Of course they will receive annual reports from the companies themselves

Of course, they will receive annual reports from the companies themselves. Newspapers will give them details on share prices and report company results.
But there is little substitute for listening to an expert who has had the opportunity to study the company and can give an explanation of what lies behind a sudden share movement or a particular set of results Stockbrokers can provide that service. But for most people owning a handful of “popular” shares, brokers are prohibitively expensive.NatWest Stockbrokers is attempting to bridge this “information gap” by launching an automated telephone service through which investors can hear the bank’s own analysts discuss the prospects for the UK’s top 100 companies.Calls cost 60p a minute, with an average duration of about 3 minutes. MILLIONS OF people have become shareholders over the past 15 years, mostly as a result of the big utility privatisations and demutualisations that have seen a swathe of new companies joining the FTSE 100 share index. It is worth remembering that, when he took office in 1987, he said: “I am always fearful of markets and very respectful of them, and intend to watch them closely.” It seems the boot is very much on the other foot now.Brian Tora is chairman of the Greig Middleton investment strategy committee.

Contrast that with the UK, where long gilts yield around 5.8 per cent, and you find a real return of probably no more than 2.5 per cent, assuming a risk premium of half a per cent or so. As it happens, gilts do not look expensive in anything other than an historic perspective, but US bonds do seem to have the edge in terms of attraction. Add to that the fact that a budgetary surplus may emerge in America before too long, then you have all the agreements for a continued full market. That cannot be too bad for equities either, even if it gives little comfort to investors in emerging markets.American bonds will, of course, dance to the tune of the Governor of the Fed.

If you believe the mighty dollar should be the benchmark for all government paper, then the real return over inflation is more than 3.5 per cent. WITH THE world’s financial markets not so much yo-yoing as bungee- jumping, you may be wondering what kind of edge a private investor can have. But will inflation rise if depressed conditions in the emerging world keep the prices of manufactured goods down?In the US, government long bonds yield around 5.3 per cent. Even though interest rates have yet to come down, this still looks a good bet. Yields are high at the short end at present, with the long end telling us that inflation is yesterday’s story. Even so, we yield more than the US or Europe, for no better reason than some risk premium seems appropriate, given our poor record in managing inflation.