[ad_1] Bob Mittelstaedt is a retired lawyer, avid e-biker, and co-founder of E-Bike Access which is dedicated to expanding access for legal e-bikes and combatting illegal e-motos. He consults with state and local governments, school officials and law enforcement on how to address e-bikes and e-motos. He was featured in the NYT Magazine article on Marin County’s experience.E-motos are back in the news with the publication of the Mineta Transportation Institute’s 210-page study commissioned by the State Legislature. As the accompanying press release states: MTI Electric Bicycle Safety Study Identifies Illegal, Over-Powered Devices as Key Problem. We hope that the study will…
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[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images The HSBC (LSE:HSBA) share price has rocketed 52% higher in the past year. The company clearly has good momentum right now, but I see some issues ahead that could throw a spanner in the works. Here’s what I believe needs to happen in the coming year for the stock to keep pushing higher. New leadership Earlier this month, the bank confirmed that interim chairman Brendan Nelson will take on the job on a permanent basis. This came as a surprise to some, given that Nelson’s in his mid-seventies and was rumoured not to want to…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images Some of the best performers in my Stock and Shares ISA this year have been those that pay passive income. These include BAE Systems, Aviva, HSBC, Games Workshop, Coca Cola HBC, and BlackRock World Mining Trust. As I write, these UK stocks are up between 35% and 65% — before dividends! Given this strong performance, I’m tempted to add a couple more income shares to my portfolio in 2026. So I turned to ChatGPT for its view on the ‘perfect’ passive income portfolio. Here’s what it said. The 10-stock portfolio The AI bot said it’s…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images The banking sector in general has done very well in 2025. Stocks such as HSBC, Lloyds and Barclays (LSE:BARC) have rocketed to multi-year highs. Looking ahead, some investors might want to increase their allocation to this sector. With Barclays shares leading peers, up 80% over the past year, some might decide to buy now. However, I’m not sure it’s the best pick. Reasons for outperformance Don’t get me wrong, Barclays has done very well over the past year. Some of the gains have been more fairly valued. Entering the year, the price-to-earnings ratio was very…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images We can invest up to £20,000 a year in a Stocks and Shares ISA and pay no tax no matter how much it grows. And every year there’s a last-minute rush, as people try to use as much of the year’s limit as they can. Once the cash is transferred in, we don’t need to rush to buy shares with it. But that doesn’t stop us getting stressed about what kind of strategy to pursue and which shares to buy. Please note that tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images Holders of Rolls-Royce (LSE: RR.) shares will be popping the champagne corks again in a few days and toasting another excellent year. As I type this, those who had the courage to pick up the stock five years ago will have now seen their stakes soar 900% in value! Even those who only bought at the beginning of 2025 will have nearly doubled their money. Make no mistake, this is as good an example as any to show how stock-picking has the potential to dramatically alter someone’s wealth. But we know that no share price…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images Just a few months ago, 3i Group (LSE: III) was the most successful FTSE 100 growth stock I owned. Today? Not so much. But I still love it. I’d watched its progress for years and, when I set up my Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) in 2023 using the proceeds of some old company pensions, I finally had the cash to put my money where my mouth was. I piled into the private equity and infrastructure specialist and was quickly rewarded, with the share price doubling in just 18 months. Still, I wasn’t naive. I knew…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images With the Bank of England slashing interest rates to 3.75% this month – the sixth cut since August 2024 – UK banks are in the spotlight. As a stock I’ve been considering for some time, I’m particularly interested to see how Barclays (LSE: BARC) shares fare. More cuts loom in 2026, possibly reducing to 3.25% or lower by mid-year, as inflation cools. And here’s where I’m concerned: banks like Barclays live off the spread between loan rates and deposits (net interest margin, or NIM). Falling rates squeeze that spread, potentially hurting profits. Barclays’ Q3 showed…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images If you follow my work or my social media accounts, you’ll know that I’m not the biggest fan of Greggs (LSE:GRG) shares. I don’t think the stock is vastly overvalued today — I used to — but I’m also not sure what going to drag the stock higher. Taking a quick snapshot, it’s currently trading around 13.2 times forward earnings and it has a price-to-earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio of 3.2. That’s not great, but it’s slightly better when you factor in the 4% dividend yield. In other words, it’s a very middling stock. The yield is…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images The Lloyds (LSE:LLOY) share price surged in 2025. It’s up 71% over the past 12 months, which is very impressive. Of course, only some of that reflects the company’s performance. Share price are driven by multiple factors, and I’d suggest there’s an element of self-reinforcing momentum, or just FOMO. Don’t get me wrong, momentum is actually one of the best indicators for future performance, but lots of investors just like to invest in stocks that are going up because they assume that will carry on. I think that may also be a factor here. We…