Image source: Getty Images The Barclays (LSE: BARC) share price is a work of wonder. It’s up 200% over five years and 80% in the last 12 months. Right now it seems unstoppable, jumping another 7% in the week after the Budget spared the big FTSE 100 banks a new windfall tax on profits. How long can the excitement last? Given the mighty rally investors might expect Barclays shares to be overpriced, but the price-to-earnings ratio is a modest 11.9, comfortably below today’s FTSE 100 average of around 17. True, it was only at six or seven just a couple…
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Image source: Getty Images The BP (LSE: BP) share price has been struggling for so long that many investors may have lost interest in it altogether. Are they missing out on a brilliant buying opportunity? The last 15 years have certainly been a slog. The Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010 cast a shadow over BP for years. Climate pressure forced a half-hearted turn towards renewables that pleased nobody, while the pandemic hammered energy demand and forced dividend cuts in 2020 and 2021. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 sent BP shares to the stars, but they quickly came back…
Image source: The Motley Fool It has been a long time coming, but this month is when billionaire investor Warren Buffett is due to step down from day-to-day leadership of Berkshire Hathaway. In recent years, Buffett has been selling some of his firm’s stake in Apple even though the stock has been performing well. Berkshire has been sitting on a gargantuan cash pile, but has failed to land the sort of large acquisition that would leave a serious dent in its money. Could it be that, as Warren Buffett prepares to retire, the world has changed around him and his…
Image source: Getty Images It might sound strange to SIPP lovers, but a Stocks and Shares ISA is my favourite tax wrapper. It’s free from capital gains and dividend taxes, and I can access it at any time. That makes it more flexible than my SIPP. It might also be of interest to an investor aiming to replace their salary one day. But how realistic is it to use stock-based investments to ‘earn’ a living? Let’s crunch some numbers. Please note that tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in future.…
Image source: Getty Images Asia’s economic troubles have weighed upon HSBC‘s (LSE:HSBA) share price in recent years. But with the bank’s emerging markets experiencing an upturn, the FTSE 100 company has finally swept higher again. At £10.88, HSBC shares are up 39% so far in 2025. But could the banking giant be running out of steam? Fourteen different brokers currently have ratings on HSBC. They have slapped a 12-month price target of £10.89 on the company, up fractionally from today’s levels. Source: TradingView As you’d expect, there are some major differences among City projections. But estimates are largely positive. One…
Image source: Getty Images Are we heading for a resurgence in FTSE growth stocks? The stock market looks like it should end the year strongly. And interest rates appear increasingly likely to fall. That could mean a swing in favour of growth investing. Here are two I think investors should consider right now. #1: Speedy Hire With November’s first-half results update, Speedy Hire (LSE: SDY) CEO Dan Evans said: “Despite subdued markets, we are gaining market share and winning significant long-term contracts, leaving us far better positioned to take advantage as and when market conditions improve.” The company did record…
Image source: Getty Images UK income stocks are the unsung heroes of investment. They quietly roll up their sleeves and get on with the job of generating passive income and steady share price growth for investors who stay the course. I’ve picked out a couple with a robust work ethic below. So what’s so special about them? Today, the FTSE 100 offers an average yield of around 3.25%, although it’s possible to get more by hand-picking companies. The two I’m highlighting here yield 5.65% and 5.59% respectively. Combined, they yield 5.62%. Let’s say an investor was generating targeting income of £777 a…
Image source: Getty Images November was an underwhelming month for major stock market indexes such as the FTSE 100 and the S&P 500. For the month, these two indexes basically returned zilch. There were plenty of areas of the market that performed well for investors in November, however. Here’s a look at an exchange-traded fund (ETF) in my portfolio that returned 8.4% for the month. The best-performing sector in the S&P 500 The fund I want to highlight today is the Xtrackers MSCI World Health Care UCITS ETF (LSE: XDWH). It provides broad, global exposure to the Healthcare sector. It’s…
Image source: Getty Images Building a second income is a key priority for investors and it’s easy to see why. A consistent flow of shareholder payouts can boost growth if reinvested straight back into a Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) or Stocks and Shares ISA. Dividends can then be drawn as income in retirement. The key is to start early and give them time to compound and grow. So how big a pot do investors need to generate a decent passive income of, say, £9,999 a year? That depends on the yield. Today, the FTSE 100 pays average income of 3.25%.…
Image source: Getty Images Not so long ago, NIO stock was widely viewed within the retail investment community as the ‘Tesla of China’. Like Tesla, the Chinese company had some brilliant electric vehicles (EVs) and it was growing at a spectacular rate. Now, it’s fair to say that NIO hasn’t gone on to emulate Tesla – EV delivery numbers have been disappointing at times and the stock has tanked. The good news, however, is that there’s another Chinese company that is looking like it could be a genuine Tesla of China. Skyrocketing EV sales The stock in focus today is…