Ever heard the noise a fruit machine makes when you score three gold bars in a row?
Kerching! Kerching! Kerching!
Something similar can be heard gushing from the UK small cap sector at the moment, as public and private companies:
- Bring forward paying their dividends ahead of April’s tax hike on income for £150,000+ earners.
- Pay special dividends to get money out of the company and into shareholder’s hands, again ahead of that higher tax rate.
The housing charity Shelter is highlighting the over-valuation in UK house prices by comparing house price rises with the price inflation of milk, bread or a chicken over the past four decades.
Comparing with 1971, Shelter says UK house prices have gone up 40-fold.
- In 1971, the average UK house cost £5,632
- By 2008, the price was £227, 765
If various foods had gone up at the same rate we’d be paying:
- £47 for a chicken
- £20 for a jar of coffee
- £24 pounds for a small portion of mushrooms
My regular roundup of the week’s best money blogs and financial articles.
I went a bit crazy this week, with four articles on Anthony Bolton. (My last Bolton in China post has links to the other three). I also wrote about a Joseph Stiglitz lecture I attended, and a chap selling his future income for £1 million.
Regular readers may recall my goal to write shorter articles – the Bolton extravaganza was the sliced-and-diced result. But someone going deeper with more forethought was Adam Baker of ManVs Debt, who posted a three-part series on real estate at Get Rich Slowly.
Over the course of today’s celebration of all things Anthony Bolton, or more specifically his Special Situations China Trust, we’ve looked at:
- Why Bolton is back and investing in China
- Six reasons why you should invest with Bolton in China
- Six reasons why you shouldn’t back Bolton
Now it’s time to give my own personal verdict!
Earlier I outlined six reasons to invest in Anthony Bolton’s Special Situations China Trust.
Yet as Spinal Tap almost said, what’s life without a big ‘but’?
So to continue with my special Anthony Bolton extravaganza, here are six reasons to avoid betting on Bolton.
