Strong momentum continuesNew European NATO ordersRevenue growth and margin guidance raisedTragically, the world is becoming a more dangerous and unpredictable place and business is booming for defence-related stocks as NATO allies ramp-up spending.Among the beneficiaries of this volatile geopolitical backdrop is protective equipment leader Avon Technologies (AVON), the Wiltshire-based outfit...

European equities ended higher on Thursday, with the FTSE 100 and DAX 40 achieving record highs, the former boosted by a dovish tilt to the latest Bank of England decision.Across the Atlantic, weaker US labour data hurt the dollar, amid the expectation that a cooler jobs market could presage an eventual rate cut by the BoE?s US counterpart.At its May meeting, the BoE?s Monetary Policy...

Stock prices in London surged on Thursday afternoon, shaking off a muted morning, as a dovish tilt to the Bank of England?s latest rate hold supported equities.Threadneedle Street maintained bank rate at a 16-year high of 5.25% for the sixth meeting in-a-row. However, two members of its Monetary Policy Committee backed a 25 basis point cut. Seven, Governor Andrew Bailey included, supported the...

As an investor, you should be willing to sell shares in a company should you believe its best days are in the past. You will inevitably get things wrong from time to time and/or the investment case can change and, in these circumstances, you must summon up the courage to click the sell button.Buying low and selling high is the key objective when it comes to investing in shares, but even...

Among the strategies that can richly reward those investors with a bit of patience is dividend growth investing.At its heart this involves putting money to work in companies that compound their earnings over time and convert a high proportion of profits into the cold, hard cash needed to fund consistent increases in the shareholder reward.One fan of this investing style is legendary US fund...

Military equipment business Avon Protection (AVON) continues a worrying run of profit warnings going back to the back end of 2020.Having attained all-time highs around £45 then, the shares now trade at less than a quarter of that level.A 22% drop to £10.38 wipes out gains the company enjoyed along with the rest of the defence sector in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.Today's...

We believe that many smaller companies have fallen too far amid the indiscriminate sell-off this year, and that there is real scope to pick up many well-run, high-quality business at knock-down prices.One of the best ways to take advantage, in our view, is to buy the BlackRock Throgmorton Trust (THRG), one of the very best smaller company investment trusts available.This is a...

For now, the escalating conflict in Ukraine shows no signs of easing. After the initial shock, markets were hopeful the economic impact of the war might be contained as the West's opening salvo of sanctions in response to Russia's invasion (24 Feb) were weaker than some had anticipated.However, any relief soon dissipated as Ukraine put up stiff resistance against the Russian invaders and...

Defence firm Avon Protection (AVON) ticked up 1% to £10.58 as it gave an in-line update on trading and unveiled plans to buy back £18.5 million of its own shares.However, the company, which specialises in respiratory equipment, including gas masks, head protection and body armour, said it expected revenue to be weighted toward the second half of 2022 amid continued longer order lead...

Things are not getting any better for defence firm Avon Protection (AVON). After a sorry 2021 marked by delays and disruption, full year results were accompanied by a cautious outlook on growth for 2022 amid supply chain woes and customer order volatility.In response the shares fell a further 13.7% to 930p, extending its year-to-date losses to more than 70%.Avon makes a range of protective...

UK stocks edged lower on Wednesday after the latest UK inflation reading came in higher than expected, stoking concerns that interest rates might rise, with the FTSE 100 off 0.19% at 7,205.20 early on.The UK consumer price index rose by 5.1% in November, above expectations for a 4.8% increase and marking the highest annual increase in a decade, putting renewed pressure on the Bank of England...

Avon Protection (AVON) £11.15Loss to date: 59%Original entry point: Buy at £26.94, 29 July 2021The latest warning from protective equipment firm Avon Protection (AVON) leaves us with egg on our faces having made the initial buy call in July and then doubled down in August when the company delivered its first revenue warning.Things got even worse on 12 November as Avon revealed new delays on...

Protective equipment outfit Avon Protection (AVON) dived 42.7% to £10.93 as it revealed fresh delays for its body armour division and announced a strategic review of the business.Avon, which makes gas masks, protective head gear and body armour for a range of military, security and emergency services clients said the US Army Vital Torso Protection (VTP) ESAPI body armour plates have...

The FTSE 100 was under early pressure on Friday morning, dragged down by weakness in index heavyweight AstraZeneca (AZN), which produced disappointing third quarter results.Asian trading was generally steady with China's SE Composite up 0.2% and Japan's Nikkei gaining 1.1%.Commodities were weaker with Brent Crude down 0.7% to $82.3 a barrel while Gold prices were 0.4% lower at £1,855 an...

Avon Protection (AVON) £17.86Loss to date: 33.7%Original entry point: Buy at £26.94, 29 July 2021Investors in defence firm Avon Protection (AVON), nursing the wounds from a 13 August profit warning, might have hoped news of a contract win on 8 September would restore some momentum to the share price.However, the $87.6 million award from the US Army did little to arrest Avon's recent slide....

The FTSE 100 index encountered continued selling pressure during Wednesday's afternoon session closing 0.63% lower at 7104.50. The FTSE 250 index also ended the day down by 0.93% at 23,873.25.This was partly in response to comments from James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis who suggested the Fed would start tapering before the end of this year. All the major US...

Avon Protection (AVON) £20.51Loss to date: 22.1%Original entry point: Buy at £26.94, 29 July 2021Sometimes you have to hold your hands up. We called defence and protection kit maker Avon Protection (AVON) wrong.We felt the recent issues the company had been facing were a blip. However, a damaging warning on 13 August proved we moved too early, even if we still think the long-term investment...

Defence and protection kit maker Avon Protection (AVON) had a torrid time after it warned on revenue slumping 24.7% to £22.24.The shares have now more than halved since an earlier warning in December 2020. The impact on performance has come as a result of order delays, supply chain issues and a tight labour market in the US.The net result is that revenue guidance for the 12 months to 30...

London's FTSE 100 opened modestly higher on Friday morning, the blue chip benchmark bid up 0.4% to 7,220.1 points following energy sector share price falls earlier in the week, as investors shrugged off a Delta variant linked sell-off in Asia.The more domestically-focused FTSE 250 firmed 0.1% to 23,770.5 early on, while gold made further gains to $1,760 following yesterday's strong producer...

For a defence and protection kit designer and manufacturer Avon Protection (AVON) stock hasn't provided investors with very much of either during the past year. But we believe this is a temporary blip that has created an excellent buying opportunity for investors to gain access to what has been a high returns story for years.Analyst consensus sees scope for 29% upside to £34.80 if the company...