Shares magazine

22 July 2026

Going against the tide means fighting against our inherent make up. It’s a longstanding tenet of behavioural finance that humans are driven by herd behaviour and we can see this dynamic at play in the markets on a regular basis.

For us as investors, this creates the risk of getting involved in a crowded trade which the US Treasury has defined as...

22 July 2026

Ask the experts. Sarah Coles is on hand to answer your personal finance questions. If you’d like a question considered for a future edition send it in now .

Or alternatively leave a rating for the article and include your question in the comment box.

I’d like to sell an investment to reduce the capital gains tax. The first sale was for £5,000 =...

21 July 2026

Ask the experts. Paul Angell is on hand to answer your questions about investments. If you'd like a question considered for a future edition, send it in now.

Or alternatively leave a rating for the article and include your question in the comment box.

It’s hard for me to understand the case for active funds for stock investing. If tracker funds...

21 July 2026

It’s rare that pensions are out of the news, but we’ve seen a sharp focus on whether people are saving enough for a decent retirement and what a decent retirement looks like. The interim report from the Pensions Commission was published in May, estimating a whopping 15 million people weren’t saving enough and we also saw an update to figures that...

20 July 2026

The major UK banks are schedule to report first-half earnings between the back end of July and early August 2026.

Heading into the numbers, bank shares have continued to outperform the FTSE 100 benchmark with HSBC shares up by around a fifth and Lloyds up around 12% while NatWest and Barclays have lagged.

Interest rate expectations, which are...

20 July 2026

Ask the experts. Russ Mould is on hand to answer your queries about the financial markets. If you'd like a question considered for a future edition, send it in now .

Or alternatively leave a rating for the article and include your question in the comment box.

There’s a lot of excitement about the SpaceX IPO but I keep hear people talking about a...

16 July 2026

There’s little doubt about Tesco’s position in the UK grocery sector. It dominates in a way which is beginning to match the high watermark of the 2000s when its share of the market was above 30%. The share price too has surged in recent years to approach levels last seen in the late noughties and early 2010s.

But what is behind Tesco’s competitive...

16 July 2026

Some analysts believe Apple is at risk of falling behind in the AI race due to its slow adoption and the delayed roll-out of advanced features.

Critics point to the recent revamp of its natural language interface Siri, which was unveiled at the Worldwide Developers Conference and met with a decidedly muted response from investors.

Rather than...

16 July 2026

Markets are full of investment themes, the most popular of late being AI, with debates around robotics and drones abounding in conversations about the next emerging cutting-edge area.

But what actually makes something a long-term, investable strategy versus a flash in the pan frothy fad or trend?

A myriad of exchange traded fund (ETF) and thematic...

16 July 2026

In the not so distant past the UK industrials sector could be characterised as a collection of low-margin metal bashers producing commoditised products for mature economies. There has been significant improvement since then with leaner, more technologically focused companies operating in a far more diverse mix of geographies.

Many are leaders in...

16 July 2026

Free cash flow yield has a strong following among value and quality-oriented investors. It is seen as a cleaner measure of value than traditional valuation metrics like the PE (price to earnings) ratio.

Unlike reported earnings which are shaped by accounting choices like how to reflect the valuation of assets, when to recognise revenue, and whether...

16 July 2026

Robert, 65, is currently enjoying the slower pace of retired life. A keen cyclist, now with more time explore the National Cycle Network routes near – and far – from his home in the northeast, and bond with his first grandchild.

But the foundations of this were set over 40 years beforehand when, at aged 21, Robert got his first job and asked the...

16 July 2026

Income investors should never rule out a dividend cut. There are no guarantees with dividends and sometimes companies have no choice but to lower the amount paid to shareholders.

Dividend cuts are a live issue, and they are happening across the market. For example, we have already seen two FTSE 100 firms cut dividends this year, being drinks group...

16 July 2026

Ask the experts. Rachel Vahey is here to answer questions on pensions. If you’d like a question considered for a future edition send it in now .

Or alternatively leave a rating for the article and include your question in the comment box.

I have a question about inheritance tax and pensions. I will be over 75 years old at the time of my death...

17 June 2026

Ask the experts. Sarah Coles is on hand to answer your personal finance questions. If you’d like a question considered for a future edition send it in now .

Or alternatively leave a rating for the article and include your question in the comment box.

I retire soon and want to make the most of the time I have left earning a regular salary. I’m...

16 June 2026

Ask the experts. Rachel Vahey is here to answer questions on pensions. If you’d like a question considered for a future edition send it in now .

Or alternatively leave a rating for the article and include your question in the comment box.

I worked in the US for a few years before returning back to the UK. Whilst out there I built up a $31,000...

16 June 2026

While ultimately the damage to most investors’ portfolios has likely been relatively light so far this year there has certainly been plenty for us all to fret about in 2026.

We have yet to see the full inflationary impact of the Iran war and the shutting off of the Strait of Hormuz but most are aware it is coming, while confidence in the AI story...

15 June 2026

Ask the experts. Russ Mould is on hand to answer your queries about the financial markets. If you'd like a question considered for a future edition, send it in now .

Or alternatively leave a rating for the article and include your question in the comment box.

I keep hearing about stagflation and how its bad for markets but could you explain what...

15 June 2026

The principle of reducing risk by spreading investments across different sectors and companies can be given another layer of diversification by considering investing in international markets.

Helpfully, there is an excellent range of products and instruments which allow you to participate in the returns from markets across the globe.

While there...

11 June 2026

Sometimes value and growth as investing styles are seen as polar opposites.

However, they can be combined – with the growth at a reasonable price (GARP for short) approach attempting to encompass both these factors.

The focus here is on high earnings growth where the price is low relative to forecast earnings – something which can be measured using...

11 June 2026

Semiconductor stocks have been surging ever since ChatGPT’s launch in 2022 sparked the AI theme into full flame. While names like Nvidia have been prominent, the list of AI beneficiaries is getting longer and is now encompassing CPUs, the brain handling logic in computers and laptops.

Nvidia was the standout beneficiary in the race to develop large...

11 June 2026

Insurer Legal & General is a cornerstone of income investors portfolios with the shares offering the highest dividend yield in the blue-chip FTSE 100 index, currently around 8%.

L&G is a good example of the powerful effect of reinvesting dividends on total shareholder return.

While the share price performance looks uninspiring over the last five...

11 June 2026

The full new state pension is quoted as a flat rate £241.30 per week, or just over £12,500 a year, giving the impression that all pensioners with 35 or more qualifying years now get this. In practice, and over 10 years since the new system was introduced, many don’t.

The picture is more complex, mainly due to transitional rules introduced when the...

11 June 2026

Asia is a fruitful place for income and portfolio diversification, with more companies returning cash to investors as a reward for taking the risk of owning their shares. Parts of Asia are also attractive from a valuation perspective.

Investors in the UK might be less familiar with Asian stocks and so the easiest way to get exposure is via funds...

11 June 2026

Ask the experts. Paul Angell is on hand to answer your questions about investments. If you'd like a question considered for a future edition, send it in now.

Or alternatively leave a rating for the article and include your question in the comment box.

What guidance is available for someone with only a couple of years until retirement who is...