[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images Will the market take a tumble soon? Or will it power on? Lots of people have opinions on this, although in reality none of us actually knows what will happen next in the stock market. But with the S&P 500 riding high, many investors remain bullish about where we may go from here. It is not just the S&P 500. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq indexes both closed at record highs yesterday (28 October), alongside the S&P 500. On this side of the pond, the FTSE 100 has repeatedly hit new all-time highs…
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[ad_1] Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has long been a labour-intensive business, despite also spending heavily for many years on automation and robotics. It certainly seems to have got a lot right: over the past five years, the Amazon share price has moved up by 52%. Since its 1997 listing, it is up a phenomenal 255,978%. Over the long term, it reportedly plans to replace hundreds of thousands of human roles with robots. It announced this week that it is cutting thousands of corporate roles as AI takes root inside its business. In many ways, Amazon is leading the AI charge. It…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images For years, FTSE 250 polymers specialist Victrex (LSE: VCT) seemed like a solid business — but its share price was higher than I wanted to pay. That has changed, though. The Victrex share price has fallen 64% over the past five years. I bought in along the way, only to see my holding fall below (well below) the price I paid for it. That falling share price has, however, meant that the Victrex dividend yield has risen. It now stands at 9% — well above the FTSE 250 average. Such a high yield can be…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images The Rolls-Royce Holdings (LSE: RR.) share price has doubled in 2025, up around 1,500% over five years. But long-term opportunities are very hard to put numbers on. I’m really torn between expecting further gains and fearing a potential correction. Let’s ask ChatGPT, and see where it pitches the price a year from now. And, as our school exams used to remind us, it’ll get extra marks for explaining its reasoning. I’ve already done some research into analyst forecasts and price targets for Rolls. And I see a target price range from 790p up to 1,440p.…
[ad_1] Private equity (PE) exit strategies have adapted and evolved past the days of smooth IPO runways and quick M&A turnarounds to include continuation funds. The backdrop of low financing costs that encouraged record transaction volumes, rapid fund rotations, and steady exit opportunities have evaporated over the last five years. In today’s high-rate environment, exit options have narrowed, financing has become more expensive, and holding periods have lengthened. Last year, average buyout holding periods rose to 6.7 years from a two-decade average of 5.7 years with the exit backlog now bigger than at any point since 2005, according to McKinsey…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images Over the past five years, British American Tobacco (LSE: BATS) has seen its share price rise 61%. That strikes me as an impressive return, although it is actually lower than the 74% gain seen in the FTSE 100 index of leading companies over that period. But a 33% rise in the British American share price so far this year leaves the FTSE 100’s 17% gain during that period in the dust. The high-yield share has a dividend yield of 6.1%. That is well above the FTSE 100 average of 3.3%. It has raised its dividend…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images. Lloyds Banking Group (LSE: LLOY) shares have climbed 60% in 2025. And they’re up more than 200% over five years. That’s a cracking performance. And forecasts for the next few years are upbeat. I see reasons why City experts have a firm Buy consensus on Lloyds shares at the moment. But I now want to know what AI large language models have to say about the future. Asking AI I asked ChatGPT: “Where will Lloyds shares be this time next year?” And the answer definitely gives me some insight into the usefulness of AI for…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images In a year when an awful lot of FTSE stocks have gone up in price, those that haven’t tend to stick out. This is particularly true if they happen to be a big household name. Today, I’m looking at one heavy faller and asking whether it’s madness to think that this market laggard could actually become a huge winner in time. Big loser The stock in question is discount retailer B&M European Value Retail SA (LSE: BME) — or plain old B&M to you and me. It’s share price has pretty much halved in 2025…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images The chatter about a stock market crash has been deafening. A host of experts have been warning about ‘a big one’ — potentially the worst since the financial crisis or the dotcom crash of 2000. This happens every October. It’s a volatile time, and both the Wall Street crash of 1929 and Black Monday in 1987 hit this month. Yet as I’m writing (29 October), the FTSE 100‘s just hit another all-time high, as the S&P 500 did yesterday. Japan’s flying too, while emerging markets are enjoying their best run in 15 years. The FTSE 100…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images By mid-morning today (29 October), the Next (LSE:NXT) share price was up 6% following publication of the group’s third-quarter trading update. And the retailer appears to be doing very well. As has been a regular feature of its stock market announcements in recent years, it’s upgraded its full-year pre-tax earnings outlook. For 2025, it’s now expecting a profit before tax of £1.13bn, £30m more than previously anticipated. The catalyst has been a strong sales performance. During the 13 weeks to 25 October, it reported a 10.5% year-on-year increase in its top line. Analysts were expecting…