The Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold interest rates steady Wednesday amid internal divisions over the path of monetary policy as President Trump and other White House officials intensify their pressure on the central bank. Investors will be watching to see whether two Fed governors choose to dissent, which would mark the first time that has happened in more than three decades. Fed governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman have both made a case publicly for a cut at today’s meeting. Michael Feroli, chief economist for JPMorgan, said he expects that Waller will dissent, while Bowman is a closer…
Author: user
Image source: Getty Images Investing in the stock market can be one of the most powerful ways to build long-term wealth. But looking back to when I first began investing, there are a couple of things I’d rather have understood earlier. Here’s what I wish I knew back then. A share is a slice of a real business Like most newbies, I treated a stock more like a ticker symbol on a screen than a stake in an actual company. But buying a share literally means becoming a part-owner in a real business, with all the risks and potential rewards…
Image source: Getty Images When a UK share falls out of favour, it’s all too easy to forget about it. With plenty of buying opportunities on the FTSE 100 today, it’s hard to keep track of them all. I gave up on consumer goods giant Reckitt (LSE: RKT) a while ago. My last article on the stock, published on 24 August last year, was brutally dismissive. I wrote: “This much-loved UK share is at a 52-week low, but I wouldn’t touch it with a bargepole.” Reckitt wrecking ball Once seen as a textbook defensive play thanks to brands like Dettol, Nurofen, Finish and Durex, Reckitt…
Image source: Getty Images Investors sent the Taylor Wimpey (LSE:TW.) share price lower in early trading today (30 July) following the publication of its first-half results for 2025. At one point, it was down 7% before recovering a little. Although the housebuilder described its trading performance as “resilient” and claimed that it was “well positioned for growth”, the standout message for me was the news that affordability remains “constrained”. As a result, it reported “softer market conditions in the second quarter”. It’s a reminder that despite the government’s emphasis on planning reform and its desire to “Get Britain Building Again”…
The climate crisis is forcing society to rethink existing technological and ecological systems. At the nexus of this challenge is how the U.S. values and manages forests. Over the past 16 years, start-up carbon credit companies have been buying up hundreds of thousands of acres of American forestland—in total, more than half of which is family or corporately owned—to capture and store CO2. The companies then sell credits to corporate customers that are voluntarily working to offset their emissions. One credit is equal to about a ton of stored CO2. Like many climate-related industries, forest carbon companies describe themselves as part…
Image source: Getty Images Has the BT (LSE: BT.A) share price raced ahead of itself? Possibly. The FTSE 100 telecoms giant is up another 7% in the last month. It’s now climbed 46% over 12 months and 68% over two years. That’s quite a turnaround for a business that was on its knees not so long ago. BT’s debt had ballooned, capital spending was eating into profits, pension obligations loomed large, and it was getting squeezed by low-cost rivals. Yet there was one benefit to this. The shares looked dirt cheap with a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of five or six, and a juicy 7%+…
Image source: Getty Images Near the beginning of the year, I sold my shares in Greggs (LSE: GRG). My brokerage account tells me I flogged them for £21 each, which was 25% less than they had been just two months prior. Now, I’m thinking that was a timely move, as Greggs has slumped to £15.60. Indeed, the FTSE 250 stock’s down 10% in just the past week, meaning anyone who invested £10k seven days ago would already be a grand down. Why I sold The blame for the latest slump lies with the first-half report the bakery chain served up…
The Pound Sterling trades near 1.3350 against the US Dollar, with investors awaiting the Fed’s monetary policy announcement.Investors expect the Fed to leave interest rates steady.A slowdown in the UK labor demand paves the way for more interest rate cuts by the BoE.The Pound Sterling (GBP) trades cautiously near 1.3350 against the US Dollar (USD) during the European trading session on Wednesday as investors await the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) monetary policy announcement at 18:00 GMT.At the time of writing, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, holds onto gains near the new monthly…
Image source: Getty Images The Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) share price slipped today (30 July) after the FTSE 100 mining giant reported falling earnings and lower cash flows in its half-year results. That may sound disappointing, but the overall picture isn’t quite so gloomy. Underlying earnings dropped 16% to $4.8bn, hit by a 13% slump in iron ore prices and continued fallout from four cyclones earlier in the year. Operating cash flow slipped 2% to $6.9bn, while underlying EBITDA fell 5% to $11.5bn. The dividend also took a knock. Management stuck to its policy of returning half of earnings to shareholders, which meant an…
When the Bitcoin Conference happened in May 2025, it coincided with a meeting with clients who asked, “What is Bitcoin?” The first Bitcoin Conference was held in NYC many years ago, and now there are several each year around the world, reflecting how cryptocurrency is a global force attracting significant investment and attention. Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency that was invented in 2008 by an unknown person or group of people using the name Satoshi Nakamoto. It was introduced as open-source software in 2009. Unlike traditional currencies issued by governments (fiat currencies), Bitcoin — while not an actual coin…