Prices and Markets

2018 – the return of volatility A trade war, Brexit, US interest rate rises, slowing Chinese growth, a US government shutdown, a dispute over Italy’s budget, the Skripal poisonings, numerous elections – there was plenty to worry about in 2018. A last-minute dive left the US market in negative territory.Sterling continued to weaken.The Chinese currency weakened against the US dollar.Chinese domestic stocks were amongst the worst performing over the year.The oil price see-sawed, breaking $86 in early October before crashing to...

Russia’s economy benefitted for much of 2018 from a recovery in the oil price and rising prices for a range of other commodities. A weaker rouble has offset the recent oil price fall. Oleg Biryulyov, longstanding manager of JPMorgan Russian Securities (JRS), has many years of experience managing Russian equities. He is comforted by prospect of rising dividends over thecoming year. JPMorgan Russian Securities – Expert access to attractively valued market When QuotedData last wrote on JRS, attention was drawn...

In 2018, Aberdeen Emerging Markets (AEMC) gave up the gains it made in 2017; this left its shares trading on a 3.9% dividend yield (one of the highest in its peer group) and a wider discount to its net asset value, currently 15.0%. The shift was largely one of sentiment, investors were worried about the potential effects of rising US interest rates and a US trade war with China on emerging markets. Emerging market currencies weakened and funds focused on the sector experienced...

QuotedData’s economic roundup – January 2019 is a collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or sell any of the companies mentioned. Kindly sponsored by Polar Capital. Roundup The big event of December was the sell-off in US markets. Sharp falls left all major...

QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – January 2019 is our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of December 2018. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. Extract from money raised and returned in December The only new issue in December was of SDCL Energy Efficient Income, a fund designed to benefit from financing schemes aimed at improving energy efficiency such as LED lighting. Primary Healthcare...

BlackRock Throgmorton Trust – Throg’s shorts shine – With a decision on Brexit looming and US rates climbing, many investors appear to have adopted a more defensive stance. Dan Whitestone, manager of BlackRock Throgmorton Trust (THRG), has reduced the portfolio’s net exposure to markets to well below 100%, taking profits on some positions. Otherwise, Dan’s focus remains on the long-term drivers of growth. His ability to short (taking a negative exposure to) companies with unsound business models gives him another way of...

SIP (Systematic Investment Plan) is a way people invest in mutual funds. SIPs allow the investors to make regular investments in any mutual fund. This ensures that there are regularity and discipline in the savings. When NAV (Net Asset Value) gets higher, the investor will get fewer units. When the NAV gets lower, the investor is likely to get a greater number of units. Over time this gets evened out. ULIP (Unit Linked Insurance Plan) is a sort of financial...

One of the ways in which we can monitor the changes in an economy and the extent to which these changes might affect other economies is through the careful analysis of commodities. Commodities range from oil to corn, gas to coffee to silver and gold (and formerly even onions!) A commodity is used to measure the impact of events on a nation’s economy as the commodity has a fixed value that can be used to benchmark. However, events occur worldwide that...

QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – December 2018 is our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of November 2018. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. Read more Extract from ‘winners and losers’ The Californian wildfires took their toll on CatCo Reinsurance as it warned that these could impact on its NAV materially. Subsequent to the month end, we found out that the company’s manager was under...