Industry backdrop 'challenging'But expectations unchangedSpirits giant confident growth will returnIn a thin trading update, alcoholic drinks behemoth Diageo (DGE) warned that the global backdrop for the industry 'remains challenging' with consumers continuing to exercise caution.However, shares in the Johnnie Walker-to-Smirnoff vodka maker rallied 4% to £26 on relief that things aren't getting a

This is the second article in our mini-series covering portfolio construction. It is focused on how to manage and maintain a portfolio.Once a balanced portfolio has been constructed and is up and running, for some investors, there may be a temptation to tinker.It is therefore worth reiterating what we said at the outset, that investing is a marathon and not a sprint. What is most important is to m

During my working life, I have only ever had a single income stream, so tax has just been simple(ish) PAYE.However, that is about to change. I currently get an income from a defined benefit pension, then next year I will also get the state pension, then I will also start drawing-down income from my SIPP. I've already taken all the tax-free lump sums.How can PAYE handle this? Do I get a tax code fo

If you pick up a newspaper this month, you are almost guaranteed to read about the taxes the new chancellor is planning to hike, or the tax reliefs she is looking to axe. But one set of tax reliefs we know is here to stay are those supporting venture capital trusts.The Treasury has just confirmed the VCT scheme will now run until at least 2035 in order to support small British businesses. Many inv

We start the review on a positive note with the news of two small-cap IPOs (initial public offers), one in the healthcare space and one in the red-hot AI (artificial intelligence) space.Having sold its governance, risk and compliance software business to private equity earlier this year and returned £225 million to shareholders via a buyback and special dividend, business services group Marlowe (

DoJ claims anticompetitive conduct to maintain debit card dominanceStock plunges 5.5%, swiping $30 billion off market capCiti analysts tell clients to switch to MastercardAntitrust watchdogs have had Big Tech firmly in theirs sights for months but now its Visa (V:NYSE) that finds itself being hauled over the regulatory coals after the US Department of Justice launched a lawsuit against the credit

The FTSE 100 closed higher in London on Tuesday, as miners enjoyed a boost from stimulus efforts in China, while mid-caps retreated from earlier in the day following US data.The FTSE 100 index closed up 23.05 points, or 0.3%, at 8,282.76. The FTSE 250 ended down 75.00 points, or 0.4%, at 20,770.12, and the AIM All-Share closed down 1.52 points, 0.2%, at 742.80.The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.3% at 828.

Equities in Europe powered higher on Tuesday morning, with some stimulus measures out of China supporting stocks, before focus shifts to US data as the week progresses.The FTSE 100 index opened up 35.02 points, 0.4%, at 8,294.73. The FTSE 250 was up 11.61 points, 0.1%, at 20,856.73, and the AIM All-Share was up 1.96 points, 0.3%, at 746.28.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.4% at 829.49, the Cboe UK 250 was

Equities in London opened in the red on Monday morning, as AstraZeneca released disappointing trial results while REA upped the ante with a sweetened takeover bid for fellow property portal Rightmove.Monday's economic diary has several flash composite purchasing managers' index releases including from the US and UK.The FTSE 100 index traded down 6.78 points, 0.1%, at 8,223.21. The FTSE 250 was dow

The FTSE 100 and 250 closed in the red on Friday, as this week's US interest rate cut was offset by a disappointing consumer confidence reading.The FTSE 100 index closed down 98.73 points, or 1.2%, at 8,229.99. The FTSE 250 ended down 330.87 points, or 1.6%, at 20,831.84, and the AIM All-Share closed down 0.3%, or 2.46 points, at 745.62.The Cboe UK 100 ended down 1.2% at 823.77, the Cboe UK 250 cl

HVIVO (HVO:AIM) 28.2pMarket cap: £191.9 millionFluCamp does not sound like much fun for volunteers, but for leading CRO (contract research organisation) HVIVO (HVO:AIM) it represents a flagship service which is attracting growing interest from big pharma and biotechnology companies.The company is at the forefront of HCTs (human challenge trials), a fast-growing niche within the large CRO industry

Anniversaries are often an opportunity to take stock so the Shares team has had a look at the best performing shares, funds and investment trusts since the magazine's first issue in September 1999.Read on to discover the identity of the top performers and find out names we think will continue to impress in the years to come and those where we think the good times might be over. But first, Ian Conw

My wife and I are both pensioners receiving state pensions. We are both self-employed earning between £5,000 and £10,000 a year each, plus we both receive income from renting a commercial property (total around £20,000 per year).My wife receives a pension from the NHS of around £7,500 a year.We both have personal SIPPs in drawdown (after taking out our 25% tax free), which we sometimes draw in

Progress with planned portfolio reshapePositive start to new yearNaira devaluation wipes out profitsConsumer goods group PZ Cussons (PZC) insisted the 'favourable trends' seen in last year's second half have continued into its new financial year as the FTSE 250 firm assured investors it is on track with plans to refocus its portfolio following a strategic review.Unfortunately, shares in the Manche

Stocks in London made a subdued start on Monday, ahead of a busy week of central bank meetings, as weak data from China soured the mood.The FTSE 100 index added just 3.29 points at 8,276.34. The FTSE 250 fell just 7.54 points at 20,887.83, and the AIM All-Share fell 1.16 points, 0.2%, at 744.07.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.1% at 827.83, the Cboe UK 250 fell 0.1% to 18,402.85, and the Cboe Small Compan

Stocks opened higher in Europe on Friday, as investors shift their attention to rate decisions by the US Federal Reserve and Bank of England next week, after a cut by the European Central Bank on Thursday.The FTSE 100 index added 16.61 points, 0.2%, at 8,257.58. The FTSE 250 was up 83.91 points, 0.4%, at 20,779.68, and the AIM All-Share rose 2.33 points, 0.3%, at 743.69.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.2%

At the start of 2024, I speculated that interest rate cuts could lead to takeovers involving bigger companies than the type of deals seen in 2023. While the rate-cut journey still remains in its infancy for the UK and other key geographies, the predicted wave of large-cap takeovers is firmly in motion. It's a reminder there is value on the UK market in droves.There have been bids or expressions of

Smiths News (SNWS) 57pMarket Cap: £142.2 millionSuccessful investing comes down to what you get in the future for what you lay out today. How does doubling your money in around eight years sound, with the possibility of doing even better?In a nutshell, that is the investment case for the UK's leading newspaper and magazine distributor Smiths News (SNWS) which has been delivering print across Engl

Centamin (CEY) 149pGain to date: 52.5%Market cap: £1.72 billionBack in February we tipped Jersey-domiciled gold miner Centamin (CEY) both as a growth story and as a way to play the rising price of the precious metal, which at the time was trading just above $2,000 per ounce.As well as exposure to the gold price, the FTSE 250 firm offered operational gains from its three-year investment programme

US money market funds raked in their biggest haul of the year in the month of August, some $127 billion, taking total cash assets to a record $6.26 trillion according to data from the Investment Company Institute.To put that into perspective the total value of all publicly traded US stocks is $56.5 trillion based on the Wilshire 5,000 Total Market index. That means money market funds hold cash equ