Category Archives: Shares

‘Golden shares’ to safeguard sustainability at Tony’s Chocolonely

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Chocolate maker appoints ‘mission guardians’ with power to veto changes to ethical strategy

The ethical confectionery company Tony’s Chocolonely has introduced a “golden share” mechanism to prevent shareholders from weakening its sustainability commitments in future.

In an unusual move, the Dutch company, which makes colourfully wrapped chunky chocolate bars stocked in UK supermarkets, has created a new governance structure with golden shares that carry the power to veto changes to its ethical strategy.

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Lloyds accused of ‘stuffing bankers’ pockets’ after proposed pay hikes for top bosses

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Chief executive Charlie Nunn could receive £9.1m payout, while top performing bankers to share £446m bonus pot for work in 2022

Lloyds Banking Group has been accused of “stuffing the pockets of already overpaid bankers” after proposing increases for top bosses that could result in a £9.1m payout for its chief executive, Charlie Nunn.

The bank revealed on Wednesday that staff would share a £446m bonus pot – the highest in four years – for their work in 2022, despite reporting flat annual profits, after an increase in the money put aside for a potential jump in defaults.

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Are share-trading apps a safe way to play the markets?

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After investors caused havoc on the markets last week in a battle over the shares of a video-game chain, we explore the promise and pitfalls of the apps they used

A year ago shares in struggling US video game store GameStop were worth just $3.25 a pop, yet at the end of last month they had reached $482. This stupendous surge was created by thousands of armchair traders, organising themselves on internet forums such as Reddit, who were attempting to outwit hedge funds who had placed massive bets on the chain’s decline in a process known as short-selling.

This has resulted in billion-dollar losses for some hedge funds, and big profits for traders who cashed out before the stock fell back to less than $100. Many of these speculators were using a new generation of share-trading apps, such as eToro, Robinhood and Trading 212. Have these services tipped the scales of financial power in favour of the little guy? Here we answer some key questions …

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GameStop shares plunge as traders dump stock

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Reddit-inspired surge in stocks such as struggling video games store and AMC dive as hedge funds close positions

Shares in GameStop plunged by 65% in early trading on Wall Street as the trading mania sparked by small investors, that sent its stock surging and cost hedge funds billions of dollars, lost momentum.

The struggling Texas-based video game store chain has been the focal point of a battle by small traders, using forums such as Reddit, to punish Wall Street hedge funds that have bet on certain stocks falling in value. GameStop shares hit a high of $482 last Thursday but slumped to $80 shortly after the market opened. They recovered to $117 by mid-session, but closed down 60% at $90.

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How GameStop traders fired the first shots in millennials’ war on Wall Street

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The dramatic struggle over video game chain’s shares suggests markets must now contend with a breed of angry, young, networked investors

When Ben, 28, a software engineer from Leeds, bought two shares in US games retailer GameStop for £460, it was for one reason, he says: “When they make the film about this in years to come, I’ll know I was there at the frontline with a bunch of idiots on the internet, trying to bring down Wall Street.”

For Emma Rivers from East Sussex, who invested £1,400 in the same company – having known little about it a few weeks ago – it has all been about sending a message that capitalism has had its day.

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GameStop shares surge again as Robinhood restores trading

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App helping to fuel share-buying frenzy allows ‘limited buys’ after a $1bn cash injection to safeguard trades

Shares in companies including videogame retailer GameStop soared again on Friday, as an army of small investors taking aim at Wall Street regained access to amateur share trading platform Robinhood.

The app, weaponised by activist small investors to trap hedge funds in a “short squeeze” that has cost them $20bn on paper by some estimates, had suspended buying of stocks such as GameStop, cinema chain AMC and BlackBerry on Thursday.

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GameStop shares plunge after ban by Robinhood app

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Meteoric rise fizzles out after small investors are barred from trading in groups that had soared in value

Small investors mounting an assault on Wall Street speculators suffered a setback on Thursday as trading platforms banned them from buying more shares in GameStop, spawning conspiracy theories, political intervention and at least one lawsuit.

Amateur trading app Robinhood stopped users from investing any further in GameStop – a US chain of video games stores – and seven other companies on Thursday, after an extraordinary rise in their value, spurred by users of the chat forum website Reddit, that cost some hedge funds billions of dollars.

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Richest 1% have almost a quarter of UK wealth, study claims

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Official figures have missed £800bn of private assets, says thinktank, amid calls for wealth tax to fund Covid recovery

Almost a quarter of all household wealth in the UK is held by the richest 1% of the population, according to alarming new research that reveals a historic underestimation of inequality in the country.

The study found that the top 1% had almost £800bn more wealth than suggested by official statistics, meaning that inequality has been far higher than previously thought. Researchers said the extra billions was a conservative estimate and could well be more.

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