Imagine going for a night out in a busy pub, and when the time comes to use the loo, you leave your phone and wallet on the table unguarded. You wouldn't. Yet your online data is, in theory, just as exposed.Don't panic, fortunately, most of your information is secured by the clever digital locks and latches of cybersecurity, be that your personal banking details, your Facebook identity, or your Am

You often hear the word 'defensive' applied to certain stocks and sectors, but what does it mean and can buying 'defensive' stocks really help your performance as an investor?In a word, yes, because they dial down some of the risk which is inherent in markets because they tend not to be very volatile unlike most 'cyclical' or 'growth' stocks, but it's how you use them which matters.Defensive stock

Stocks in London were in the red around Friday noon, as investors await US nonfarm payrolls data.The FTSE 100 index fell 22.26 points, 0.3%, at 8,705.52. The FTSE 250 dipped 80.59 points, 0.4%, at 20,892.77. The AIM All-Share was down 0.34 of a point at 720.50.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.4% at 872.49, the Cboe UK 250 fell 0.5% to 18,223.64, and the Cboe Small Companies was down 0.3% at 15,638.63.In

With a sense of anticipation Shares scurried along to Finsbury Growth & Income Trust's (FGT) latest AGM (annual general meeting) at London's Guildhall on a wet and windy day (28 January), where shareholders turned up in droves and one or two left the assembled board members squirming in their seats.While the total return-focused trust's long-run record under star manager Nick Train remains impress

Investors now have a flavour of how unpredictable life could be under a Trump administration as tariffs on neighbours Mexico and Canada were announced and then subsequently delayed in the space of 24 hours. Quite what this means for global markets is still up for debate and there remains an air of real uncertainty over what comes next.In this week's news section, Martin Gamble picks over what we c

Who had an open-source Chinese AI chatbot on their bingo card as something which could trip the markets up in 2025? Not me, I have to confess. We have a news special on the DeepSeek story and its implications from my colleague Martin Gamble, who won't mind me saying has seen a few market cycles in his time. Anyone invested in a global fund or tracker will likely to have some exposure to this story

London stocks ended mixed on Wednesday, with the FTSE 100 gaining as utilities rebounded, while investors awaited the Federal Reserve's rate decision and key US tech earnings.The FTSE 100 index ended up 23.94 points, 0.3%, at 8,557.81. The FTSE 250 ended down 28.81 points, 0.1%, at 20,559.70, and the AIM All-Share eased 3.13 points, 0.4%, at 712.19.The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.2% at 857.74 on Wednes

Shares jump 10% on deal newsBuyer paying just a 25% premiumShares had halved since listingSpin-offs are usually fertile ground for investors, but that hasn't been the case for shareholders who bought into automotive components and powder metallurgy group Dowlais (DWL) after its demerger from Melrose (MRO).Fortunately, holders have been offered respite of sorts in the shape of an agreed deal with U

Nvidia set for 5%-plus recovery when Wall Street reopensBroadcom, AMD, TSMC also set to regain some lost groundValuable reminder to investors that stocks do not always go upThe tech bloodbath on Wall Street overnight looks like a short, sharp shock often needed when markets get over exuberant. Pre-market data shows the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures both making modest gains as investors reset expe

Stock prices in London were mostly lower at midday on Thursday, ahead of US jobless figures, while the European Central Bank's next rate call due next Thursday is getting closer.'The FTSE 100's strong start to 2025 is starting to lose some momentum,' commented AJ Bell's Russ Mould, adding: 'In London, retailers were on the back foot with some recent measures of UK consumer confidence suggesting th

The US and China are at loggerheads, philosophically, politically and economically ? though thankfully not in military terms ? and the contrast between how the two are perceived by financial markets could hardly be greater. Stock markets offer part of the story, as America's headline indices sit at or near to all-time highs, while the Shanghai Composite equity benchmark languishes where it did bac

What a mixed year this has turned out to be for Shares' best ideas for 2024.That our one star turn stock was an annuities and lifetime mortgage specialist, even if it was 'screamingly cheap at its current price', as we originally noted, and the supposedly exciting tech growth picks have been dull-to-dismal, might make you hark back to school days studies of Christopher Hill's The World Turned Upsi

European stocks were mixed at midday on Tuesday, as new UK unemployment data was unchanged signalling weak job creation.Investors will be eagerly anticipating the US Federal Reserve and Bank of England rate calls this week. The Fed appears very likely to announce its latest cut, while the BoE is expected to keep rates unchanged.The UK Office for National Statistics reported that unemployment in th

The UK stock market has performed robustly over the past year, with several companies standing out significantly. In this article, we will examine the top-performing large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap stocks of 2024, dissected across four different market valuation categories.£5 BILLION+ MARKET CAPAfter a stellar 2023, aeronautical engineer Rolls-Royce (RR.) has once again rallied hard during 2024

Ashley blasts Boohoo's 'egotistical' founderFrasers' criticisms labelled 'superficial'Boohoo highlights 'credible' turnaround planBoohoo's (BOO:AIM) shares were bid up 2% to 36p after the struggling online fashion group revealed that Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has recommended shareholders reject Mike Ashley's bid to become CEO at the company's forthcoming general meeting (20 December

Enterprise software giant sees stock jump to all-time highAI-powered AgentForce shows early promiseStrong Q4 and 2025 in store, believe analystsOutside of a handful of obvious candidates - Microsoft (MSFT:NASDAQ), for example ? AI hasn't yet really woken the growth beast for applications firms, but that could be changing at Salesforce (CRM:NYSE).The customer relationship management gorilla talked

Identifying genuine growth stories is not easy but can be extremely rewarding. Nvidia (NVDA:NASDAQ) may be the ultimate growth stock example now but who was flagging its potential 10 years ago when revenue and profit was just a fraction of what it is today and when the widespread application of AI was still restricted to think pieces in periodicals. Some did catch on early and would have enjoyed e

Flat underlying profitsDiscretionary spend remains weakHalfords 'comfortable' with FY25 consensusCycling and motoring products purveyor Halfords (HFD) has been the bearer of bad news for some time, with savage earnings downgrades sucking plenty of air from the tyre seller's share price.Today's (26 November) first half results revealed flat profits with discretionary spending weak and consumers rem

Could you please explain how someone's drawdown pot is taken into account when working out how much you have to pay towards care costs.For example, for the purposes of working this out, is the pot of money converted into an annuity income based on the person's age and capital pot value.And if so, what type of annuity is used? Is it a single life one regardless of whether the person in the home is

Stocks in London were mixed at Wednesday midday, as investors digested a hotter-than-expected consumer price growth reading in the UK, while focus across the Atlantic turns to Nvidia's earnings.The FTSE 100 index climbed just 3.66 points at 8,102.68. The FTSE 250 fell 59.75 points, 0.3%, at 20,367.87, and the AIM All-Share was up 1.04 points, 0.1%, at 725.27.The Cboe UK 100 was flat at 814.74, the