AFTER a stellar run since March, equity markets ran out off of puff in October. Since then, stock markets have failed to perform at anything like their pre-October pace.Read
DEBENHAMS – We have upgraded our recommendation on Debenhams to buy. The retailer, which has 144 stores and £2.3bn in revenue, has some of the cheapest stock in our coverage, with a 10.2x 1-year forward P/E on our 8p estimate.Read
Indeed, import numbers for most commodities continue to significantly exceed the most optimistic expectations, while currency effects – notably the weak US dollar – have added to upward price trends for many commodities.Read
CORPORATE bonds have enjoyed a strong rally since markets found their feet in early March. However, just like ordinary Government bonds, fixed-rate corporate bonds should look less attractive when interest rates eventually rise.Read
THE equity market rally ran out of steam in October, with the MSCI World index posting its first negative monthly return since February. To see markets hit by profit taking following the long and strong rally from March's lows perhaps comes as little surprise to many investors.Read
OVER the past year the leisure sector has taken a battering. It should come as no surprise that consumers have curbed their discretionary spending – but is it all doom and gloom and 2-for-1 offers for the leisure sector for the foreseeable future?Read
BAe Systems – We expect good growth. There is scope for upside surprises and it has a strong balance sheet to fund acquisitions. We believe this is attractive against recession- impacted earnings and cash-flow pressures elsewhere.Read
ALTHOUGH equity markets have been in good form for much of the year, economic data releases have continued to give investors cause for concern – most notably last Friday’s announcement that the UK economy continued to contract in the calendar third quarter.Read
ALTHOUGH the global economy seems to have escaped a depression, it’s clear that the slowdown experienced last year and early this has done considerable damage to many of the world’s leading economies.Read
ADMIRAL GROUP - We are retaining our outperform recommendation on Admiral, with a fair value of 1450p. Admiral has a simple, but very strong, underlying business model focusing on UK motor insurance.Read
STERLING has enjoyed a strong recovery since March of this year, supported by the marked improvement in investor risk appetite and the pickup in the global economy.Read
WE have witnessed a remarkable recovery in risky asset prices since March. Now there are growing signs that the world economy itself is on the mend. But does this mean that the outlook for the future is rosy? The answer, unfortunately, is possibly not.Read
SMALLER listed companies (or "small caps") tend to be particularly sensitive to the economic cycle as measured by both top-line revenue and profits growth.Read
MINING companies' earnings fell sharply in the first half of this year. But the sector remains well positioned to benefit from global recovery. With demand now picking up, growth in supply of many metals is still lagging.Read
EQUITY markets have started to run out of steam following their impressive gains since the March lows. Oddly, this is happening against a background of better-than-expected economic and corporate earnings data.Read
THE initial "green shoots" of economic recovery have started to grow and branch out recently – much as many economists expected. This was helped by the sheer passage of time, as inventory cutting has proceeded.Read
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.
