Image source: Getty Images Just over a month ago, the FTSE 100 index hit a record high of 8,908.82 points on 3 March. As I write on Monday afternoon (7 April), it stands at 7,738.24, down 13.1% in five weeks. But many Footsie stocks have been hit much harder, such as the Barclays (LSE: BARC) share price. Blame the Trump slump Also on 3 March, Barclays shares hit a multi-year high of 316p, before easing back to close at 311.1p. By my calculations, this took the stock close to a 15-year high, reached following the collapse of the shares during…
Author: user
Image source: Getty Images A Stocks and Shares ISA is a brilliant way to generate passive income – by which I mean money people don’t have to work for. By the time most of us hit 40, we’ve realised two things: time flies and work sucks. Okay, not all work sucks, but some does, and it would be nice to avoid that type if possible. Investors who have a second income have that power. Possibly the easiest method of building a passive income is to invest in FTSE 100 dividend-paying shares. How to retire on FTSE 100 shares Most people…
Image source: Getty Images Stock markets can still offer excellent investing opportunities despite the increasingly uncertain economic landscape. So as the tax year drew to a close last week, I was seeking last-minute buys for by Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP). More specifically, my plan was to capitalise on gold’s impressive bull run by increasing my existing exposure. Its up 27% over the past year, and is being tipped for further substantial gains. But instead of buying the metal itself, or an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks bullion prices, I opened a position in a fund that mirrors the performance of…
Image source: Getty Images Warren Buffett is often quoted when the stock market tanks, as it has in recent days. That’s because after eight decades of investing, he’s been there, done that, and got the proverbial T-shirt(s). Moreover, Buffett arguably understands the psychology behind greed (raging bull markets) and fear (bear markets) better than any other investor. Worried about the market mayhem right now? Here are three classic Buffettisms to calm the nerves. Gospel The ‘Oracle of Omaha’ famously said: “Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.” This quote is practically gospel in the investing…
By Davide Barbuscia and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) – A violent U.S. Treasury selloff, evoking the COVID-era “dash for cash,” has reignited fears of fragility in the world’s biggest bond market. The $29-trillion Treasury market had surged in recent weeks as investors dumped stocks for the safety of government bonds in a tariff-fueled risk-off shift. But on Monday, even as equities stayed under pressure, Treasuries were hit by a wave of selling that sent benchmark yields soaring by 17 basis points on the day, while trading within a yield range of about 35 basis points, one of the wildest…
Image source: Getty Images Choosing which dividend shares to buy is especially challenging in times like these. With widescale trade tariffs threatening to knock the fragile global economy off course and drive up inflation, the outlook for corporate profitability — and by extension for dividends — is becoming increasingly uncertain. No UK share is totally immune to the broader economic climate. But there are certain companies investors can look into buying to improve their chances of receiving a decent passive income. Here are two I think merit a close look right now. I believe they both offer excellent all-round value…
Signage for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in Mumbai, India, on Friday, April 5, 2024. Dhiraj Singh | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesIndia’s central bank cut its policy rate by 25 basis points to 6%, marking its lowest level since September 2022 as growth concerns mount in the world’s fifth largest economy.The rate cut was in line with expectations from analysts polled by Reuters, and comes as the U.S.’ reciprocal tariffs kicked in at midnight stateside (9.31 a.m. India time) with a 26% levy slapped on goods coming in from India.In its monetary policy statement, the RBI noted that tariffs have…
RS: First, I would take a look at my discretionary spending, and I would get serious about tamping down or eliminating most of it. Discretionary spending is the fun stuff. It’s stuff like going out, travel, drinks, eating out those kinds of things, and I would immediately redirect that toward savings.Second, I would pause and stretch out expenses as I could. A simple example would be any major plans to move, to buy a major purchase, like a car, home renovation, anything that can be paused. I would pause it and anything that can be stretched out, for example. You know,…
Trucks line up at the container terminal in the Longtan Port area of Nanjing Port, Jiangsu province, China on the evening of April 8, 2025. Cfoto | Future Publishing | Getty ImagesBEIJING — Citi on Tuesday became one of the first investment firms to lower its China growth forecast on escalating trade tensions with the U.S.In less than a week, U.S. tariffs on goods from China have more than doubled, while Beijing has hit back with more duties and restrictions on U.S. businesses.Citi analysts cut their forecast for China’s gross domestic product to 4.2% this year, down by 0.5 percentage point,…
One of the biggest outstanding items on entertainment giant Paramount’s (PARA) to-do list is “fend off a lawsuit from an angry sitting President.” But Paramount got one step closer to that today, having selected a mediator in the case. The news was not welcome to shareholders, however, and Paramount shares slid into a better than 2% loss in the closing minutes of Tuesday’s trading. The lawsuit in question features President Trump seeking a whopping $20 billion in damages from CBS, which basically means from Paramount. Most of it stems back to how the news show 60 Minutes modified and edited…