For anyone who owns a FTSE 100, FTSE 250 or FTSE All-Share tracker fund or ETF, there are one or two changes next week as a result of the latest quarterly index review.Investors in these securities don?t need to do anything themselves as the underlying indices ? compiled by FTSE Russell, part of London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) ? will automatically implement the changes from the start of...

Clients seem to be battening down the hatchesSlowing demand will hurt 2024 performance, company saysStock plunges 16% to multi-year lowsToday's update from FDM (FDM) confirmed slowing demand as clients take that bit longer to make decisions and are being that bit more careful with investment budgets.This is not new news, the FTSE 250 technology and technical skills supplier to corporates has...

You have almost certainly never heard of RC365 (RCGH). The payments business joined London's Main Market in March 2022, raising £2 million at 6.2p per share for a £6.7 million market cap. Fifteen months on, the share price has surged more than 2,000% to 154p. The stock is up more than 600% since the start of June this year.Why? Because last month it jumped into the AI (artificial...

FDM (FDM) 987pLoss to date: 16.9%Original entry point: Buy at £11.88, 20 January 2022IT contracting services outfit FDM (FDM) may have been a disappointing performer in share price terms since we flagged its appeal in January but the company is doing well from an operational perspective.As a reminder FDM operates a 'Mounties' model, training up IT consultants or Mounties in return for their...

FDM (FDM) £10.02Loss to date: 15.7%Original entry point: Buy at £11.88, 20 January 2022A clear example of how some share prices have become detached from the fundamentals, FDM (FDM) is making the most of its ability to plug IT skills shortages, as we said it could. Results for full year 2021 saw the company's adjusted operating profits rise 11% to £47.3 million on stable revenues of £267...

We know that good staff are hard to come by in many industries at the moment and the squeeze on technology talent predates the pandemic. This backcloth is great for FDM (FDM) and its army of IT experts, called 'Mounties'.Run by the founding husband and wife team of Rod and Sheila Flavell, the chief executive and chief operating officer respectively, clients mainly come from the banking,...

As the world economy starts to get back to something approaching normal, and with supply chains struggling to keep pace, inflation has once again reared its head.From the UK to Europe, the US and China, consumer and producer prices are rising at a faster pace than politicians and central bankers would like.For investors, this year has been a test of how their portfolios might perform if there...

The FTSE 100 tumbled throughout trading on Wednesday, closing 1.3% lower to 6,567.37, as investor sentiment was hit by a perfect storm of Covid-19 vaccine troubles, anxiety over the US Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy update and a warning from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).A row over vaccine supplies from pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca (AZN) into the EU continued on Wednesday...

UK stocks tumbled throughout morning trading on Wednesday as investors braced for the US Federal Reserve's latest update on monetary policy, due later in the day.The Fed is expected to leave policy unchanged and stick to its ultra-loose stance with near zero interest rates, $120 billion of bond purchases every month and other liquidity relief measures to help the ailing US economy, which is...

UK stocks dipped modestly in early trading on Wednesday after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised its global growth recovery forecast but flagged Britain's severe pandemic impact as likely to drag on its own economic bounce-back.The IMF now expects the global economy to grow 5.5% this year, a 0.3% increase from October's forecast, but cut its UK estimates from 5.9% to 4.5% as virus...

UK shares ended the day stronger with investor optimism lifted by hopes of a US stimulus package being agreed.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are set for talks again today, with hopes growing that the Democrats and Republicans can get a new Covid-19 stimulus package over the line.Having started the day in the red, the UK's benchmark FTSE 100 index closed 0.12%...

The FTSE 100 recouped some of its earlier losses by midday on Tuesday, helped by a falling pound on reports the EU will ignore the UK's Brexit ultimatum, as well as news that US president Donald Trump has returned to the White House.The exporter-heavy index traded relatively flat at 5,939 by 12pm as the pound fell against the euro and dollar.It follows reports from Bloomberg that the EU is...

UK shares opened lower on Tuesday with the FTSE 100 index dipping 0.2% to 5,929 points on lingering doubts about the state of economic recovery.Overnight trading in Asia was mixed with China's Shanghai SE Composite down 0.2% and Japan's Nikkei 225 up 0.5%.Gold prices were slightly lower down 0.1% at $1,911 an ounce and Brent Crude was 0.3% higher at $41.3 a barrel. The pound was up slightly...

IT contracting services firm FDM (FDM) said performance since its first quarter results was comfortably in line with its revised expectations outlined at the end of April.Mounties (what the company calls its contractors) deployed client side as of the 15 June totalled 3,706, a slight contraction from the 3,802 in place at the end of April. 'A robust AGM statement, but the data points suggest...

One of the best performing global funds over the past three years has deep roots in the world of ESG (environmental, social and governance).Since the Baillie Gifford Positive Change Fund (BYVGKV5) emerged in January 2017 it has posted a 110% total return, versus 18.6% for the MSCI World index.The Baillie Gifford fund has even outperformed this year during the global markets sell-off, achieving...

IT contracting services firm FDM (FDM) has joined the lengthening list of companies to pull its dividend as it tries to conserve cash during the coronavirus challenge.The FTSE 250 company was due to pay an 18.5p per share final dividend, worth £20.2m, but this will now not be paid.FDM has also delayed kits AGM as the UK continues with its lockdown policy. The been scheduled for 29 April and...

An acceleration in businesses adopting cloud computing IT is one of the 'most likely' changes in how companies cope in response to the coronavirus outbreak, claims one analyst.Digital transformation is already a structural shift for most businesses and public sector organisations thanks to its operational and cost flexibility. This allows many people to work relatively seamlessly from home...

The Great Ideas section of the digital magazine represents our best ideas each week. We try to publish updates as soon as there has been relevant news, but sometimes all the news comes at once and we don't have space to feature everything.In an effort to catch up on the latest events, we're running the Great Ideas Update section in a slightly different format this week as we have 11 stocks to...

The dictionary definition of quality is 'the degree of excellence of something'. Handmade Hermes scarfs that use high quality silk would fit this description of quality. However, just because a company makes high quality products, it doesn't necessarily mean that the business itself would be considered a quality business by investors.This article looks at three different metrics which indicate...

FDM (FDM) 973pGain to date: 5.3%Original entry point: Buy at 924p, 4 April 2019Just a few weeks on since our original FDM (FDM) investment idea pitch and there are already promising signs for the months ahead.As we explained in detail earlier this month, the IT projects business is pulling back from employing expensive margin-sapping day contractors to concentrate on its Mountie army profit...