Updated 10:57am 20 May 2013

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Andrew Miller

Andrew Miller

Investors worried over S&P downgrade

STANDARD & Poor’s (S&P) confirmed on Friday that France and Austria have lost their coveted AAA ratings and also downgraded seven other euro area countries, including Italy, Spain and Portugal.Read

Consumers to shape growth for year ahead

In many respects, the consumer has carried the weight of the global economy on its shoulders for some time. After being buffeted by the extreme volatility of 2011, can we expect the global consumer to continue to power on? asks Andrew Miller.Read

Markets look ahead with caution

AS A torrid 2011 draws to a close and investors look ahead nervously to 2012 and the next batch of emergency EU summits, potential risks are much easier to spot than opportunities.Read

Past may not be true indicator

WE assume that global economic growth will continue and that the globally diversified corporate sector will benefit.Read

No cause for complacency but we can still hold out hope of seeing some advances

IT has been an extremely tough couple of weeks for equity markets and investors. The initial relief that greeted the agreement to raise the US debt ceiling after seemingly intractable negotiations was overshadowed by a rash of data indicating that the economy was stalling.Read

International Power shows its strength

INTERNATIONAL Power The company reported Q1 trading in April 2011 which was in line with expectations. Proforma revenues are up 9% and volumes up 32%. Read

UK could be in for tougher times

LAST year was a challenging one for the UK. However, as the New year begins, it is becoming clear that the UK’s modest recovery has gathered a bit of steam – with GDP looking to have grown around 1.7% in 2010 compared to 2009.Read

Why there's every reason to stay upbeat

HAVING spent much of the year battling against macroeconomic headwinds, equity markets have surged in recent weeks.Read

How will QE affect markets?

AS Shakespeare might not have put it, QE or not QE - but is that really the question?Read

US can't shake off a feeling of gloom

WORRIES about the health of the global economic recovery have intensified in recent weeks. Of particular concern is the possibility that the US could experience a “double-dip” recession.Read

High yield stocks attractive to investors

WE BELIEVE that income stocks - those that pay out higher than average dividends - are likely to continue to be popular with investors, particularly while market volatility remains high and the economic outlook clouded.Read

HSBC is well placed for lean demand

WE BELIEVE that HSBC is well placed strategically, with improving credit quality allowing the group to take advantage of stronger loan demand in a number of segments and geographies.Read

Takeovers throw up premium opportunity

AT THE start of this year, it was relatively easy to identify factors that could drive up future levels of mergers and acquisitions (M&A).Read

We keep moving in the right direction

SHORT-TERM forecasting can be a perilous business. Just last week we looked ahead to looming US employment and payrolls reports and predicted, like many, that nervousness about a US “double dip” would continue.Read

Expectations of investors are tipped to stay volatile

TO borrow from one of the world’s most famous fictional secret agents: “The name’s Bond – Government Bond.”Read

Cautious optimism over chances of 'double dip'

EVERY so often, market commentators and the media take a phrase or an idea and turn it into an all-purpose "soundbite" that ends up obscuring just about as much as it reveals.Read

ARM looks strong after results beat expectations

ARM Holdings – We continue to reiterate our buy recommendation on ARM Holdings and we raise our fair value to 370p, based on both the improving fundamentals of the semiconductor cycle and positive earnings momentum.Read

Strangest things can happen in the stocks

IN a minute there is time for decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse – TS Eliot. You couldn’t make it up, as they say. After a quarter in which global markets were alternately buffeted by economic worries in the eurozone and reassured by recovery in the US, we learned last week that the eurozone was in fact expanding unexpectedly strongly.Read

Are double dippers right to worry?

RISK assets - equities, credit and commodities - rallied strongly in July. However, we doubt that investor expectations are yet ready to settle definitively in favour of one of the bipolar outcomes - either a stock market boom or a deflationary bust - with which they've been preoccupied these last few months.Read

Compass heading in right direction

COMPASS – We have raised our estimates again following the Q3 trading statement and retain our outperform recommendation on the stock.Read

Author Profile

Andrew Miller is regional office head of Barclays Wealth and formerly worked for Gerard Investments. He writes regular opinion pieces in The Journal where he analyses the North Eastýs listed companies.

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