Every week in Investment ViewPoint: Comment we post timely analysis and opinion on key topics and investment themes, covering market, economic and political events, that could impact your trading decisions.
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| 27 June 2011 |
Ahead of the planned public sector strike on Thursday, UK government and trade union officials will meet to debate the pension dispute. Succession planning for a new Chief Executive continues at the International Monetary Fund, with the two frontrunners (Agustin Carstens and Christine Lagarde) up for discussion. No doubt Greece will continue to dominate the news as the European Union strives to finalise the country’s austerity package. In other news away from the markets, Glastonbury has come to a sunny close, whilst things are starting to heat up in the second week of Wimbledon and the Henley Regatta and Tour de France get under way. In terms of company results, there are a few releases this week that might attract investor attention:
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| 27 June 2011 | International markets - Weekly Movers From a markets perspective, South America took centre stage last week with two nations from the region being the best performers for the week. Chile topped the chart with a return of 3.94% over the seven days, followed closely by Peru, up 3.09%. Indonesia came in third, posting a return of +2.51%. At the other end of the spectrum, the worst performing market across the week was Russia, down 4.09%, followed by last week’s best performer, the United Arab Emirates, whose large cap index was down 3.8% following last week’s gain of +2.43%. European emerging market Hungary was the third worst performer, posting a loss of 3.59%. Looking at individual stocks across international markets, Chinese firms were prominent amongst the top performers from the week. China’s consumer goods firm Li & Fung (SEHK: 0494) was up 13.2%, online service provider Tencent (SEHK: 700) posted a gain of 11.1% and the cement production and sales firm Anhui Conch (SEHK: 914) saw a rise of 10.3%. At the opposite end of the scale, Finland’s energy company Fortum saw the biggest fall of the week, down 12.6%. Italy’s Unicredit (BIT: UCG, FWB: CRI) saw a fall of 10.5%, whilst US pharmacy chain Walgreens (NYSE: WAG) was down 7.3%. You should ensure that you are aware of all the potential risks and downsides before investing overseas. These investments can fall in value. You may get back less than you invested. You also need to bear in mind that international investing comes with a currency risk. Fluctuations in currency could have a negative impact on the value of your investment. To trade in international equities or find out more about the latest international market news and movements, login to International Trader. If you do not yet have an International Trader account, find out more. |
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| 22 June 2011 | International markets - Weekly Movers Last week, the United Arab Emirates large cap index posted the largest growth, with a return of 2.43% across the 7 days. Significantly further behind, it was followed by Pakistan on 0.62%, with Thailand in third place on 0.18%. In contrast, Hungary found itself at the bottom of the international markets table, posting a loss of 8.23%, followed by Sweden, down 6.68% and then Finland, down 6.37%. Looking at individual stocks across international markets, the top performer was Group Danone (Euronext: BN), the French food multi-national which posted a rise of 5.7% across the week. Other impressive performers include Spanish banking group BBVA (BMAD: BBVA, NYSE: BBVA), up 5%; Paccar (NASDAQ: PCAR) the third largest truck manufacturer in the world which rose by 4.2%, and US banking giant Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC), up 4.1%. Last week was not a good week for smart phone manufacturers. The most dramatic faller was Canadian telecommunications company (and developer of the BlackBerry) Research in Motion (TSX: RIM, NASDAQ: RIMM), down 24%, followed closely by HTC, the Taiwan-based smart phone manufacturer, which fell by 14.3%. For the second week in a row, China’s consumer goods firm Li & Fung (SEHK: 0494) was amongst the worst performers, down by 11.7%. You should ensure that you are aware of all the potential risks and downsides before investing overseas. These investments can fall in value. You may get back less than you invested. You also need to bear in mind that international investing comes with a currency risk. Fluctuations in currency could have a negative impact on the value of your investment.
To trade in international equities or find out more about the latest international market news and movements, login to International Trader. If you do not yet have an International Trader account, find out more. |
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| 17 June 2011 | Investing in the Nasdaq – technology and cloud computing NASDAQ is the second largest exchange in the US and the world, second only to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The NASDAQ is known for technology and was the exchange of choice when technology start-ups were looking to list in the tech boom (and subsequent bubble) of the late 1990s. It has retained its focus on technology and for investors interested in that sector, the NASDAQ continues to offer plenty of choice. The fate of the technology bubble is well documented – following the collapse of tech shares in the late 90s and early 00s, the Nasdaq Composite Index fell by almost 40% in 2000. To quote Jim Rogers, “nearly all bull markets end in bubbles” and the NASDAQ bull market certainly bore that out. Since that shake out however, investor confidence in technology has rallied once again and there is currently plenty of activity in the sector that could attract investor attention. Step up, cloud computing. Set to revolutionise computing for individuals and businesses alike, outsourced computing makes almost everything cheaper, faster and easier. From an investment perspective, there are companies well-positioned to benefit hugely and so it follows that there are investment opportunities. There are plenty of well known players getting involved. Apple (AAPL) recently launched iCloud, their venture into the world of cloud, and NetFlix (NFLX) already uses the technology to stream content straight to personal televisions and computers. Other big names in cloud technology include Microsoft (MSFT) and Amazon (AMZN). In fact, Amazon is already renting cloud capacity to users. The key, as with all innovative developments, is to be careful not to overpay on stocks. Cloud is still at a relatively young stage and it is important to take caution over where and when you invest. Look for companies with a global presence and stay strict with yourself on valuations. Crucially, as always you should do your own research. All these stocks and more are available on International Trader. Remember that the value of your investments can fall as well as rise. When you invest internationally, you also need to consider currency risk. Foreign exchange fluctuations could impact the value of your investment. Alternatively, open an account here. |
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| 13 June 2011 | International markets - Weekly Movers Egypt was the international market that made the largest gains last week with a return of 2.98% across the 7 days. It was closely followed by Turkey on 2.81%, with Russia in third place on 2.74%. In contrast, Peru found itself at the foot of the international markets table for the week, posting a loss 15.88%. The South American nation was the biggest faller by a distance, with the nearest nation being Thailand, down 4.95%, followed by Sweden, down 4.69%. Looking at individual stocks across international markets, top performer was German industrial conglomerate ThyssenKrupp AG (FWB: TKA) who posted a rise of 7.7% across the week. Other significant performers were Russian gas giant GazProm (FWB: GAZ), up 6.4% and US insurance giant AIG (NYSE: AIG), up 4.7%. Amongst the biggest international fallers last week were Japanese games firm Nintendo (Pink Sheets: NTDOY, FWB: NTO), down 10.4%, China’s consumer good firm Li & Fung (SEHK: 0494) down 9.5% and US machinery producer Cummins (NYSE: CMI), down 8.4%. You should ensure that you are aware of all the potential risks and downsides before investing overseas. These investments can fall in value. You may get back less than you invested. You also need to bear in mind that international investing comes with a currency risk. Fluctuations in currency could have a negative impact on the value of your investment.
To trade in international equities or find out more about the latest international market news and movements, login to International Trader. If you do not yet have an International Trader account, find out more. |
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| 06 June 2011 | International markets - Weekly Movers Hungary was the biggest market winner last week, with the developing European economy posting a return of 6.6% across 7 days. South Africa was in second place with a rise of 4.57%, followed by Russia on 4.5%. This week Finland propped up the table with a fall of 5.61%, followed by Canada (-2.43%) and Australia (-0.96%). Looking at individual stocks across international markets, amongst the top performers for the week were China’s Li & Fung (SEHK: 0494), the consumer goods firm, who bounced back from a loss of 13.5% last week to rise 9.3% in the week, South Korean financials firm Shinhan Financial (NYSE: SHG), up 5.1% and Hong Kong based American International Insurance (SEHK: 1299), who’s share price also increased 5.1%. The biggest international faller last week was Finland’s Nokia (OMX: NOK1V, NYSE: NOK, FWB: NOA3), who saw a sharp fall of 22.1% across the week. The second biggest faller was US networking hardware firm Juniper (JNPR), down 12.7%, followed by Australian financial giant National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB), who fell 7.8%. You should ensure that you are aware of all the potential risks and downsides before investing overseas. These investments can fall in value. You may get back less than you invested. You also need to bear in mind that international investing comes with a currency risk. Fluctuations in currency could have a negative impact on the value of your investment.
To trade in international equities or find out more about the latest international market news and movements, login to International Trader. If you do not yet have an International Trader account, find out more. |
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| 02 June 2011 | Compass June 2011 – Turbulence may bring opportunity The June 2011 edition of Compass is now available. The Barclays Wealth investment strategy team give their update on current global economic conditions and how they expect the landscape to develop in the near future.
Market observations Compass notes that so far in the second quarter of 2011, global equity markets have remained largely unchanged and unless there are any unforeseen geopolitical or geological surprises, Compass suggests that investors can expect this market ‘flatness’ to continue until July. At that point, the direction of second quarter corporate earnings will start to emerge – always a market influencer. Compass goes on to suggest that in July, markets are likely to react to a lack of activity from US fiscal policymakers. It also notes that any sharp market dips in the interim might be viewed by investors as buying opportunities.
The Dollar is weak, stick with stocks and continue the hunt for yield Compass assesses its ongoing positive stance on developed market equities, against the backdrop of a continuing weak US dollar. Secondly, it looks at the “hunt for yield”, with particular focus on how investors can find income without taking on significant additional investment risk.
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Investment ViewPoint: Comment archive
Investment ViewPoint: Analysis
2011 - The year of the international investor?
What would I look like if I had picked the best performing stocks in the US last year? Well…. I would like to surf and my footwear of choice would be ‘Crocs’.
