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Ceri Jones

Ceri Jones worked in the City as a credit analyst before joining Financial Times Business where she edited leading personal finance magazines for over 20 years, including eight years at the helm of Investors Chronicle. In 2002, she retired to see more of her four children, but now finds herself busier than ever. Thrice winner of the Pensions Journalist of the Year award, she has written several books on personal finance, including this year the Guide to Alternative Investment. She lists gap years and marathons amongst her recreations in Who's Who.
  • Speculate to accumulate
    Ceri Jones
    04.11.09
    Ceri Jones gives an introduction to spreadbetting, and examines the advantages of this investment technique and the reasons behind its growing popularity.
  • A new gravy train in town?
    Ceri Jones
    01.10.09
    The financial crisis knocked confidence in structured products, but previous niche areas such as ETFs have blossomed, as Ceri Jones shows.
  • A walk in the dark
    Ceri Jones
    14.09.09
    Opportunities and hidden traps confront investors in quoted companies with pension scheme deficits. Ceri Jones explains what to watch out for.
  • Pump up your global trading
    Ceri Jones
    08.09.09
    In our continuing series on alternative trading stategies Ceri Jones assesses the strengths and weaknesses of spreadbetting on international companies such as Microsoft or Volkswagen rather than buying the underlying shares.
  • A view to a killing
    Ceri Jones
    22.07.09
    The short-term volatility of physical commodities and related shares is attracting the interest of spreadbetting traders with a taste for risk and high returns, says Ceri Jones.
  • Time to fight back
    Ceri Jones
    06.07.09
    The Budget's new pension rules have hit high earners particularly hard, but there is a way to benefit from salary sacrifice and turn income into gains, finds Ceri Jones.
  • Get more for your trades
    Ceri Jones
    03.07.09
    Many investors view CFDs as the preserve of stock market junkies. While that is true of some types of trade, Ceri Jones explains why they are useful for managing risk or backing a hunch.
  • Getting to grips with technical analysis
    Ceri Jones
    05.06.09
    Stock market traders have searched in vain for the perfect indicator of asset price movements. However, there are a number of analytical tools that offer valuable insights into the likely direction of individual shares and wider indices, writes Ceri Jones.
  • Raise your stakes
    Ceri Jones
    08.04.09
    Ceri Jones gives an introduction to spread betting, and looks at the advantages of this investment technique and the reasons behind its popularity.
  • This is not the bottom of the market
    Ceri Jones
    30.03.09
    Following one of biggest bounces in stock market history, Ceri Jones, asks the big question. Was that the bottom of the market? Probably not, she says.
  • Inflation is the policy of last resort
    Ceri Jones
    23.03.09
    As the US and UK Governments run out of economic tools, they're faced with a stark choice: a repeat of the stagflationary 1970s or a repeat of the Great Depression.
  • Cash-rich tech companies
    Ceri Jones
    17.03.09
    Technology is one of the few sectors where corporate balance sheets are strong and companies are cash generative. Business is booming, says Ceri Jones.
  • Gold rush could presage crash
    Ceri Jones
    11.03.09
    Gold is widely perceived as a safe haven, and hedge against inflation, but there are two huge flaws in the bullish argument says Ceri Jones.
  • Fighting for their lives
    Ceri Jones
    03.03.09
    UK life assurers plunged in February, as investors feared they'd have to raise more capital, but some are more at risk than others. Ceri Jones investigates.
  • Consider investment trusts for your ISA
    Ceri Jones
    26.02.09
    When looking to enhance an ISA, don't forget about investment trusts. They come with a spread of assets, which, in the right market, can boost your portfolio, finds Ceri Jones.
  • Seek your path to profit
    Ceri Jones
    26.02.09
    Whether you‚ are starved for income or looking for longer-term growth opportunities, undervalued assets abound on the markets. Ceri Jones expands on 10 investment themes carrying varying degrees of risk for investors to consider buying into.
  • Take advantage of Eastern promise
    Ceri Jones
    26.02.09
    Asian markets took a tumble in 2008, falling lower than their western counterparts. But they offer excellent growth potential and are expected to recover more swiftly, so the region should provide a useful boost for stocks and shares ISAs, finds Ceri Jones.
  • Searching for income
    Ceri Jones
    23.02.09
    This year we're likely to see the largest decline in dividends since 1942. Ceri Jones picks out the companies most likely to pay-out after the bloodbath.
  • Software to lead us out of recession
    Ceri Jones
    18.02.09
    It may be 2010 before the US leads us out of recession, but when it does IT, materials and energy are likely to be the main beneficiaries.
  • Investment Trusts at huge discounts
    Ceri Jones
    11.02.09
    Investment trust prices are at their lowest relative to net asset value for twenty years. Ceri Jones investigates the trusts that promise most, for the least.
  • Smaller companies at bargain prices
    Ceri Jones
    04.02.09
    Investors are divided on smaller companies. Although they fall hardest in bear markets and recover quickest in bull markets, the first six months after the inflection point is a dangerous time.
  • Conglomerates have their moment
    Ceri Jones
    26.01.09
    From publisher Pearson to engineering firm Costain, Ceri Jones says that conglomerates are showing that in difficult times, owning diverse business can be an asset.
  • Gaming: Let's play
    Ceri Jones
    20.01.09
    While cinema, music and television all struggle, the video gaming industry is enjoying a spectacular revival, says Ceri Jones.
  • Brazil to be surprise of 2009
    Ceri Jones
    14.01.09
    Brazil's facing a slowdown in GDP from 5% to 2.5% in 2009, but that's the kind of problem the West would love. Investors are focusing on its young affluent population.
  • An astonishing year in banking
    Ceri Jones
    02.01.09
    After the year banks have had, it's no surprise investors are shunning bank stocks but, says Ceri Jones, some of the building blocks for recovery are in place.
  • Shops face up to Scrooge's Christmas
    Ceri Jones
    02.01.09
    Retailing is grappling with the toughest conditions for 25 years. It's online supermarkets, discounters, fashion retailers and second-hand stores that are faring best, says Ceri Jones.
  • China to charge
    Ceri Jones
    24.12.08
    Corporate bonds and sovereign debt offer a better route to riches before stockmarkets - led by China - leap ahead, says Ceri Jones.
  • Meltdown continues
    Ceri Jones
    24.12.08
    Commodity prices have been trashed in the past six months and even gold has melted back from its highs. With the odd exception, there is probably more pain to come, says Ceri Jones.
  • Targeting next year's winners
    Ceri Jones
    23.12.08
    Companies in the defence, insurance and construction industries with strong balance sheets, little debt, and earnings visibility should win in 2009.
  • Environment: Buy the fundamentals
    Ceri Jones
    16.12.08
    Like most sectors, environmental stocks have been trashed recently, but that means large, quality companies with long-term contracts are now very cheap.
  • Russia in the frontline
    Ceri Jones
    09.12.08
    Highly indebted Russia is in the frontline of the credit crisis, and with oil prices heading below $40 a barrel, the Government must dip in to its reserves.
  • A little stimulus for construction and insurance
    Ceri Jones
    01.12.08
    The Chancellor's not Scrooge, but he's certainly no Father Christmas. Construction and insurance company chiefs may breathe a little easier after the pre-Budget report, though.
  • Keeping the China dream alive
    Ceri Jones
    24.11.08
    As construction companies, steel producers and exporters cut back, it's the increasingly prosperous Chinese consumer keeping investors' hopes alive.
  • Bond market is buyers' market
    Ceri Jones
    17.11.08
    Forced selling by funds has created a buyers' market in corporate bonds, says Ceri Jones. Spreads over 16.7% are higher than during the Great Depression.
  • Rate cuts will not end crisis
    Ceri Jones
    10.11.08
    The rate cut has failed to shock the financial system back to life, says Ceri Jones, and most investors expect one more capitulation. Then it will be the turn of the small-fry.
  • BRICs to the rescue
    Ceri Jones
    09.11.08
    Commodity prices and natural resources shares are in freefall. Ceri Jones asks whether emerging market demand can help them bounce back.
  • M&A and insider dealing
    Ceri Jones
    03.11.08
    The FSA is cracking down on insider dealing, but with merger and acquisitions activity still strong, Ceri Jones believes 2009 could be a good year for crooks.
  • Tobacco market not as healthy as it was
    Ceri Jones
    27.10.08
    Tobacco would be a dream investment, if it didn't kill people. New regulations in the US could be a turning point for the stocks once considered almost unassailable.
  • Where next for dividends?
    Ceri Jones
    23.10.08
    As investors bail out of banks in search of consistent dividend payers, Ceri Jones surveys big pharma, oil majors and the food retailers likely to go on paying out.
  • Getting back into equities
    Ceri Jones
    13.10.08
    Because of the credit freeze, weighing up individual stocks is tricky, says Ceri Jones. Exchange Traded Funds are a less risky route back into equities.
  • Punch drunk pubs still not cheap enough
    Ceri Jones
    07.10.08
    What's happened to our pubs? Drinkers are staying away and investors won't touch them unless they're shorting. Punch Taverns is on a price earnings of two, but it's no bargain.
  • Ten commercial property companies to recover
    Ceri Jones
    02.10.08
    At some stage good yields will attract investors back to commercial property and companies with the financial strength to take advantage of forced sales should also do well, says Ceri Jones.
  • Frenzied Friday anything but 'stable'
    Ceri Jones
    22.09.08
    The Government's attempt to restore stability and ban short-selling will provide a short-lived reprieve, says Ceri Jones. The market will price shares as it always has - on future earnings streams, and they look bleak.
  • Beyond the Aldi effect
    Ceri Jones
    17.09.08
    We've heard a lot about consumers switching to cheap alternatives, but when money is really tight our behaviour is more complicated. Ceri Jones picks some companies profiting from the downturn.
  • Huge prizes for miners
    Ceri Jones
    10.09.08
    Relatively under-mined countries such as Venezuela or the Congo offer huge potential for second tier miners, but political uncertainties mean it has yet to be fulfilled, says Ceri Jones.
  • Asthma treatments have plenty of puff
    Ceri Jones
    03.09.08
    Asthma is a $33bn market but with the patents expiring on blockbusters from GSK and AstraZeneca, drug companies are looking to the next generation of treatments.
  • Going for global growth
    Ceri Jones
    27.08.08
    Ceri Jones picks out the UK and European megastocks escaping the downturn by refocusing their businesses on rapidly developing countries.
  • Russian meddling bigger than Georgia
    Ceri Jones
    20.08.08
    Russia's newfound wealth enables it to intimidate its neighbours and Western companies, but State interference is on the rise generally. In China it's already high and in the UK and the US, free trade could be the victim.
  • The significance of SRI
    Ceri Jones
    13.08.08
    Global warming had pushed sustainability high on the business world's agenda, but Ceri Jones asks how far SRI priorities have slipped from focus as surviving takes over.
  • Growth and excitement in utilities
    Ceri Jones
    06.08.08
    A solid and guaranteed stream on income is what utilities usually offer, but current prices make many stocks look like growth opportunities, says Ceri Jones.
  • Sorting AIM's majors from its minors
    Ceri Jones
    30.07.08
    High oil prices have kept smaller oil explorers afloat recently, but investors are becoming increasingly picky, warns Ceri Jones.
  • Bear not as grizzly as you think, maybe
    Ceri Jones
    22.07.08
    It's hard to find anyone who thinks markets will improve by the end of the year, but that isn't what two important indicators are telling us, reports Ceri Jones.
  • GM's shot in the arm for medicine
    Ceri Jones
    16.07.08
    Gene modification is increasingly applied to healthcare, but commercial production is some way off. However, it's in plant-made pharmaceuticals that it's making a mark.
  • Composites show good mettle
    Ceri Jones
    09.07.08
    A growth industry without bubble-like tendencies is a rarity in the current climate, but the manufacture of composite materials could prove a near-run thing, says Ceri Jones.
  • Africa rocks
    Ceri Jones
    02.07.08
    Money is flowing into Africa because of the commodity boom and trade with China, but there are signs that increased prosperity is growing all kinds of businesses, says Ceri Jones.
  • Cycle or super-cycle?
    Ceri Jones
    25.06.08
    As commodity prices rise, the fashionable view is that this is no ordinary cycle.  But buying commodities willy nilly now looks as foolhardy as piling into random internet stocks in the late '90s, says Ceri Jones.
  • Food for thought
    Ceri Jones
    18.06.08
    Crop prices are rising and stocks are falling, but Ceri Jones highlights plays in genetically modified food that have investors licking their lips.
  • Shares for the worst-case scenario
    Ceri Jones
    10.06.08
    With the economy looking bleak, Ceri Jones says investors can claw back some of their shopping bill investing in agri-business.
  • Turkey: The undervalued emerging market
    Ceri Jones
    02.06.08
    It may be a political hot potato, but strong infrastructure and a young, vibrant population mean investors should give Turkey a closer look, says Ceri Jones.
  • High income stocks: Strugglers and survivors
    Ceri Jones
    27.05.08
    High yields abound, says Ceri Jones, but they're not all attractive. The trick is to find companies where profits will hold up, and avoid bombed out cyclicals.
  • Good vibrations!
    Ceri Jones
    20.05.08
    If we'd used the headline we'd intended for this article, it would have been blocked by your spam filter. Suffice it to say there's a certain industry that's so hot it's on fire right now.
  • The spectre of Sovereign Wealth Funds
    Ceri Jones
    12.05.08
    There's already more invested in Sovereign Wealth Funds than hedge funds, and by 2015 they could be bigger than the US economy. It's easy to ignore these closed and secretive capitalists. Don't...
  • China: Too big to ignore
    Ceri Jones
    06.05.08
    Chinese exports may be at risk from the slowdown in Western countries, but the domestic economy is booming, says Ceri Jones, and the risk of inflation is overdone.
  • Trawling for turnarounds
    Ceri Jones
    30.04.08
    The stockmarket is full of surprises this spring, as companies flower in moribund sectors and oversold shares bounce-back. Ceri Jones picks the budding growth, and recovery, stocks.
  • Winners and losers in the great food fight
    Ceri Jones
    23.04.08
    Price competition is driving the food industry this year. Rising raw material costs and tightfisted consumers are squeezing food producers, says Ceri Jones, but big international food groups are cleaning up.
  • Market watch: Saving the economy
    Ceri Jones
    15.04.08
    As house prices turn down, fears about the economy are growing. But confidence won't return until banks start lending to each other again, says Ceri Jones.
  • Opportunities in oil
    Ceri Jones
    08.04.08
    While oil prices have jumped 53% in a year, energy companies have lagged. Ceri Jones says this dislocation has created pockets of opportunity.
  • City cull will be no luxury
    Ceri Jones
    02.04.08
    Expectations are growing for record job losses among the City's workforce in 2008. This could signal bad news for the luxury goods sector, says Ceri Jones.
  • Value lurks in tech sector
    Ceri Jones
    26.03.08
    The tech sector is severely oversold, says Ceri Jones, but M&A activity and protection against a US slowdown mean there's still plenty there for investors in the short-term.
  • A Budget for bears with sore heads
    Ceri Jones
    20.03.08
    The Budget was pretty miserable for most of us, but just imagine what it feels to be a publican or a life insurer. Ceri Jones examines the fine print for investors.
  • Time to buy value
    Ceri Jones
    13.03.08
    Value investors finally had the wind taken from their sails last summer, but Ceri Jones says it's just a matter of picking the right time to get back in value stocks.
  • Banks back from the brink
    Ceri Jones
    03.03.08
    Despite the headlines, banks will bounce back, says Ceri Jones. In the meantime Lloyds, Standard Chartered and HSBC stand out. So do brokers Tullett Prebon and ICAP, and some foreign banks.
  • Good climate for energy efficiency stocks
    Ceri Jones
    28.02.08
    With the volatility of renewable energy shares often too tough for private investors to handle, companies that help with energy efficiency are a good play on climate change, says Ceri Jones.
  • Not much life in insurance
    Ceri Jones
    20.02.08
    Life insurance companies are beset by problems but foreign investors are keeping the sector alive. Ceri Jones reports.
  • Pub sector is punch drunk
    Ceri Jones
    14.02.08
    Pubs are reeling from the credit crunch and the smoking ban, which means there's value to be found in booze and bars. Ceri Jones reports.
  • Reduce - Recycle - Returns
    Ceri Jones
    06.02.08
    Supported by enough legislation to fill a landfill site, the waste management industry is on a high. From scrap metal to clinical waste, it all needs handling, says Ceri Jones.
  • Don't be fooled by the bounce
    Ceri Jones
    28.01.08
    The big story has been the rogue trader at SocGen, and while the markets may have shown some resilience, there are bigger issues lurking, warns Ceri Jones.
  • Where are the opportunities now?
    Ceri Jones
    22.01.08
    Storms in financial markets can throw up unexpected bargains. Ceri Jones looks for opportunities in today's market, where earnings and assets are going for a song.
  • Signs of life at property companies
    Ceri Jones
    16.01.08
    Since the Government introduced REITs last January, property companies have slumped 40%, but there is still life in some niches, says Ceri Jones.
  • Don't rule out Russia
    Ceri Jones
    09.01.08
    Russia often gets bad press, but look beyond the headlines and opportunities abound in telecoms, banking and pharmaceuticals, says Ceri Jones.
  • Banking: Weighing the recovery
    Ceri Jones
    12.12.07
    Banking is not a sector to be kept down for very long. At some stage, banks hammered by the credit crunch will recover, says Ceri Jones.
  • Globalisation drives on logistics
    Ceri Jones
    04.12.07
    As failing infrastructure gets upgraded and emerging markets continue to expand, the logistics sector has solid appeal for investors, reports Ceri Jones.
  • Time to dig for gold
    Ceri Jones
    28.11.07
    Gold has re-found its place in investors' hearts and - more importantly - their portfolios as it experiences its biggest jump since July 2006, says Ceri Jones.
  • Africa: The new frontier
    Ceri Jones
    19.11.07
    Africa has been a big beneficiary of the recent credit crunch as institutional investors look for new sources of diversification, says Ceri Jones.
  • Credit crunches construction sector
    Ceri Jones
    14.11.07
    Could a temporary setback in the construction sector be a buying opportunity? Long-term, the infrastructure boom looks unstoppable, says Ceri Jones.
  • Horror on the high street
    Ceri Jones
    07.11.07
    It's going to be a tough Christmas for retailers: with bankers' bonuses slashed, the luxury market is under pressure. And shopkeepers are alienating customers with premature Christmas promotions.
  • The next big thing in commodities
    Ceri Jones
    30.10.07
    Missed the first leg of the commodities boom? Too late for agricultural commodities? There are still opportunities in less well understood commodities, says Ceri Jones.
  • Good pharma stocks do exist
    Ceri Jones
    23.10.07
    With valuations at 20-year lows, investors are shying away from the pharmaceutical lottery. The industry has its problems, but some companies deserve more consideration.
  • CGT boost for stockmarket
    Ceri Jones
    17.10.07
    The unintended consequences of the chancellor's CGT overhaul might bolster the stockmarket, says Ceri Jones, as families with large holdings sell up before the April rule change.
  • Healing the healthcare system
    Ceri Jones
    10.10.07
    Ageing, chronically ill populations are placing a potentially catastrophic burden on healthcare systems but IT, biotechnology, insurance and food companies are coming to the rescue.
  • Mining's great divide
    Ceri Jones
    03.10.07
    Investors are divided on mining. The bulls think demand from China and India has changed the rules of the game, but bears say we are at the top of the cycle. Ceri Jones reports.
  • The new (mail) order
    Ceri Jones
    26.09.07
    Mail order is rescuing the High Street, as catalogues like Woolworths' Big Red Book take a larger share of the market. Ceri Jones looks at some of the winners in the mail order boom.
  • No more bull
    Ceri Jones
    17.09.07
    The bail-out of Northern Rock is the first big tangible sign that the credit crisis cannot be contained within the financial sector, says Ceri Jones. A period of belt-tightening is overdue.
  • Property's seven-year itch
    Ceri Jones
    11.09.07
    The property sector has turned, says Ceri Jones, and as usual private investors were the last to bail out. For now, the best opportunities lie abroad.
  • Crunch time for bank stocks
    Ceri Jones
    03.09.07
    September should reveal the full extent of the fallout from the crisis in the debt markets, says Ceri Jones.
  • IT stocks at bargain prices
    Ceri Jones
    29.08.07
    Although the exponential rate of technological change is transforming the world's media and communication structures, IT stocks remain cheap.
  • Positive future for activists
    Ceri Jones
    22.08.07
    Uncertainty in the global credit market has caused many leverage-financing deals around the world to be pulled since June.
  • Market Report: Certainty at last
    Ceri Jones
    14.08.07
    The only thing that is certain about the markets is they'll remain uncertain, says Ceri Jones. Shares are recovering, but equity investors don't really understand the credit markets.
  • Invest in everything
    Ceri Jones
    07.08.07
    From corn to interest rates, and biotechnology to private equity, you can trade exchange traded funds (ETFs) in almost anything these days. Ceri Jones surveys the market.
  • No rain on utilities' parade
    Ceri Jones
    02.08.07
    The UK utilities sector is contracting so fast it's in danger of disappearing. Whilst there may be time to profit from a second wave of consolidation the main opportunities are in the US and China.
  • Airlines flying higher
    Ceri Jones
    23.07.07
    Despite oil prices, airlines are raising prices and looking forward to a busy summer. It's a levelling out of sentiment in a sector that has notched up over 100 bankruptcies since the 1970s.
  • What is private equity?
    Ceri Jones
    18.07.07
    Controversial takeovers by private equity firms are hitting the headlines. Ceri Jones investigates.
  • Finite resources stoke mining sector
    Ceri Jones
    17.07.07
    High commodity prices, mergers and acquisitions, shortages, and political risks are driving mining company shares ever higher, reports Ceri Jones. Alternative energy isn't yet plugging the gap.
  • Shares to beat the rate rises
    Ceri Jones
    10.07.07
    The latest interest rate rise could present more opportunities than threats, suggests Ceri Jones.
  • The truth about telecoms
    Ceri Jones
    02.07.07
    Despite all the hyperbole over Apple's iPhone, investors increasingly see the telecoms sector as defensive. Ceri Jones examines the opportunities in an industry riven with contradiction.
  • Market Report: Big is bountiful
    Ceri Jones
    25.06.07
    Since 2000, smaller companies have been much better investments than the biggest. That could be about to change, suggest Ceri Jones.
  • Life insurance: the forgotten sector
    Ceri Jones
    19.06.07
    While banks have re-rated since 2003, everybody's ignoring insurance. But, life companies are better now and the sector is bubbling with M&As and expectations of growth.
  • Stop worrying about interest rates
    Ceri Jones
    11.06.07
    Rising interest rates spooked stockmarkets last week, but they will probably not rise much further. Central banks are responding to a stronger global economy, reports Ceri Jones.
  • Market Report: Few bargains in retail
    Ceri Jones
    05.06.07
    Bargains may be two-a-penny on the high street, but shares in the companies that run the stores are expensive, says Ceri Jones.
  • Pendulum swings for SRI
    Ceri Jones
    29.05.07
    There is a belief in the City that companies with excellent corporate social performance are better run. Ceri Jones picks out United Technologies, Fiat, Yell and Pearson.
  • Party time for holiday companies
    Ceri Jones
    21.05.07
    For Britain's aging population, holidays are a necessity while the rivalry between Boeing and Airbus brings down plane prices. Holiday companies, online and off, are making hay while the sun shines.
  • Who's next in the takeover frenzy?
    Ceri Jones
    15.05.07
    With Rio Tinto in the frame, it seems no company is too big to be taken over. Ceri Jones picks out some likely candidates. From ITV to Forth Ports, ego and easy money are driving speculation.
  • Market Report: Water, water everywhere
    Ceri Jones
    08.05.07
    Demand for water is insatiable while climate change and population pressure mean it's in short supply. Ceri Jones investigates the investment opportunities.
  • Market Report: Inflationary times
    Ceri Jones
    01.05.07
    March saw the highest jump in inflation for nearly 16 years, says Ceri Jones, but there are still some good arguments that the market remains quite cheap.
  • Market Report: Food for growth
    Ceri Jones
    23.04.07
    Outwardly, food is a steady growth market. But beneath the trend, fashion, legislation, and raw materials prices drive food producers' fortunes: Ceri Jones picks 'n mixes the stocks.
  • Market Report: Conflict is a growth industry
    Ceri Jones
    17.04.07
    With the US targeting global military dominance and other nations playing catch up, companies like BAE, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, and even Logica are sitting pretty.
  • Market Report: Publishers back in fashion
    Ceri Jones
    10.04.07
    It's been a gloomy decade for publishers, but that's changing. Companies are restructuring, trading is looking up, and the City's interested, even if nobody's reading newspapers these days.
  • Hidden value in housebuilders
    Ceri Jones
    03.04.07
    Takeover talk is lifting the prices of housebuilders. Ceri Jones scours the market to find value hidden in smaller companies, planning specialists, and eco-builders.
  • The bogey in Brown's business Budget
    Ceri Jones
    26.03.07
    The Budget for business turned out to be a Budget for some businesses. The owners and managers of big financial companies are laughing. Less so smaller, capital-intensive businesses, says Ceri Jones.
  • Budget winners and losers
    Ceri Jones
    19.03.07
    Property firms, miners, transporters, airlines, light-bulb manufacturers, biodiesel producers, private equity, and investors in AIM stocks will be watching on Wednesday with anticipation, or anxiety.
  • Market Report: Finding gems in the waste
    Ceri Jones
    12.03.07
    Waste management, builders' merchants, and plant-hire companies are where the action is in London's sprawling support services sector, explains Ceri Jones.
  • Market is not facing 2000-style meltdown
    Ceri Jones
    05.03.07
    It's a correction, not a crash say UK investors. Unlike 2000, the big stocks that anchor the stockmarket are cheap. What's more they're making record profits and paying out big dividends.
  • Market Report: China crisis
    Ceri Jones
    26.02.07
    Something's wrong in China - infrastructure is outstripping demand, valuations are high, the data isn't trustworthy, and banking problems are pushed under the carpet, says Ceri Jones.
  • Market Report: Preparing for the flu
    Ceri Jones
    20.02.07
    As with any other new development, there's money to be made from the possibility of a flu pandemic, and money to be lost if it never actually happens. UK stockbrokers are surprisingly complacent though.
  • Biotech is back
    Ceri Jones
    13.02.07
    Big pharmaceutical companies are increasingly reliant on smaller firms to augment their depleting drug pipelines, so Biotech is moving on from the days of one-drug boom-or-bust operations, says Ceri Jones.
  • Sin stock holders unlikely to repent
    Ceri Jones
    06.02.07
    Smokers, gamblers and voyeurs take little notice of market cycles - that's why investors love 'em, says Ceri Jones. Emerging markets are there for the taking, if you'll take the dividends of sin.
  • Exchange Traded Funds evolve
    Ceri Jones
    30.01.07
    ETFs have always promised to cut out the middleman by tracking indices and sectors - now they're becoming smarter. Ceri Jones reports on developments in the US.
  • Technology rebound will be different
    Ceri Jones
    22.01.07
    Broadband-enabled rich media and software services are driving a tech revival. But don't expect the class of 2000 to lead the way; newer companies with less baggage are the new dotcom darlings.
  • High Street winners and losers
    Ceri Jones
    15.01.07
    The High Street didn't melt down over Christmas, though bits of it suffered. Customers of niche stores are defecting to the generalists: Ceri Jones picks out the winners and losers.
  • Dollar decline haunts FTSE giants
    Ceri Jones
    09.01.07
    A weakening dollar could hit the profits of Europe's biggest companies by more than 4% in 2007. Ceri Jones picks out potential losers, and winners.
  • Renewables step into the mainstream
    Ceri Jones
    31.12.06
    Money is pouring into renewable energy, driven by concerns about climate change, high energy prices and the falling cost of alternatives. Ceri Jones reports on opportunities around the globe.
  • Alternate reality for markets in 2007
    Ceri Jones
    27.12.06
    The outlook for the US suddenly looks more optimistic just when investors have got used to writing it off. Contrary to expectations, the rest of the world may be deteriorating.
  • Commercial property fit to burst
    Ceri Jones
    19.12.06
    UK total returns from commercial property may be peaking, but retail investors are still piling in. They might do better looking further a field, suggests Ceri Jones.
  • Bye bye UK plc
    Ceri Jones
    12.12.06
    As household names are sold to foreign capitalists there's little doubt UK plc is becoming increasingly multicultural. The big winner is the City of London, says Ceri Jones.
  • Transferring football's profits
    Ceri Jones
    05.12.06
    In 1960, Denis Law's transfer fee set the critics tutting when he joined Man City for a cool £55,000. Today the game is awash with cash, and a couple of funds claim to offer investors a cut.
  • The investor buys Prada
    Ceri Jones
    28.11.06
    The rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer, says Ceri Jones. Investors who would be richer can tap into companies whose products pander to the growing ranks of the super-rich.
  • No blow-out in private equity
    Ceri Jones
    20.11.06
    When selling a business it's in the interest of private equity firms - despite heavy borrowing - to get the sums right. Ventures can fail though, so it's prudent to diversify.
  • Bun fight in food services
    Ceri Jones
    14.11.06
    Britons eat out more often than they eat in, yet spend little more than they did in 2003. JD Wetherspoon sells as much coffee as Caffe Nero. Ceri Jones makes sense of a dining market in turmoil.
  • Playing the speculation game
    Ceri Jones
    07.11.06
    Tired of trying to make money in the real world, speculators are trying out the virtual worlds of online games where domain names and even clothes are traded, explains Ceri Jones.
  • The revolution will be televised
    Ceri Jones
    31.10.06
    If the big fear of retailers in the late 1990s was of being Amazoned, the fear now for the music, video and game retailers is that their services will be circumvented altogether, says Ceri Jones.
  • Those old investment proverbs
    Ceri Jones
    26.10.06
    Investment adages can often sound trite, but don't reject them out of hand, many are borne out by experience and can be well worth heeding, explains Ceri Jones.
  • Poles apart
    Ceri Jones
    20.10.06
    Due to the influx of new immigrants, many market commentators are gloomy on the UK jobs outlook, but there are many positive things going on in the UK economy, points out Ceri Jones.
  • Gambling on online gambling
    Ceri Jones
    16.10.06
    If you ever wanted proof of investors ignoring factors that don't support a business case, the Armageddon in online gambling stocks has provided it, says Ceri Jones.
  • Rebuilding the West
    Ceri Jones
    10.10.06
    Once seen as a stodgy, low margin sector, construction is booming as governments across Europe rebuild their dodgy infrastructure, paying for it with private finance deals pioneered in the UK.
  • Flying high, crashing low
    Ceri Jones
    03.10.06
    The airline industry is set to record its first profit in six years but most of the industry's bogeymen are alive and circling, says Ceri Jones. Are investors ignoring the risks?
  • Investors face US nightmare
    Ceri Jones
    26.09.06
    The Federal Reserve is caught between a rock and a hard place. While roaring consumption and a depreciating dollar point to interest rate rises, pricking the house price bubble could trigger meltdown.
  • What's wrong with AIM?
    Ceri Jones
    19.09.06
    Not long ago fully-listed companies were queuing to join the junior market. Now they're headed the other way. If the trickle of tiddlers becomes a tidal wave it could be easy money for investors.
  • High quality banks going cheap
    Ceri Jones
    12.09.06
    Banks are economic immortals, channelling business whatever industry is in vogue. They're benefiting from consolidation at home and emerging economies abroad, yet quality banks look cheapest of all.
  • Market is detached from reality
    Ceri Jones
    30.08.06
    In uncertain times investors seek out sectors that will hold-up even if the market tanks. But there's a bear squeeze on, and defensive stocks aren't as safe as they used to be, says Ceri Jones.
  • The devil within booming markets
    Ceri Jones
    23.08.06
    Booming commodity, stock, and property prices are increasingly correlated. It's great when markets move in the same direction, as long as it's up. But when prices fall, there's nowhere to turn.
  • Manic mining in Latin America
    Ceri Jones
    16.08.06
    Sitting on a large chunk of the world's minerals, it's boom time for Latin America. Ceri Jones surveys some of the continent's most admired miners, and other investment opportunities.
  • Taking the shine off wine
    Ceri Jones
    16.08.06
    The wine investing bandwagon is rolling, but investors should think before joining it. Where sellers know a lot more than investors, fortunes are made, often for the wine sellers.
  • No future for lifestyle funds?
    Ceri Jones
    08.08.06
    Lifestyle funds automatically switch out of volatile assets like equities as you get older. It seems like a good idea but makes little sense when so few of us know when we will retire.
  • Playing catch-up in Central Europe
    Ceri Jones
    26.07.06
    Czechs, Poles and Hungarians are voracious consumers but it will take years for them to catch up with us. Investors are targeting the banks, and telecoms and property companies.
  • The new Asian tigers
    Ceri Jones
    12.07.06
    Investors have been telling China and India stories for so long they hardly seem to qualify as emerging markets, but there's a tier of potential tigers often overlooked by Western investors.
  • Good news from Africa
    Ceri Jones
    05.07.06
    Slowly investors are noticing there is more to Africa than disease, war and corruption.
  • War on quant
    Ceri Jones
    28.06.06
    Fund managers are spurning meetings with company directors and sifting databases instead.
  • A dividend in the hand
    Ceri Jones
    21.06.06
    As the stockmarket plunged in May investors rushed to the relative safety of mature companies.
  • Have they no shame?
    Ceri Jones
    21.06.06
    Politicians should learn from business people, says Ceri Jones.
  • World Cup winners and losers
    Ceri Jones
    07.06.06
    From fridges to flat screens, football-happy fans are set to splurge this summer. But some businesses will be silently praying for a short run from England, as workers and holidaymakers stay home.
  • Are pensions worth it?
    Ceri Jones
    17.05.06
    Is a pension really the best home for your savings, or would you be better off in property or an ISA?
  • Opening up property niches
    Ceri Jones
    03.05.06
    When the first Real Estate Investment Trusts appear next year many will be highly specialised. From nursing homes to ports and prisons, specialist REITS will make the most of their properties.
  • A tax on family break-up
    Ceri Jones
    26.04.06
    New rules on trusts are a tax on family break-up. If the Government sticks to its guns, financial planning will be more taxing for divorcees, parents and anyone whose will involves a trust.
  • The REIT time to buy property
    Ceri Jones
    19.04.06
    Shares in property companies were boosted by news in the Budget that Real Estate Investment Trusts will be launched in the UK, but is it the right time to invest in property?
  • Scanning our bodies for profit
    Ceri Jones
    02.04.06
    With chip and pin decidedly old hat, and retina scanning no longer science fiction, a huge biometrics industry is emerging - with early adopters vying for, and benefiting from, large government contracts.
  • When will we be able to fly our cars?
    Ceri Jones
    02.04.06
    Sadly the Skycar fantasy is still just that. But there are plenty of other innovations all set for the cars of the future, such as smart cruise control, intelligent gadgets and remote control driving…
  • State sponsored pensions misselling
    Ceri Jones
    21.03.06
    The government should compensate members of failed occupational pension schemes, says Ceri Jones. After all, it recommended them.
  • Arb'ing the 'Big Five'
    Ceri Jones
    31.01.06
    They are treated the same by the City but but there may be profit to be made on the differences between the majors.
  • How hot is uranium?
    Ceri Jones
    31.01.06
    With 92 reactors planned in Asia, its scalding hot right now. Getting a piece of the action is tricky though.
  • Teaching our kids to be poor
    Ceri Jones
    24.01.06
    Financial literacy is in crisis and new GCSE and A-level equivalent qualifications do little to help. Children need to learn about the big picture more than they need to learn how to open a bank account, says Ceri Jones.
  • EZ asset allocation
    Ceri Jones
    21.12.05
    Could Guaranteed Equity Bonds replace shares and bonds as a mainstay of financial planning? Ceri Jones investigates a product gaining respectability.
  • How NOT to plan your finances
    Ceri Jones
    21.12.05
    From thinking you can choose when you retire to mistaking geographic variety for asset diversification, learn how to avoid the common pitfalls of financial planning.
  • 21st century food
    Ceri Jones
    30.11.05
    People will always eat, but what and how we eat is changing. We're abandoning cakes for healthy, ready-prepared foods, ordered online. One way to keep ahead of these trends is to invest in the equipment suppliers.
  • Missing the target
    Ceri Jones
    23.11.05
    Target funds could be the next mis-selling scandal. So why is a new one just about to be launched?
  • The trouble with cash shells…
    Ceri Jones
    02.11.05
    Is you're backing a management team to spend your money wisely in a difficult market; but done well they can offer under-funded gems a quicker and easier route to market
  • Today's traders
    Ceri Jones
    04.10.05
    Day traders are associated with the stockmarket boom, but today's traders are abandoning shares altogether.
  • Running on empty
    Ceri Jones
    01.09.05
    Major oil companies may be making huge profits, but with little or no production growth, resources are in tight supply. Smaller exploration companies have the potential for growth, but it's a risky business.
  • Alternative energy
    Ceri Jones
    31.08.05
    Solar, wave, tidal, hydrogen, and nuclear power are all exciting energy sources, but risky. Just as selling shovels is good business in a gold rush, investing in supporting industries could be a safer bet for investors keen to join the alternative energy bandwagon.
  • AIMing high
    Ceri Jones
    02.08.05
    As taking advantage of new issues on AIM can be tricky, Ceri Jones suggests grey market spread betting
  • Bright young funds
    Ceri Jones
    02.08.05
    Small is beautiful for small caps says Ceri Jones with a round up the
    latest successes
  • Looting our legacies
    Ceri Jones
    26.07.05
    Why should we care about saving, asks Ceri Jones, when the Government steals our inheritance?