Shares and the stockmarket

Stockpiling and streaming soar, but consumer spending plummets in March

According to the latest consumer spending figures from Barclaycard, in March Brits spent the month stockpiling toilet roll and pasta, and sitting on their sofa...

Thu, 16/04/2020 - 14:51

Half of UK adults expect finances to get worse due to COVID-19

According to the latest ONS figures on the impact of Coronavirus on household finances, almost half of the working age population have seen their work...

Thu, 16/04/2020 - 14:44

Just ten firms now forecast to pay two-thirds of FTSE 100's 2020 dividends

As Smurfit Kappa and Ferguson decide to withhold their next scheduled dividend payments, no fewer than 32 members of the FTSE 100 have...

Wed, 15/04/2020 - 15:17

Stocks are rallying but gold is still leaving them in the dust

After a huge rally, America’s S&P 500 index is up 23% from its lows and therefore back in bull market territory but it is those...

Tue, 14/04/2020 - 16:48

Insurers follow the banks by toeing the regulators’ line on dividends

The FTSE 100’s Big Five banks dutifully cancelled £7.5 billion in dividend payments to shareholders last week as pressure from regulators to keep more capital...

Wed, 08/04/2020 - 15:18

Shell shows dividend determination

Dividend cancellations from WPP and Smiths Group mean that thirteen FTSE 100 members have now decided to withhold £2.7 billion of payments for...

Tue, 31/03/2020 - 14:25

Why a period of calm would be a better sign for US equities

While investors will be taking heart from Tuesday’s double-digit percentage rally in America’s S&P 500 index they will also be aware that such volatility does...

Wed, 25/03/2020 - 17:53

Why investors need to beware that rallies do not become bear traps

Tuesday’s advance in the FTSE 100 was the index’s second-best individual day in its history in percentage terms and its best in both points and...

Wed, 25/03/2020 - 17:44

Secure Trust Bank’s dividend cut suggests Big Five may need to follow

Virgin Money UK suspended dividend payments late last year thanks to a final rush of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) compensation claims and Secure...

Tue, 24/03/2020 - 17:04

Half a billion pounds of dividend cuts announced in one day

It is another brutal day for income-seekers as ten more UK firms announce dividend cuts and an eleventh – Britvic – joins ...

Mon, 23/03/2020 - 15:52

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