Share Sounds. presented by Juliette Foster

Today's edition of The Apprentice Investor. Regular listeners to the show will know that our Apprentices are five members of the Share Radio team who've each been given fifteen thousand pounds of virtual money to build individual share portfolios. They can own a minimum of eight stocks, which they've been buying and selling through The Share Centre. So, as we roll towards the end of February are the five cash strapped, or cash wealthy? Apprentices Ruby Johnson and Alexi Phillips join Juliette Foster along with Share Radio's, Senior Analyst, Ed Bowsher.

Juliette Foster was joined in studio as always by Gavin Serkin, bringing you the only show dedicated to global emerging markets. Their guests this week were Stuart Culverhouse, Head of Research at Exotix Partners, one of the largest dedicated frontier markets investment firm and Ahmed Tabaqchali, CIO of AFC Iraq Fund. This time Iraq, Argentina and Ukraine feature among others.

In this week’s Apprentice Investor Olivia Demetriades and Valsa De Winter are in the studio while Ed Bowsher casts his forensic eye over their portfolios

Share Radio's Robert Van Egghen joins Managing Editor of Forbes Africa Magazine, Chris Bishop, to discuss the latest events in politics and business in the continent. This week: It's crunch time for South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan as he prepares to deliver Wednesday's budget speech, regarded as the country's last chance to avoid junk status An unexpected rally in the rand More arguments in the South African Parliament as the Democratic Alliance Chief Whip is thrown out Why a plane was detained in Zimbabwe with two officials from the South African reserve banks, millions of rand and a dead body

How much do you think your watch is worth? If someone gave you a Rolex or a Patek Phillipe would you wear it, sell it or hold onto it as an investment ? Although most people are happy to wear something reasonably priced it seems that one or two of us are prepared to shell out a small fortune on a good, stylish time piece. According to a recent survey by the "Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry", the UK was the eighth-largest market worldwide for watches in 2015. It seems that some of us can't get enough of them. One man who knows all about that is Mark Blowers, who runs a luxury watch firm. He joins Juliette to discuss the industry and increasing demand.

Could you imagine a future where humans are out of work because their jobs have been taken over by highly intelligent robots? It may sound like the plot from a science fiction novel but technological advances mean it's a possibility that shouldn't be ruled out. A recent study by Oxford University found that 47% of all jobs in America could be carried out by robots with sophisticated artificial intelligence systems. We have this special report from Share Radio's Alexi Philips.

Europe's equity markets got off to a rocky start in the New Year thanks to low inflation, weak growth and uncertainty over whether central bank strategies to reverse the dynamics are actually working. The volatility isn't likely to go away anytime soon - making it difficult to locate the best places to invest cash. They are out there - as long as you know where to look and one person who does is Wei Li, head of EMEA investment strategy at iShares, BlackRock.

Here at Share Radio, we like to educate as well as inform. With that in mind, Juliette Foster recently spoke to Tim Bennett of Killik and Co to find out what moves a market.

Its time again for a look at the intersection of politics and economics, with our regular economic commentator John Weeks. Joining him, is Geoff Tilley, Senior Economist at TUC, and they unpack the CBI’s criticism of Osborne’s performance since the Autumn Statement.

Not so long ago Brazil was THE star performer in the emerging market galaxy thanks to global demand for its commodity resources. In 2005 commodity exports totalled $118 billion - seven years later they more than doubled to $256 billion. However a weak global economy and falling Chinese growth has marked the end of the dance for Brazil. With a credit rating below junk status and GDP tipped to shrink by as much as 4% this year, Brazil is now the sick man of the G20. As President Dilma Roussef battles to hold the country together, her own grip on power is looking increasingly fragile as she leads a government ripped apart by scandal and lost credibility. Where does Brazil go from here? Professor Alfredo Saad Filho of London University, and Share Radio's regular economics commentator Professor John Weeks joined Juliette Foster in the studio to discuss the issues further.