Excessive exuberance?
Equity markets are soaring and high-spirited investors are piling in. Here in the UK, the FTSE 100 index is a sliver away from reaching an all-time high last seen in 1999; in the US, the S&P 500 index smashed through its previous all-time high earlier this year and is showing few signs of stopping.
This chart from Charles Stanley nevertheless offers a warning signal to investors that things could be overheating. Margin debt levels (how much money investors borrow to bet on stocks) are close to levels last seen in 2007 on the New York Stock Exchange. And we all know what happened next.
Twitter to fly?
Social media microblogging website Twitter floated in New York this week at a top of the range valuation. But what of previous high profile technology floats in recent years. The most obvious example of a botched float was last year’s debut of Facebook, which ramped up its price at the last minute and then watched its shares sink rapidly in the weeks post-float. Unlike other floats of recent years, such as Groupon, Facebook shares have since recovered their losses admirably but still lag sector star Google in terms of post float performance. So will Twitter fly or see its wings clipped?
TV tumble
Global sales of television are set to fall again this year, compounding a disappointing performance in 2012. Research firm IHS suggests that global shipments will fall by 5 per cent this year to 226.7m units following a 7 per cent fall in 2012. The decline is attributed to market saturation in the developed world and falling sales of cathode ray televisions in the developing world with all categories of television likely to experience declines this year.
Classic returns
There has, it seems, been no end to the surge in demand for classic cars. According to figures from Historica Selecta, the value of collector cars sold at auction rocketed another 28 per cent in the 12 months to July. The Italian experts say total sales hit $779m, or nearly £500m, up from $610m in 2012. And the mood remains bullish. "The market has never been as strong as it has been today," says company president Adolfo Orsi. Indeed, the number of cars sold for over $1m accelerated from 94 to 136, and the average price for a classic Ferrari has doubled to $788,000 in just three years.
Commercial property back in favour
Private investors have been turning to commercial property in droves. A net total of £186m poured into open-ended property funds in September – the seventh consecutive month-on-month increase and not far off the £208m gathered in the whole of 2012. This offers one explanation for the nascent recovery in commercial property markets – fund managers have been seeking to deploy cash from private investors. The IPD quarterly index confirmed this month that offices, shops and warehouses outside of London rose in value by 0.8 per cent in the third quarter – the first regional increase since the spring of 2011.
