Image source: Getty Images It has been an impressive year for some shares in the flagship FTSE 100 index of leading companies. Indeed, the Footsie has hit new all-time highs this year, albeit with a fair bit of market volatility thrown in along the way. But not all FTSE 100 shares have done well. One, for example, has lost around a third of its value so far this year. There are potentially existential changes taking place in its industry that could see things get much worse even from here. On the other hand, this might turn out to be one…
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HELOC rates are a little lower today. The Federal Reserve held short-term rates unchanged Wednesday, as expected. That caused bond yields to sag as worried investors added to fixed-income positions. Rising anxiety about the Israel-Iran conflict and possible U.S. involvement also tugged on market momentum. With mortgage rates expected to continue moving sideways, a second mortgage, such as a home equity line of credit, offers homeowners cash access to their homes’ value. Here’s the latest on home equity line of credit interest rates. Dig deeper: What is a HELOC, and how does a home equity line of credit work? This…
Good morning, Quartz readers!Here’s what you need to knowChina’s Sichuan region is facing severe power outages. Some businesses will have power curtailed until Aug. 25, five days longer than expected, as the province faces its worst drought in 60 years.The daughter of Vladimir Putin’s spiritual aide was killed. Darya Dugin, whose father Alexander Dugin has been guiding the Russian president in his invasion of Ukraine, died in a car bombing on the outskirts of Moscow. Alexander is believed to have been the intended target.Workers at the UK’s largest shipping container port walked off the job. About 2,000 employees at the…
Image source: Getty Images Building a reliable passive income stream takes patience and a long-term view. That’s why I plan to hold the following five dividend-paying stocks for life. Each one has a solid track record of rewarding shareholders with regular payouts and steady growth. All of them have been paying dividends for more than 20 years except OSB Group, which has delivered 11 consecutive years of returns, but shows promise of becoming a future dividend hero. Aviva Aviva‘s long been one of the most dependable insurers in the UK. With a simple business model focused on life insurance, general…
Image source: Getty Images Vodafone’s (LSE: VOD) share price has struggled over the past year. I think much of this has resulted from market uncertainty over the merger of Vodafone UK with Three UK. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority formally approved it on 5 December. However, its official completion was only on 31 May. Vodafone holds 51% of the newly-named VodafoneThree, while the remainder’s held by CK Hutchison Group Telecom Holdings Limited. New investments and cost savings The two companies announced on 2 June they’ll invest £1.3bn in VodafoneThree’s network in the first year. The intention is to take…
There is no hiding from the ambitious housing and infrastructure targets set out by the government. But with public finance under pressure, how these projects will be funded and financed remains unclear. What is clear is that devolution – highlighted by the rise of elected mayors and combined authorities – has a key role in helping the government to meet its delivery ambitions across the country. Devolution, when implemented effectively, offers a powerful tool to attract investment. While it is not a silver bullet for unlocking private finance, it can assist on several levels. It builds strong regional leadership and…
Image source: Getty Images If I were Roisin Currie – CEO of FTSE 250 fast-food star Greggs (LSE: GRG) – I might feel somewhat hacked off. Every quarter, her firm posts apparently strong, very strong, or excellent results, but still the share price falls. So what is causing this? The latest results Greggs’ 20 May trading update covering the first 20 weeks of 2025 showed total sales up 7.4% year on year to £784m. Like-for-like (LFL) sales growth rose 2.9%, with the firm reporting that better trading conditions supported an improved trend. LFL sales measure a retail business’s growth from…
Quantum Commodity Intelligence – Companies’ use of carbon credits to meet their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has increasingly been under the microscope in recent times, with high-profile legal challenges questioning the integrity of the offsets and the corporates’ climate claims. In addition, a big issue for companies looking to address their carbon footprint is how to deal with Scope 3 value-chain greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Scope 3 emissions fall outside a firm’s direct control and so have proven difficult to account for, let alone reduce. Focus on these issues has intensified with the debate over whether or not the main…
GBP/JPY trades in negative territory for the third consecutive day around 194.45 in Thursday’s early European session.BoE is expected to keep interest rates on hold on Thursday amid tariff uncertainty and the Israel-Iran conflict.Reduced bets for the BoJ rate hikes this year might weigh on the JPY. The GBP/JPY cross extends its downside to near 194.45 during the early European trading hours on Thursday. The Pound Sterling (GBP) softens against the Japanese Yen (JPY) due to the looming threat of a broader conflict in the Middle East and possible US involvement. Investors will keep an eye on the Bank of England (BoE)…
Image source: Rolls-Royce Holdings plc On 10 June, the Rolls-Royce Holdings (LSE:RR.) share price reached an all-time high of 912.6p. Since then, it’s fallen back a little but it’s impossible to deny that the group’s post-pandemic recovery has been remarkable. It’s hard to believe that when the aerospace giant announced its life-saving rights issue in October 2020 — which was priced at 32p a share — it had a market-cap of £1.5bn. Today (18 June), it’s worth over £75bn. Not finished yet But analysts reckon there’s more to come. Their 12-month share price target’s 920p — 2% more than today’s…