We’ve got some good news from the UK stock market. Danni Hewson chats about how the FTSE 100 has hit a new record high and the drivers behind it. She also talks with Dan Coatsworth about the latest developments from key companies both sides of the Atlantic. The pair discuss Tesla’s surprise announcement, Pepsi’s trading-down problem, JD Sports aiming to generate 40% of sales from the US, and an activist investor snapping up bonds in troubled utility company Thames Water. You can hear about an alarming number of adults still living with their parents in their 30s and what the property industry wants the government to do to help first-time buyers get on the property ladder. Dan discusses the disappearance of generous cash incentives to switch bank account and the surge in people switching credit card deals. Finally, Tom Sieber and Ian Conway from Shares magazine get under the bonnet of Associated British Foods and how there is a lot more to the business than its retail arm, Primark.

On this week’s AJ Bell Money & Markets podcast, Charlene Young and Dan Coatsworth look at cooling inflation and how markets reacted to the latest numbers on UK jobs. The rise in scams is the hot topic of the week, with over £1 million reportedly lost this year already by ‘Swifties’ – Taylor Swift fans desperate to get their hands on tour tickets. Our guest is Ayush Abhijeet from Ashoka India Equity Trust, who chats to Danni Hewson about where he sees the potential value in what’s likely to be the G20’s fastest growing economy once again this year. Charlene has an update on the enquiry into the collapse of the Woodford Equity Fund and how the regulator was going to give one of parties involved a £50 million fine but then chose not to. Dan covers upbeat news on IPOs, a takeover approach for Royal Mail and a deal involving 90s food favourite TGI Friday’s. We wrap things up with figures on charity gifting and Charlene explains how gift aid rules give UK charities a 25% boost on donations received but also possible tax relief for those making the donations.

On this episode of the Money and Markets podcast Danni Hewson and Laura Suter assess market reaction to the latest US inflation data that came in hotter than expected and reset expectation of when the Fed might cut interest rates. The pair mull over what that might mean for UK rates and Laura digs in to the latest FCA Financial Lives survey which shows things are improving for UK households, though 7 million households are still struggling to pay bills. Earnings season has started all over again and kicking things off in the UK the country’s biggest supermarket Tesco reports a jump in profits as price cuts keep shoppers in store. Danni looks into what that might signal for the weeks ahead, plus what the former Tesco boss Jason Tarry might bring to John Lewis and Shell’s shock announcement that it could consider moving its listing to New York. AJ Bell’s head of policy Rachel Vahey is on hand to deliver our pensions corner and she’ll be answering one of your questions about the potential tax implications as the state pension increases and our guest this week is Catherine Yueng Investment Director at Fidelity Asian Values – she explains why she still sees China as a good investment.

Dan Coatsworth and Danni Hewson debate the big news from Disney. Activist investor Nelson Peltz has been defeated in his attempts to get a seat on the board of directors, so what does this mean going forward? Gold has hit another record high so Dan dives into the reasons why the precious metal is doing so well. Danni digests some disappointing news from Tesla and what it means for the electric vehicle space. Tom Sieber from Shares magazine talks about the state of the UK stock market and a warning from one of the big brokers that we could see hundreds more companies disappear from the London Stock Exchange over the coming years. Jeremy Hunt promised us a new British Savings Bond when he gave his Budget last month and we’ve now got all the important details. Dan weighs up the pros and cons of the new savings vehicle. Meanwhile, Danni explores the rise of the billionaire and why it might be worth looking down the back of the sofa for some chocolate coins.

Welcome to the third instalment in a new series of bonus podcasts from the AJ Bell Money & Markets team all about investment trusts. Published at the start of each month, the bonus podcast features a range of topics with investment experts and fund managers, with each episode debating some of the most popular trusts with retail investors, the big topics that matter, and a little bit of educational material to get listeners up to speed. This episode focuses on income, growth, the UK and renewable energy. Laith Khalaf talks to Annabel Brodie-Smith from the Association of Investment Companies about dividend heroes. These are investment trusts that have raised their dividend every year for at least 20 years in a row. Martin Gamble and Tom Sieber from Shares magazine explore the rise of JPMorgan Global Growth & Income and how it has become one of the most popular trusts with UK investors. Ryan Lightfoot-Aminoff from Kepler Partners is on the show to explain the different ways you can invest in the UK following plans by the Government to launch a British ISA. Meanwhile, Dan Coatsworth talks to James Smith from Premier Miton Global Renewables Trust about why the renewable energy space has been a disappointing place to invest recently, and what is needed for the sector to deliver better returns.

On this week’s podcast we’ve got disappointing updates from both Lululemon and Nike, signalling that perhaps the athleisure trend is coming to an end. We’ve also got news on the Government’s sale of Natwest and a deep-dive on Apple from our friends at Shares magazine. Trump has been dominating the headlines ahead of the US election, but he’s hit them for a different reason now: his media business has floated on the stock market – we cover how the float went. And our interview this week is with Ewan Markson-Brown from the Crux Asia ex-Japan Fund, who explains why he’s excited about prospects for the electric vehicle sector. Looking away from markets, we have an update on the Waspi campaign, and whether they are really likely to be in line for £10bn in compensation, and we have details of a new mortgage for first-time buyers that only requires a £5,000 deposit. Finally, we look at some news on how all our supermarket shopping habits have changed – and why we are opting for pricier brands. And cover another drop in food inflation – which might spell good news for overall inflation figures.

On this week’s AJ Bell Money & Markets podcast, Danni Hewson and Charlene Young dig through the latest UK inflation figures and bring you up to date on market reaction to central bank rate decisions. They also chat about Unilever’s decision to spin off its ice cream empire, Nvidia’s continued moves to dominate the AI sector and the Chancellor’s comments that the pension triple lock will need to be looked at again after the next election. Dan Coatsworth gives us a sneaky peak into what’s in the baskets of ISA millionaires as well as where investors have been investing their ISA money over the past few months. Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust is always a firm favourite in ISAs but it’s had a tricky run of late. Danni chats to deputy manager Laurence Burns about why he feels it has turned a corner.  Laura Suter gets out her spreadsheet to show how a Lifetime ISA can help first-time buyers shave years off the slog to get a house deposit together. With some parents about to get a child benefit windfall thanks to the raising of high-income thresholds, Charlene explains how a Junior ISA can help you turn that into a chunky nest egg for your kids.

On this episode of the AJ Bell Money & Markets podcast we explore the rise of Chinese e-commerce platform Temu and how it is taking the retail sector by storm. Dan Coatsworth talks to Ewan Markson-Brown from the Crux Asia ex-Japan Fund about why he invests in Temu’s owner PDD and why Donald Trump’s presidential comeback attempt has weighed on the company’s share price. AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould considers the latest inflation figures and what central banks might do next with rates. Danni Hewson explores the growing cost of vet bills and why concerns by the UK competition watchdog have led to a formal investigation of the sector including whether consumers are being overcharged for medicine and prescriptions. Dan considers the latest results from Domino’s Pizza and Dollar Tree and what they tell us about the state of the UK and US consumer. He also looks at new figures showing a decline in Cash ISA subscriptions, while Danni explores big changes to the basket of goods used to calculate UK inflation.

This week’s AJ Bell Money & Markets podcast examines what the UK government’s latest Budget means for you and your money. Danni Hewson considers the OBR’s new economic forecasts and the market reaction to the Budget. Dan Coatsworth explores the new British ISA, how it might work and why it is not the perfect solution to getting more people interested in investing and supporting UK businesses. Pensions news was thin on the ground in the Budget but Charlene Young has found some nuggets worth digesting. Also on the podcast: good news for parents looking for help meeting the cost of childcare and changes to capital gains tax on the sale of second homes. The team also discuss how the UK government has confirmed plans to push ahead with the sale of its stake in NatWest by summer at the earliest.

Welcome to the second in a new series of bonus podcasts from the AJ Bell Money & Markets team all about investment trusts. Published at the start of each month, the bonus podcast features a range of topics with investment experts and fund managers, with each episode debating some of the most popular trusts with retail investors, the big topics that matter, and a little bit of educational material to get listeners up to speed. This episode focuses on underperforming fund managers and mergers. Should you pay a fund manager to try and outperform or use a low-cost tracker fund that simply follows the market and doesn’t try to beat it? It’s a key conundrum for investors, particularly as many big-name fund managers have lagged the market in recent years. Dan Coatsworth debates this topic with Stuart Gray, co-portfolio manager at Alliance Trust. Nick Train-managed Finsbury Growth & Income is among the trusts that have underperformed over the past three years so Ian Conway and Steven Frazer from Shares magazine are on the podcast to discuss what the trust is trying to do and whether there are flaws to its strategy. Shares magazine’s Tom Sieber also joins the podcast to talk about an investment trust that is shooting for the moon as it hopes to make money from investing in space. So far, Seraphim Space Investment Trust has delivered poor returns for shareholders who invested at its stock market debut in 2021. Dan chats with James Carthew, head of investment company research at QuotedData, about the growing trend for mergers in the investment trust space. We’ve also got Laith Khalaf to run through what it means if one of the trusts in your portfolio goes through a merger, takeover or decides to be shut down.

On this week’s AJ Bell Money & Markets podcast Danni is joined by new host, AJ Bell’s pensions and savings expert Charlene Young. The pair discuss the CMA’s announcement that it is investigating whether eight UK housebuilders including Barratt and Taylor Wimpey have been sharing commercially sensitive information that could have affected house prices.  Danni digs into whether Shein’s consideration of a London listing comes with warning signs and whether a bidding war could be about to start for electrical retailer Currys. Charlene considers warnings by the IFS that the Chancellor must prove any tax cuts are affordable, and the good news that food price inflation is finally falling. Dan Coatsworth has been chatting to a couple of people who know tech stocks inside out AND backwards – we’ll hear from Maneesh Bajaj from Brown Advisory’s US Flexible Equity Fund which is invested in most of the Magnificent Seven. Now the dust has settled, we’ve brought back George Dent from BNY Mellon Long-Term Global Equity Fund to talk about semiconductors. Tom Sieber from Shares magazine also joins the show to consider if Disney has really lost its way.

On this week’s AJ Bell Money & Markets podcast, Dan Coatsworth and Danni Hewson dig into Nvidia’s barnstorming results which have put a rocket under stock markets, including new record highs in Japan and Europe. It was a mixed picture for UK banks with HSBC shares plummeting the most since the pandemic after a cocktail of negative factors in its results. The team also weigh up the key points from Lloyds, Barclays and NatWest from their latest results.  Dan chats to Fundsmith Equity Fund manager Terry Smith and head of research Julian Robins about why they are excited by a certain stock in the pharmaceutical sector as weight-loss drugs take off. Danni catches up with former Dragon Sarah Willingham and her husband Michael Toxvaerd about expanding their Nightcap empire at a time that hospitality is struggling. The podcast team also discuss the potential headroom in the Chancellors’ budget which could give the green light to pre-election tax cuts, why the governor of the Bank of England thinks the UK recession is already behind us, and the new bank notes featuring King Charles coming to a wallet near you in the next few months.

There is a big tech theme running through this week’s edition of the AJ Bell Money & Markets podcast. Dan Coatsworth explains how investors have been piling into Arm Holdings as a new way to play the artificial intelligence theme, while Nvidia has leapfrogged Alphabet to become the third largest company on Wall Street by market value. This week’s special guest is George Dent who is part of the investment team managing the BNY Mellon Long-Term Global Equity Fund. He gives a fascinating interview about everything to do with Microsoft and why it remains so popular with investors. We’ve had a wealth of new data on inflation and the economy which have significant implications for the direction of interest rates. Laith Khalaf examines the data and what might happen next for savers, borrowers and investors. Dan considers what The Body Shop’s UK operations going into administration means for shoppers and the retail sector. Laith talks through the reasons behind Bitcoin rising above the $50,000 level and he also reveals the steps investors are taking to avoid losing more of their gains to the taxman from 6 April.

On today’s AJ Bell Money & Markets podcast we’ll be diving into the latest market moves, including how McDonald’s has been hit by the Middle East conflict and how oil price falls have had a knock-on effect on BP, Shell and Total Energies profits. We’ve also got a round-up of the updates we had from some of the Magnificent 7 last week, including Apple, Amazon and Meta. Our interview this week is with seasoned US investor Daniel Peris, who has over two decades of experience as a dividend-focused portfolio manager in the US. He is talking all about how investors in the States have shifted away from a dividend focus – and why that might be about to change. And finally, Laura will be bringing you some news on why you might need more in your retirement pot than you initially thought, as a new report out this week found that the amount we all need to live on in retirement has increased dramatically.

Welcome to the first in a new series of bonus podcasts from the AJ Bell Money & Markets team. If you’re a fan of investment trusts, you’re going to love it. And if you don’t know what they are and just want to hear interesting stuff about markets, companies and investing in general, you’ll also find loads of great stuff. Published at the start of each month, the bonus podcast series will feature a range of topics with investment experts and fund managers, with each episode debating some of the most popular trusts with retail investors, the big topics that matter, and a little bit of educational material to get listeners up to speed. To kick things off, this episode focuses on income, bargains, technology and smaller companies. Laura Suter chats with Paul Angell from AJ Bell about how plenty of investment trusts offer a decent income stream. Paul reveals all the key things you need to consider when researching potential investments in this space and highlights three trusts with interesting characteristics. The ability to buy a portfolio of shares or bonds for less than they are worth is a key attribute of many investment trusts. Dan Coatsworth talks to Emma Bird from Winterflood about these discounts and why they exist. Tom Sieber and Steve Frazer from Shares magazine get under the bonnet of Scottish Mortgage, an £11 billion investment trust which has tested shareholders’ patience in recent years. They explain why it became popular, why the share price has been through a bad patch, and what to expect from the trust going forward. Finally, Dan chats with Stuart Widdowson from Odyssean Investment Trust about the outlook for UK-listed smaller companies and why 2024 could be more fruitful for this part of the market.

On this week’s episode of the AJ Bell Money & Markets podcast, Dan Coatsworth and Danni Hewson discuss the impact on markets as the Federal Reserve seems to push a rate cut into the long, spring grass. The pair chew over why Microsoft and Alphabet’s results were such a let a down as both companies warned the AI boom would come at a price. Danni mulls over Elon Musk’s odd behaviour after a judge in Delaware voids his 2018 mega pay deal and Tesla shareholders are asked to vote on moving the company’s legal home to a different US state in apparent retaliation. Dan digs into what’s going on with IPOs and why companies like Flutter are still quitting London for New York. You can also hear about the IMF warning that the UK Chancellor’s potential tax cut plan doesn’t add up, the surge in demand for help dealing with financial problems reported by the Money Helper service, and the green shoots spotted by mortgage brokers in the housing market. This week’s guest interview features Jean Roche from Schroder UK Mid Cap investment trust who’s on the show to talk about interesting companies on the UK market and why she is becoming more optimistic.

Dan Coatsworth and Danni Hewson explain why US shares are doing so well, including a rally in chip-related stocks and how Netflix has managed to enjoy a new growth spurt. Tom Sieber and Steven Frazer from Shares magazine are on the show to talk about why investors have given a big thumbs down to Tesla’s latest results. Dan explores the concept of drip pricing and how hidden fees could soon be a thing of the past. Danni chats about new figures which show a rise in mortgage and loan defaults, and how more retailers are seeing a pick-up in demand for buy now, pay later. The team also debate the prospect of big changes to the frequency of letter deliveries in the UK. Finally, Laura Suter talks to AJ Bell’s investments director Ryan Hughes about market trends and what’s been happening with AJ Bell funds.

On this week’s podcast Danni and Laura cover the all important inflation figure, which showed the headline number had moved in the wrong direction. That surprise shift had a knock-on effect on markets, so we look at the winners and losers there. The ongoing issues in the Red Sea are having an impact on companies, including Shell, but also are a risk to inflation, so we delve into the potential effects on prices. In the markets segment we also cover what the latest jobs figures mean for the health of the economy, and for recruitment firm Page Group, and we look at the impact of the new boss at BP. As interest rates are still expected to be cut this year, it’s no surprise that savings rates are falling. We’ve got some news about the Premium Bond prize fund falling – which might signal the end of great rates for savers. And as more people are dragged into the next income tax bracket, Laura has got some helpful advice on how to navigate that. Our interview this week is Mike Seidenberg, lead portfolio manager of the Allianz Technology Trust, about the technology space and his outlook for the year ahead.

On this episode of the AJ Bell Money & Markets podcast Dan Coatsworth and Danni Hewson dig through a bumper crop of Christmas trading updates from UK retailers including Tesco, Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s and they discuss the ongoing expansion of Greggs. After the discovery of loose bolts following a mid-flight blowout which saw a door pop off an Alaskan Airlines plane mid-flight, shares in Boeing and some of its suppliers have understandably been impacted as the FAA grounds the planes for further investigation. Danni considers the implications. Dan examines Terry Smith’s latest shareholder letter for the popular Fundsmith Equity Fund, and he also talks through ways benefit from higher interest rates in your Stocks and Shares ISA without having to switch out to a cash account. Plus, it may have started with a fake tweet, but the SEC has given the go-ahead to Bitcoin ETFs with some huge names like BlackRock and Fidelity about to jump in after what’s being called a watershed moment for cryptocurrency. Our special guest this week is Iain Cunningham from asset manager Ninety One who explains why China might still be of interest to investors wanting Asia exposure, despite slowing economic growth and tighter corporate regulation.

Two months ago, we asked if any listeners had managed to retire early and gain financial independence, in line with the so-called FIRE movement. Plenty of you have hit the goal, judging by the responses we’ve received. Charlene Young shares some of your stories while Dan Coatsworth talks to podcast listener Phill about how he managed to give up work early and live the life he always dreamed of. Dan asks Chris Elliott from Evenlode Global Equity if artificial intelligence is a game-changer for business or overhyped. Chris also talks about Microsoft, Diageo, Nestle and where he is finding opportunities in 2024. The FTSE 100 turned 40 this week so Dan looks at its performance since launch versus the US stock market and ponders the future for the UK blue-chip index. Laura Suter has some good news for anyone looking to buy a house or remortgage, while the team also talk about diverging fortunes with retailers JD Sports and Next.