Investor excitement surrounding weight-loss drugs has arguably been as great if not greater than that seen for everything AI (artificial intelligence) in the last two years.Market leaders Novo Nordisk (NOVO-B:CPH) and Eli Lilly (LLY:NYSE), makers of Wegovy and Zepbound respectively, have seen their share prices soar as investors seemingly extrapolate their initial success years into the future.Ben

On track to deliver full year 2024New artificial tools announcedUnderlying adjusted operating profit up 4% to £250 millionShares in Pearson (PSON) were down over 3% to £10.10 in morning trading despite the education media group remaining on track to deliver full year 2024 and reiterating guidance for 2025.Beyond 2025, Pearson said it was positioned to deliver a compound annualised growth rate in

I am 72 and retired. I am aware that if I die after my 75th birthday my Pension Pot would be taxed as income by my beneficiaries (wife and children).As this would no doubt incur some 40% liability, would it make sense to draw from the SIPP up to my 20% income tax limit in the next 3 years rather than use other savings such as ISA's to live off?I have every intention of spending enough not to fall

Stocks in Europe were mostly lower on Wednesday morning, ahead of a eurozone consumer price inflation reading and the King's Speech.The FTSE 100 index opened down 10.32 points, or 0.1%, at 8,155.17. The FTSE 250 was down 55.59 points, or 0.3%, at 21,159.81, and the AIM All-Share was up 0.71 points, or 0.1%, at 787.79.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.2% at 813.97, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.1% at 18,451.

It was an eight-line statement from a UK small-cap budget footwear maker but Shoe Zone's (SHOE:AIM) latest profit warning tells a much bigger story about the way global trade and supply chains could be changing.The company has been hit by rising container prices as shipping routes have been disrupted, largely thanks to attacks perpetrated by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea. Vessels are rerouting away

London's FTSE 100 made a decent start to the final trading day of the quarter, and cooler-than-expected US data could offer it impetus for further gains.The blue-chip benchmark in Paris struggled, however, as pre-election nerves kicked in.The US data is released at 1330 BST. The core personal consumption expenditures inflation gauge is expected to have faded to 2.6% in May, from 2.8% in April, acc

Is BT (BT.A) finally worth owning? For years it has been a complete dog of a stock and despite spinning back through our archives, Shares struggled to find the last time we had anything positive to say about the company or its shares.Yet suddenly in May 2024, the stock jumped, chalking up rough 30% gains within days and now at roughly 138p. 'There is a surge of energy running through BT after the

Big milestones in our lives usually coincide with big personal finance decisions, or at least give us a nasty reminder that we should have been considering our financial futures when it would have made a difference to the here and now.Hindsight, as they say, is a wonderful thing. I had my first child two weeks after the collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers. That recession was tough for man

European equities closed lower on Monday, with markets unnerved by election results in Europe, ahead of a US interest rate decision later in the week.The FTSE 100 index closed down 16.89 points, 0.2%, at 8,228.48. The FTSE 250 ended down 109.33 points, 0.5%, at 20,446.04, and the AIM All-Share fell 5.25 points, 0.7%, at 788.28.The Cboe UK 100 ended down 0.3% at 820.02, the Cboe UK 250 also fell 0.

THIS IS AN ADVERTISING FEATURE Bruce Stout, Co-Manager, Murray International TrustIt's almost 50 years since my generation left school in the summer of '75'. Armed with aspirations that could only be fulfilled by becoming the next Denis Law or Carlos Santana, scant attention was given to prevailing economic and political circumstances. Blissfully oblivious to stagnating UK growth and inflation r

Prime minister Rishi Sunak's decision to call an early general election came too late for UK investors to respond, but the 'day after the night before' saw the the FTSE 100 close 30 points or 0.4% lower at 8,339 which is hard to read anything into as far as markets are concerned.A more telling reaction was the bounce in sterling, which continued its month-long advance against the euro as any chanc

Blue-chip stocks in Europe ended lower on Thursday, with a handful of ex-dividend shares hurting the FTSE 100, though there was bullishness in New York, as major benchmarks across the Atlantic hit record highs.The mood in New York was supported by retailer Walmart's first-quarter earnings beat and outlook raise.The FTSE 100 index edged down 7.15 points, 0.1%, at 8,438.65. The FTSE 250 added 47.21

This is the first in a series of articles focused on the fundamentals of investing. Don't worry if you are relatively new to investing because the series starts at the very beginning and explains what investing is, how it works and is intended to provide a useful framework for thinking about investing.The series is not exclusively for beginners and later on it will include more advanced features s

Mitie (MTO) 105pMarket cap: £1.4 billionFounded in 1987, Mitie Group (MTO) is the UK?s largest facilities management company looking after two and a half million assets for more than 3,000 customers.The firm takes care of buildings from banks to retailers, schools, hospitals and critical government sites, as well as the people who work in them, helping make them safer, more efficient and greener.

Kitwave shares up 41% year-to-dateCash and banking facilities funded purchaseTotal Foodservice has around 4,000 product linesShares in Kitwave (KITW:AIM) were up 4.5% to a new all-time high of 372p in morning trading as the food and drink wholesaler announced it was buying Total Foodservice, a leading independent food wholesaler in the North of England for £21 million.The purchase has been made i

2023 profit guidance revised downSecond delay to 2023 resultsExpects reduction in cost recovery of around £15 millionFormerly known as National Express, Mobico (MCG) was the second biggest faller in the FTSE 250 after the international transport operator lowered annual profit guidance amid accounting issues at its German business.The shares fell 8% to 65.4p which, if sustained would be the worst

At a huge indoor concert venue in Silicon Valley on 18 March Nvidia (NVDA:NASDAQ) founder and chief executive Jensen Huang took the stage to a score composed entirely by AI (artificial intelligence) to introduce his company?s latest creation. Assembled at the developer conference were researchers and experts from just about every field which uses Nvidia?s chips to process large data sets, from cli

THIS IS AN ADVERTISING FEATURE Nuclear power, which uses uranium to produce electricity with a small carbon footprint, has been around for decades, but the technology and underlying commodity have experienced renewed interest as the world looks to transition away from fossil fuels and nations work to increase energy security. The shift from fossil fuels to green energy sources such as solar and wi

Shares in publishing outfit Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY) hit a record level on 14 February after the firm raised its guidance for the year ending 29 February 2024.Over the past year, Bloomsbury shares have gained 22% and over five years 137% to sit at 536p. The publisher has clearly benefited from the revival of reading which started during the pandemic and the ability to tap into popular genres li

Shares up 6% over past yearUnderlying sales rise 5% to £3.7 billionFree cash flow of £387 millionShares in Pearson (PSON) improved 4% to 998.2p after the education media group reported a positive set of results for the year to December 2023.The FTSE 100 company reported a rise in adjusted operating profit from £456 million to £573 million.EPS (earnings per share) rose 12.4% to 58.2p and Pearso