It can seem daunting to know where to start when making a first investment which may deter some people from starting at all. This would be a mistake because the sooner a start is made, the longer an investment is allowed to mature and provide capital gains and dividends.Waiting just a few years can reduce the potential saving pot over the long term. For example, assuming an investment of £100 a m

If, like many people, you have moved jobs over the years and accumulated two or more occupational pensions, now is a good time to think about bringing them all under one roof.As well as allowing you to work out how much is in your pension pots and where they are invested, by consolidating them into a single pot you can manage them more easily.In this article we'll show you how to go about this pro

Stock prices in London closed lower on Wednesday, as European markets brace themselves for political instability in the run-up to UK and French elections.The CAC 40 in Paris took the biggest hit on Wednesday, ahead of the snap election in France on Sunday.The FTSE 100 index closed down 22.46 points, 0.3%, at 8,225.33. The FTSE 250 ended down 65.33 points, 0.3%, at 20,298.10, and the AIM All-Share

European equities opened higher on Wednesday, after US tech shares, including chipmaker and artificial intelligence titan Nvidia, returned to form overnight.In London, investors had a host of corporate updates to sink into, including bullish earnings from pandemic winners AO World and ProCook. A merger agreement between Witan Investment Trust and Alliance Trust also grabbed some of the spotlight.T

Over the coming years investors in ETFs (exchange-traded funds) can expect further flexibility and choice as actively managed products move into the mainstream and a broader range of themes and investment areas are captured by the industry.In this article we will look at some of the emerging developments in the ETF space and highlight four products tailored to different investment objectives and a

The US's Alternative Energy has walked away from any dealXP Power shares trading at near 15-year lowsDavy says 'significant shareholder value can be created from a standalone XPP'Electronics engineer XP Power (XPP) saw its share price plunge nearly 18% in trading on Tuesday (18 Jun), leaving the stock more than 40% lower over the past 12 months.Having been marred by slowing orders late last year,

London's FTSE 100 capped off a losing week with a slight decline on Friday, though it avoided the heftier falls seen on the continent as French political uncertainty weighed heavily on the CAC 40 in Paris once more.The FTSE 100 index closed down 16.81 points, 0.2%, at 8,146.86. The FTSE 250 ended down 75.59 points, 0.4%, at 20,120.36, and the AIM All-Share lost 4.39 points, 0.6%, at 776.04.For the

A disappointing economic performance as it exited zero-Covid policies, a property crash in 2023 and ongoing geopolitical tensions with the US over Taiwan have caused some investors to lose faith in investing in China in the last couple of years.In terms of ETFs, this has meant investors turning their attention to emerging market funds which specifically exclude the world's second-largest economy f

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

As Shares goes to press, reports suggest online fast-fashion behemoth Shein is preparing an IPO (initial public offering) on the London Stock Exchange after its attempt to list in New York faced opposition from US lawmakers due to perceived China links.The IPO could value the fashion group at around £50 billion, making Shein the biggest-ever IPO in London by value, topping the £36.3 billion tag

There are many reasons why people start investing ? to get better returns on their cash, to meet long-term investment goals, to save for a deposit on a house purchase or for retirement.Whatever your investment goals you can generate wealth from investing in shares, investment trusts, ETFs and funds. In this article we will explain how to turn that aspiration into reality in this step-by-step guide

Would you invest in a company if it costs more than $1,000 per share? The price tag might put people off, either because they could not afford it or they consider that amount to be too expensive. Finding a solution is exactly the discussion in Nvidia's (NVDA:NASDAQ) boardroom in recent months. The world's most talked-about stock has decided the answer lies in a stock split.On 7 June, Nvidia shareh

The FTSE 100 in London closed lower on Monday amid a shaky start in New York, and after a difficult day for GSK and Baltic Classifieds.The FTSE 100 index closed down 12.63 points, 0.2%, at 8,262.75. The FTSE 250 ended up 170.37 points, 0.8%, at 20,900.49, and the AIM All-Share closed down 0.63 of a point, 0.1%, at 805.16.The Cboe UK 100 ended down 0.1% at 824.85, the Cboe UK 250 closed down 1.1% a

The FTSE 100 was up in London at midday, following positive manufacturing data, while Labour reiterated its commitments to defence on the general election campaign trail.The FTSE 100 index was up 17.18 points, or 0.2%, at 8,292.63. The FTSE 250 was up 165.40 points, or 0.8%, at 20,895.27, and the AIM All-Share was up 2.30 points, or 0.3%, at 808.09.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.3% at 827.98, the Cboe U

Retail bellwether Marks & Spencer's (MKS) latest results (22 May) suggest the food, fashion and furniture seller has embarked on the turnaround which has been long in the making with many false dawns down the years.Shares in the FTSE 100 retailer are at a fresh five-year high of 300p following the delivery of forecast-beating full-year figures and a first final dividend since 2019. Yet despite the

There's no doubt the shock departure of a star fund manager or well-followed stock picker is a red flag, but there are various reasons why successful portfolio managers choose to leave their investment management firm and therefore their funds.And, as with most aspects of investing, there are no hard and fast rules about what investors should do when their fund manager ups sticks. Much depends on

This column has no axe to grind with Nvidia (NVDA:NASDAQ) and ? like everyone else ? it continues to be both surprised and impressed by the growth that the semiconductor specialist is generating, thanks to the competitive position it is crafting itself in providing silicon chips that power the data centres that, in turn, drive the large language models that are so important to the development of A

SharkNinja (SN:NYSE) $75.16Gain to date: 53.5%We highlighted the attractions of SharkNinja (SN:NYSE) at $49 last December and shares in the cleaning-to-cooking appliances designer have soared 53.5% higher since. Risk-averse readers may be tempted to take profits off the table, but Shares believes this would be a mistake given the massive market share opportunity ahead for the Shark and Ninja brand

Stock prices in London were mostly higher at midday on Tuesday but the FTSE 100 declined ahead of a slew of US data in the afternoon, after a public holiday in both the US and the UK.The FTSE 100 index was down 16.64 points, or 0.2%, at 8,301.04. The FTSE 250 was up 83.97 points, or 0.4%, at 20,855.45, and the AIM All-Share was up 1.17 points, or 0.1%, at 811.19.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.3% at 82

£19.50 per share deal less than a third of historic peaksEnd markets have been soft for XP PowerManagement confident in widespread recovery given timeSingapore-based electrical engineer XP Power (XPP) has firmly rejected a cheeky buyout, and quite right too. The offer, made by precision power kit peer Advanced Energy Industries, is pitched at £19.50 per share, the latest in a run of offers made