a fantastic run, we're wary of the sizeable premium this share is trading at. Its market is subdued and a re-rating could lie ahead.
■ Here's a penny share ready to soar. There are risks, but against that are proven oil reserves and a development programme that's low cost.
■ This engineering specialist looks set to gain substantially from an upturn in US construction and its self-help action.
FUND TIP OF THE WEEK:
■ An experienced manager, low charges and excellent performance record add up to a strong case for piling in to this investment trust.
BROKERS' TIPS:
■ ICAP
SHARE TIP UPDATES:
■ Quintain
FUNDS:
■ Fund news: Investors are overlooking crucial costs and taxes.
■ In the doghouse: Close Special Situations has performed poorly in recent years, but its manager argues that the portfolio contains a significant amount of value.
■ ETFs: Can you really diversify income with ETFs?
■ The big theme: Asian opportunities beyond China and India.
SHARES:
■ Stock screen: Six small-cap special situations.
■ Sector focus: Constructing a future income.
■ The lowdown on the latest company results:
■ Blur
■ Globo
■ Directors' dealings: Notable transaction at Hiscox, plus a table of all boardroom share trades.
■ Week ahead: A summary of key company announcements expected in the coming week.
TAKEOVERS:
■ Download this week's takeover tables as a PDF.
TRADING:
■ Trading news: Sainsbury pulls clear of the field.
■ The Trader: One more heave higher.
The Trader, Dominic Picarda, publishes his outlook for ten major equity, currency and commodity markets on a daily basis (although he is currently on annual leave until 17 April). You can view his articles on his comment page, or sign up to The Trader's market outlook emails.
