THE TIPSTER
BHP BILLITON hosts its AGM on Monday. The decision by the Australian government to impose a 40 per cent tax on mining profits, the rise in the value of the dollar and the general slump in commodity prices has seen BHP Billiton’s shares fall nearly 23 per cent in less than a month. With the current climate for commodities not looking like it will improve any time soon, and the threat of a return to recession, BHP Billiton shares could re-test the 1,650-1,685p level before staging a recovery. Spread Co offers a spread on BHP Billiton of 1,778.2p -1,782.3p.
It’s been a sweet twelve months for the sugar producer Tate & Lyle, which has consistently outperformed the FTSE 250. But are things set to sour for Tate & Lyle when preliminary results come out next week? Analyst opinions are becoming steadily more bearish on the stock due to its incredible run in recent weeks. If the global economy does stumble, discretionary spending on sweet treats by consumers will be cut yet again and this could muddy the outlook even further. The current IG Index price is 424.7p-427p.
Operating in over 40 countries worldwide Daily Mail & General Trust may have been able to insulate itself from the troubles we’ve seen in Europe and is doing well in the UK. If things get any worse then the stock could struggle to gain upward momentum. But it remains a popular choice with analysts who are eyeing price targets as high as 625p. But this could be optimistic since any wholesale slowdown in demand for advertising would increase downward pressure on the stock. The current IG Index price is 467.9p-470.8p.
This has been a turbulent week for the markets and stocks have fallen to their lowest levels in six months. However, that doesn’t mean that there are not good value equities out there. GlaxoSmithKline is particularly attractive. It has a dividend yield of over 5 per cent and it is a defensive stock so should perform well through the market turmoil. Spreadex offers a spread of 1,138.30-1,141.20.