FEATURES:
■ Mini-bonds under the microscope
The credit crunch has spawned a whole new asset class in mini-bonds, but despite the promise of bumper coupons, investors have to exercise the same level of rigorous analysis. Julian Hofmann reports.
David Stevenson admits to a disappointing quarter, but sees greater opportunities in equities over the medium term.
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.
CHARTS OF THE WEEK:
■ Our selection of the most interesting charts published this week.
NEWS:
■ Government borrowing to fall sharply.
■ Iran deal a temporary respite.
■ Price woes chill renewables.
■ Premier Oil outlines bond offer.
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK:
■ Escaping stagnation: Chris Dillow says the UK has little hope of escaping "secular stagnation."
■ Next week's economics: The UK economy is doing better then the eurozone, next week's figures could show - and the chancellor might well point this out in his Autumn Statement.
COMMENT:
Our columnists offer in-depth analysis and investment ideas:
■ The Editor: Delivery dramas - Was the Royal Mail's IPO underpriced or has the market got ahead of itself? Probably a bit of both.
■ Chris Dillow: An American victory: US shares have been outperforming the UK for years. UK investors should hope this continues. Also see:
- When rules are right: Simple rules of thumb for investors can do as well as more sophisticated strategies.
- Inflation hope for shares: Falling inflation predicts higher returns on equities.
Read more articles by Chris Dillow on his comment page.
■ Simon Thompson has written the following articles this week:
- Cash in on a Russian property play: The Russian warehouse developer released an impressive trading update, which clearly piqued other investors' interest.
- Time to make friends up north: Simon Thompson says it is time to gain exposure to the property in the regions.
- Conundrums to solve: Investing in the stock market is never a one-way street, and sometimes you have to make some difficult decisions.
- An app investment: There are not many cash-rich software companies offering exposure to high growth m-commerce and e-commerce at a reasonable price, but this is definitely one.
- Betting on a Christmas rally: With short odds on a market rally through December, jumping the gun now and going long of the UK index is the smart option.
- As safe as houses: Buying the UK housebuilding sector now is a sound move based on fundamentals, and history is on your side too.
- Kalibrate to fuel Eurovestech: The float of a fast-growing fuel pricing software company is set to reveal significant hidden value in the small-cap investment company.
- Dial into cloud-based profits: This small-cap software company is performing well and as demand for its cloud based applications grows, so should its share price.
- Bovis poised to break-out: Shares in the housebuilders are about to enter a seasonally strong period and this bodes well for a price break-out.
Read more articles by Simon Thompson on his comment page.
■ Trader: Frothing higher - The scarcity of bears around right now harks back to earlier major tops in US equities.
The Trader, Dominic Picarda, publishes his outlook for ten major equity, currency and commodity markets on a regular basis. You can view his articles on his comment page, or sign up to The Trader's market outlook emails.
■ Mr Bearbull: The bitcoin phenomenon - Does bitcoin have more in common with respectable central banks or 17th century Holland's mania for tulip bulbs?
■ Property Matters: Dispatch from Amsterdam - The housing markets of the Netherlands and Britain have a remarkable amount in common
YOUR MONEY:
Financial planning, tax and investment wisdom:
■ Portfolio: Our young investor needs to learn from her investment mistakes and rebalance several of her holdings.
■ Financial planning: Flexible drawdown myths busted.
■ Smart Money: Are you unhappy with your stockbroker's service? Investors who are unhappy with the standard of customer service from their stockbroker need to speak up.
SHARE TIPS OF THE WEEK:
■ Snap up shares in this home furnishings retailer. Having built its success on offering a wide choice of competitively priced products, it's well run, cash rich and expanding fast.
■ A change in government education policy may have hit this technology supplier but it is still awash with cash and is now focusing on highermargin software and services.
■ Here's a chance to buy into a recovering property market and on a wide discount, too. We expect the continuing rebound in prices to lift this company's shares even further.
■ Strong top-line growth coupled with a lowly enterprisevalue-to-expected-sales ratio of just one, and the potential for margin stabilisation to positively impact sentiment, makes shares in this pub group an enticing, albeit somewhat contrarian, prospect.
FUND TIP OF THE WEEK:
■ Don't pay for your income with woeful growth. If you hold this poorly-performing global growth and income investment trust, we think it's high time to sell.
SHARE TIP UPDATES:
■ Hangar 8
■ Novartis
FUNDS:
■ Fund news: UK smaller companies funds outperform as riskier assets rise.
■ Shares I love: Margaret Lawson, manager of the SVM UK Growth Fund , explains why she invests in engineering firm IMI.
■ Top 100 funds: Prospects look good for Impax.
■ The big theme: Does Europe still offer value?
■ ETFs: Don't follow the herd with popular UK ETFs.
■ Interview: Stock-picker Peter Webb makes a strong return to smaller companies fund management.
SHARES:
■ Stock screen: PIGS that roar.
■ Sector focus: Out of favour outsourcers
■ The lowdown on the latest company results:
■ Assura
■ Britvic
■ Compass
■ Dart
■ Findel
■ Future
■ Investec
■ KCOM
■ Optos
■ Paragon
■ PayPoint
■ Qinetiq
■ Renew
■ Scapa
■ Vp
■ Directors' dealings: Notable transactions at Serica, 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.
