Financial Analyst, former management consultant, equity research analyst Bruce Packard started his career at Credit Suisse followed by various banks and stockbroking firms before quitting The City to work in financial PR, Litigation finance and finally financial education. In 2008 he predicted the nationalisation of the UK banking industry.
I’m a self-invested, low frequency, buy and hold investor focused on quality. As well as writing for ShareScope I like to capture my financial analysis and non-conformist thoughts on my own blog brucepackard.com. I also used to own a craft beer bar in Berlin and for fun play beach volleyball (unlikely to turn professional though).
A look at why bull markets climb a “wall of worry”, but crashes are fast and brutal. Companies covered VLX, BOOM and CNC. It’s been a wild couple of weeks! Here’s a Sharescope chart of how the major indices have performed since 2nd April. Apologies for the amount of red in the chart… The
A look at Larry Fink’s letter to BlackRock shareholders. The US asset manager has $11.6 trillion of AuM, and saw $281bn of inflows in Q4 alone. Companies covered AVON, BWY, VTY and FRAN. The FTSE 100 was flat over the last 5 days, at 8680. US indices had a difficult week, with the Nasdaq100
Indicators in the government bond, corporate credit and commodity markets, suggest little contagion from the sell-off in US equities. Companies covered: JUST, SOM and SRC. – The FTSE 100 was up +2.5% in the last 5 days, to 8,710. Nasdaq100 is now down -5.7% YTD and the Nasdaq Composite is the worst-performing major index, down
A look at Buffett’s rudimentary textual analysis of management discussion of mistakes and errors. Companies covered: QTX, IPF, WATR. The FTSE 100 was up +2% in the last 5 days to 8,832, helped by a blistering rally in Aerospace and Defence stocks, Rolls Royce +28% and BAE Systems +18%. Over the same time, the Nasdaq100
A look at some of Cathie Wood’s “Big Ideas” and ARKK ETF portfolio. Companies covered PRV, PZC and BATS. The FTSE 100 ended the week around 8,735, up +0.4%. The Nasdaq100 and S&P500 were up +1.2% and +0.5%, respectively. The best-performing index YTD has been the FTSE China 50, +15% followed by the German DAX
A look at Rory Sutherland’s idea of “slow intelligence”, and if it makes sense to make processes less efficient. Companies covered: RNWH, BBSN, FEVR. We’ve seen significant volatility over the last couple of weeks, first with Nvidia’s reaction to DeepSeek’s AI model then Donald Trump’s tariff announcements. After all that, the FTSE 100 ended
A look at a couple of stocks that are off 80-90% from their highs, but which may have formed a bottom with a +20% bounce last week. ONT and FDEV, plus taking a look at IKA. The FTSE 100 bounced +3.6% last week to 8,524. That’s ahead of the Nasdaq100 up +2.8% and the S&P500
A review of investing ideas for 2025, including AVAP and AT. plus financials WISE and FCH. Also covered TMG’s disposal of its US operations. The FTSE 100 didn’t see much of a “Santa Rally”, down -1% since the start of December. Nasdaq100 and S&P500 were up +1.9% and down -1.5%, despite enjoying a very
A look at how the Nasdaq’s 2021 vintage of IPOs has compared to the same vintage on AIM. Companies covered: FTC, IPX, GDWN. The FTSE 100 fell -2% to 8081 last week. The S&P500 and Nasdaq hit all-time highs, but then sold off -2% following a “hawkish rate cut” from the Fed. That is, the
A look at the capex boom from Artificial Intelligence and data centres, and who the winner(s) might be. Companies covered: W7L’s bid for BAR, EAH and VNET. The FTSE 100 was flat last week at 8,328. The Nasdaq100 was much stronger +3.3%, while the S&P was up around +1% over the last 5 trading days.
A look at whether rising Natural Gas prices might threaten the market rally, and whether renewables might help offset the pain. Companies mentioned NESF, TAM, TRU and MTEC. The FTSE 100 was up +2.3% last week to 8,294, helped by a weak pound. The pound has fallen -6% from 1.34 against the dollar to 1.26
A look at how different asset classes have responded to the US election result, and whether there might be some inconsistent thinking therein. Companies covered: ZTF, TCAP and SFOR, plus a brief look at the AQX bid approach. The FTSE 100 was down around -0.5% last week to 8,125. In the US, the Nasdaq100