[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images At the start of the year, the outlook for the stock market in 2025 felt fairly uncertain. Since then, we have seen some sizeable economic and geopolitical surprises. The stock market on both sides of the pond has shown a high level of volatility, notably following April’s announcement of US trade policy. Overall, though, the market has not done too badly. In fact, yesterday (11 July), the FTSE 100 index of leading British companies hit a new all-time high. The FTSE 250 is up 5% since the year began, but remains around 11% below its…
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[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images How much does it take to start investing in the stock market? The question is similar to “how long is a piece of string?” Indeed, one thing I like about the stock market is that it is not just for the rich. Investment can be tailored to each person’s individual financial circumstances. One watch-out about investing with small sums of money is that minimum fees and charges can soon add up. So it pays to take time when choosing a share-dealing account, Stocks and Shares ISA, or trading app. Starting modestly can offer benefits too.…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images I have been eyeing some FTSE 100 shares in recent weeks because I think they look cheap. Sure, the flagship index of blue-chip companies has hit record highs this year. But I think some of the companies within it are offering potentially good value and are worth considering. Here are three of them, all dividend payers. Diageo This week, I bought some more shares in Guinness brewer Diageo (LSE: DGE). Over the past five years, the Diageo share price has fallen 31%. Yes, it has raised its dividend per share annually for decades. But dividends…
[ad_1] An economic downturn combined with high inflation is a double-whammy for your finances. DNY59/Getty Images/Jeffrey Hazelwood/CNETPresident Donald Trump’s turbulent tariff agenda, combined with mass deportations and increased national debt, has created heightened volatility in financial markets. Though many economists say there’s low risk of a job-loss recession, others say we’re at a critical crossroads, as consumer sentiment sours and the labor market sputters. Some analysts have even posited that the economy could be circling the drain toward stagflation, a rare and toxic scenario of slowing growth and high inflation. In the 1970s, stagflation — a combination of inflation and stagnation…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images Palantir (NASDAQ: PLTR) stock’s enjoyed a spectacular run this year. The US data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) specialist has seen its shares soar roughly 88% in 2025, making it the best performer on the S&P 500. By comparison, America’s darling chipmaker Nvidia’s up only 20%. But while both companies are riding on the coattails of AI, they’re vastly different businesses. In the data analytics space, Palantir competes more closely with the likes of Microsoft, Amazon and Google. Created on TradingView.com Microsoft’s Azure and Amazon Web Services offer powerful data platforms with vast customer bases. Google’s…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images In the world of UK shares, few have come close to delivering the phenomenal returns of Rolls-Royce. The rapid turnaround of the once-struggling aerospace giant has enabled shareholders to reap a jaw-dropping 935% return since the start of 2023. To put that into perspective, a £1,000 initial investment is now worth close to £10,000 in just over two years! The next five years continue to look promising for this enterprise, given its vast order book and interesting pipeline of medium-to-long-term projects. Sadly, another 10x return doesn’t seem likely. After all, the group’s market-cap now stands…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images Investing money in blue-chip dividend shares is one approach to setting up passive income streams. Not only does that let someone benefit from the hard work of a company with a proven business model, but it can also be tailored to an investor’s personal financial circumstances. To illustrate, here is how someone with £20k of savings and a willingness to invest for the long term could target £841 on average each month in passive income. Calculating likely income That figure is based on the £20k being compounded at 9% annually for 20 years, at which…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images Earning a passive income that doubles the State Pension may sound like an unrealistic target to many individuals. But by investing money across a range of quality UK shares, the results can be quite impressive over the long run. And even with the FTSE 100 nearing record highs, there remains plenty of quality businesses trading at low valuations. Right now, the full UK State Pension is just shy of £12,000 a year. So with that in mind, let’s explore three simple strategies to aim for twice as much. Three simple tactics If the goal is…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images Even with all the geopolitical, pandemic, and economic uncertainty we’ve endured in the last decade, the markets have still been pretty rewarding for Stocks and Shares ISA investors. In 2015, the total amount of money saved in ISAs sat at around £500bn. According to the latest data, it’s now closer to £800bn. And while a good chunk comes from additional contributions, the bulk’s courtesy of strong stock market performance. So just how much money have ISA investors made since 2015? A decade of investment returns Everyone has a different portfolio. So the answer to the…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images Renewable energy income stocks currently offer impressive dividend yields. That’s because Investor sentiment in this space remains subdued due to higher interest rates and falling energy prices. And as a consequence, many of these shares are trading at discounted valuations. NextEnergy Solar Fund‘s (LSE:NESF) one such enterprise with its shares trading close to a 20% discount to its net asset value, offering a staggering 11.5% yield. Yet despite this pessimism, the share price has actually been on the rise this year, climbing by 11% and outpacing many of its peers. So is this just a…