Expert Views

Income portfolio worth contemplating as alternative to cash ISA

Thursday 05 Apr 2012

Since we reshuffled the constituents of the Fundamentalist Five, Digital Look's virtual high income portfolio, back on January 26th both the Footsie and our portfolio have taken a bath. Read More

Should the next generation bother to buy a property?

Monday 02 Apr 2012

There seems to be a given rule that we all have to own some property, and that's what we 'should do', and invest in good solid bricks and mortar. Surely it is usual for us in Britain, after all 'an En... Read More

China's changing - consumers and commodities

Tuesday 27 Mar 2012

Just in case we hadn’t noticed, there are some significant issues going on in this burgeoning economy. Unfortunately much of the coverage in the UK seems relatively simplistic without really appreciat... Read More

Are fashion fads fading faster?

Monday 19 Mar 2012

Have you noticed how the speed of corporate ageing seems to have been rising exponentially - corporate histories seem to have an ageing process worthy of various characters out of a Rider Haggard ripp... Read More

A Budget for business enterprise - not more business initiatives and acronyms

Monday 12 Mar 2012

So just how many company finance initiatives do you think we have? Political leaders have, over the years, taken great pride in launching their own initiative, their pet idea - new fresh and different... Read More

The USA: In Star Trek-speak, 'It's a recovery, Jim, but not as we know it'

Monday 05 Mar 2012

Well we shouldn't complain. The USA has had three months of consecutive growth in employment, and the number registered for unemployment benefits has fallen. We can add to this that most of the corpor... Read More

UK economy: more positive points than negative

Monday 27 Feb 2012

The growth figures may be insipid, the headlines may seem dour but the reality, while not being exactly the opposite, are certainly not as negative as some would imply. There are some positive dots th... Read More

Learn a lesson from the Americans

Monday 20 Feb 2012

Following my comments about the missing financial infrastructure in the UK, I was recently comparing the US banking and financial structures with our own. Now, of course, their banking system has neit... Read More

Changing sentiment towards the euro?

Monday 13 Feb 2012

I am indebted to Chris Charlton from the foreign exchange specialists, Centa Asset Management in Frankfurt who regularly produces fascinating views and opinions on the varying strengths of the differi... Read More

'Get off our back' is the message from Barclays

Friday 10 Feb 2012

In a reflection of the pressure the banking community is under, the full year results announcement from Barclays started not with a highlight of the profits but with a review of what it calls 'citizen... Read More

This missing financial infrastructure - and it's not the banks!

Tuesday 07 Feb 2012

Oh please stop wringing your hands, politicians, and apparently blaming everyone else except yourselves. From 'banker and business bashing' to Euro carping, they cannot just pass off the responsibilit... Read More

Doom and Boom?

Monday 30 Jan 2012

In a week we have gone from headlines highlighting the apparent demise of the UK economy on Wednesday to the announcement that we are now in a bull market for equities (on the basis that certain indic... Read More

Year three for the Fundamentalist Five

Thursday 26 Jan 2012

The Fundamentalist Five, Digital Look's virtual high income portfolio, is into its third year and, as outlined in a recent article, it is time for the annual reboot. Read More

Renminbi Rising

Monday 23 Jan 2012

George Osborne's efforts last week to try and establish London as the Western centre for the trading of the Chinese currency (the renminbi) should be congratulated; however, some of the headlines see... Read More

The Fundamentalist: Time to hang up on Voda and stub out BATs

Thursday 19 Jan 2012

It is the time of year to review the constituents of the high-yield virtual portfolio known as the Fundamentalist Five to see whether any changes need to be made. Read More

The gift of foresight? No - the reality of returns

Monday 16 Jan 2012

At the start of the year all the investment houses like to roll out their investment plans with such confidence and aplomb. This year, you will be assured, they will have thought it through even bette... Read More

Shafts of light in leaden skies

Tuesday 10 Jan 2012

I can only presume that most of the population must have comforted themselves with excessive amounts of alcohol to try and negate the seemingly unremitting gloom that was aired throughout the holiday ... Read More

The Fundamentalist: Divi income on the rise for Fundamentalist Five

Monday 09 Jan 2012

It is time to revisit the Fundamentalist Five, the virtual high income portfolio created back in early 2010. You can read about the origins of the project and the rationale behind it in this article,... Read More

This week - next year ...

Tuesday 03 Jan 2012

I have to say that I am sick to death of all the doom-mongers and depressants that seem to be continuously preaching to us at the moment. From the tales of our economic woes through to the geo-politic... Read More

Footsie clunkers of 2011

Thursday 22 Dec 2011

Having had a quick shufti at the best performing FTSE 100 stocks of 2011, it is time to have a look at the clunkers. Read More

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