Image source: Getty Images I originally bought Aviva (LSE: AV) shares as a key part of my passive income portfolio. It was designed to deliver an annual dividend yield of 7%+. This figure is currently more than double the average FTSE 100 rate of 3.2%. It is also significantly higher than the 4.7% ‘risk-free rate’ (the 10-year UK government bond yield). This is an important benchmark to me, as I want compensation for taking the extra risk involved in share investing. However, although averaging over 7% from 2022-2024, Aviva shares now yield 5.4%. This is because a stock’s yield moves…
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Image source: Getty Images Vodafone’s (LSE: VOD) share price is trading very close to its 28 August one-year traded high of 89p. This follows a 40% gain from its 12-month traded low of 62p seen on 9 April. Regardless of this, there may may still be enormous value left in the stock. This is because a share’s price and its value are not the same thing. The former is whatever the market is willing to pay at any given time. But the latter reflects underlying business fundamentals. So, my starting point in looking at any growth share is not to…
Image source: Getty Images Shares in FTSE 250 defence firm QinetiQ (LSE: QQ) are down 19% from their 6 June 12-month traded high of £5.78. I think much of this reflects ongoing market uncertainty arising from the firm’s 17 March trading update. This highlighted delays in short-term contracts in its UK Intelligence sector and its Global Solutions business (primarily in the US). At that point, QinetiQ revised its full fiscal year 2025/26 organic revenue growth forecast down to 2%, with an underlying margin of around 10%. These figures also included the effect of £25m–£30m in one-off charges. Before this, it…
Image source: Getty Images A Stocks and Shares ISA’s a brilliant way to build long-term wealth for retirement. The tax advantages are huge, since all growth and dividends are free from HMRC, and withdrawals are completely tax-free too. Please note that tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in future. The content in this article is provided for information purposes only. It is not intended to be, neither does it constitute, any form of tax advice. Readers are responsible for carrying out their own due diligence and for obtaining professional advice…
Image source: Getty Images The Diageo (LSE:DGE) share price used to be a world-beater. The FTSE 100 spirits giant was one of the UK’s most admired blue-chips. But the past couple of years have been brutal. The troubles began with a profit warning in November 2023, triggered by a slump in Latin American sales. From there, problems stacked up quickly. Stocking issues, rising costs, the cost-of-living squeeze and younger consumers drinking less have all taken their toll. Weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy may also have dulled the appetite for alcohol, while US tariffs on key brands including Mexican tequila and…
Image source: Getty Images At the beginning of 2022, Greggs (LSE: GRG) shares were riding the crest of a wave. The share price had been rising for years, up 150% during the pandemic alone. I researched the stock around this time, wondering whether to get in on the action of one of the London Stock Exchange‘s hottest growth stocks. In the end, I opted against buying. And what a good decision that turned out to be! Had I bought at the top, I’d have been staring down the barrel of a 51% loss by this point. A £5,000 stake would…
Image source: Getty Images Earning passive income from an ISA is a simple and tax-efficient way to build the financial freedom many investors dream of. Dividend income and capital gains are free of tax, as are withdrawals. But how large would an ISA have to be to generate a steady £888 each month, or £10,656 a year? Please note that tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in future. The content in this article is provided for information purposes only. It is not intended to be, neither does it constitute, any…
Image source: Getty Images Shares in FTSE housebuilder Bellway (LSE: BWY) are down 20% from their 30 October 12-month traded high of £31.52. That said, they rose over 5% on the 14 October release of the firm’s full fiscal year 2025 results. And I was not surprised for two key reasons. First, the results document also contained the announcement of a £150m share buyback to be completed within a year. These tend to support share price gains. And second, the overall numbers looked very good. Housing completions jumped 14.3% year on year to 8,749 homes at an average selling price…
Image source: Getty Images Most experts agree that there’s a fair bit of speculative excess in the stock market right now. In some areas of the market, we appear to have classic ‘bubbles’ – where valuations are detached from the fundamentals. Yet not every area of the market is overheated at present. Some stocks actually look dirt cheap. Is AI a bubble? There’s been a lot of talk about a bubble in the artificial intelligence (AI) space recently. I don’t see it though. At present, Nvidia, Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft – the companies spearheading the AI revolution – trade…
Image source: Getty Images Last week, the FTSE 100 hit a two-week low, with growth stocks declining sharply. This came in the wake of a global sell-off in financial stocks and fresh concerns about credit quality in US regional banks. The global mood turned particularly cautious on Friday (17 October), as the UK market fell around 1.5% amid weakness in banks and oil stocks. US-China tensions Much of the pressure stemmed from escalating tensions in the ongoing US-China trade dispute. Beijing threatened tighter controls on rare earth exports, prompting President Trump to soften calls for 100% tariffs on Chinese goods. The…