Friday Email: 04 September 2015

Every Friday morning our lead analyst Mark Riding sends out his weekly run-down and upcoming events in the investor calendar, like this one:

The FTSE 100 has had a decent week, up about 50 points at Thursdays close although the markets are currently very volatile and it would not surprise if the market fell back again on Friday after a good day on Thursday. Morgan Stanley are predicting good things for the markets from here on in after issuing their 'full house' buy alert.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/11837853/morgan-stanley-capitulation-MSCI-Europe-equities-China-bank-stocks-1998-bonds.html

After a correction (more than 10% drop from the peak) it is not uncommon to have a period of volatility which we are now experiencing but I certainly expect the markets to be well up by the end of year. In my opinion Morgan Stanley will be correct and we will see a big bounce to new all time highs over the next 3-6 months.

In the week past, Ashtead provided the kind of results that we were expecting by beating market expectations with a 26% increase in EPS compared to this time last year. The result has been an increase in the share price of about a quid (10%) which is good in anybody's book, but I expect much more and analysts are going to have to increase their full year forecasts. Along with BHP Billiton, they have helped the trading portfolio grow rapidly this week.

The past week saw very little in the way of declarations with the star performer being Alumasc with a 20% increase in its full year dividend. Firm favourite of ours, Easyjet, also had a good week rising over a quid at one point on Thursday.

The week ahead sees a large number of companies going ex-dividend with the highest yields coming from BHP Billiton and Admiral Group.

Overall, I am now starting to feel bullish. There is a definite disconnect from the markets and the real economy right now which means a potential buying opportunity. From a dividend perspective, yields have been rising rapidly as dividends are growing and share prices are dropping.

Only one new addition to DividendMax this week. Jarvis Securities, which has a good dividend track record and paid a special this year.

Future additions at the request of members include Aberforth Geared income, Blackrock Small companies, Henderson Small companies and PPHE Hotel Group.

This email was originally sent on Friday 04 September 2015

The Friday email is delivered to over 20,000 subscriber’s every week, and remains a widely read run-down of recent events and what investors can expect in the week ahead written by our chief analyst Mark Riding.

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