Expectations of monetary policy are still driving stock markets, but fundamentals matter and this week I drill down into the investment case for another seven companies.
Stock markets continue to perform well, despite worries about the world economy. The value of the S&P 500, the Dow and the Nasdaq have hit record highs in the past week on the expectation of future interest rate cuts, reaffirming that monetary policy has become the tail that wags the dog. Signs of economic strength, which would normally seem good for companies' profits see the stock market go down, whereas bad news sees the market go up.
Both interest rates and future company profits are key to determining the value of stock markets, but it seems that interest rates are all that matter these days. As far as I'm concerned, the quality and scalability of company profits is still important, however. In this week's round-up I run the rule over seven UK-listed companies and assess whether the investment case is positive or not, based on the fundamentals.
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