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Does the oil price surge make green energy a good investment? ANDREW OXLADE

Business chiefs joined forces with union leaders to sound the alarm over the impact of higher borrowing costs at a time of weak growth and job losses.

Stephen Yiu was among the first wave of investors to see the potential gains from artificial intelligence for companies and their share prices, but switched tack last year.

OECD warns Britain to be hit harder than any other G7 economy by Middle East shock

The worrying survey from the British Retail Consortium and pollsters Opinium comes just as Labour had insisted that there have been green shoots appearing in the economy.

Britain's veterinary surgeons, the Royal Mail and Thames Water might not appear to have much in common as businesses.

How to choose the perfect fund for YOUR stocks and shares Isa: The best-buy deals experts

Are you a late Larry, an early Edna or a regular Reggie? We all tend to keep to our own tempo when it comes to investing in an Isa.

On the surface, the Isa is very simple. It's a savings product into which you can put cash and investments up to the value of £20,000 each tax year.

So who's cashing in from Trump's war? Mystery traders who made millions in just minutes

S&P Global said the rise in oil and gas prices has led to 'input prices' paid by manufacturers rising at the sharpest rate since October 1992.

Blackrock chief executive Larry Fink has said that if the Iran war keeps energy prices persistently high, it will have 'profound implications' for the world economy.

How to turbo boost your cash Isa

We've given five experts in different fields (and our own Investing Monkey) £500 and challenged them to turn it into £10,000 as quickly as possible.

The Innovative Finance Isa will soon become the only Isa to allow investors to back the biggest cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum.
LATEST SHARE TIPS

FORESIGHT ENVIRONMENTAL INFRASTRUCTURE: A fund built to withstand weather risks

The investment trust's objective is to preserve and grow investors' real wealth over time ahead of inflation. It's not out to achieve racy growth.

While others focus on established regions, such as the US or UK, Murray seeks out overlooked opportunities everywhere from Mexico to Indonesia.
HOW TO BE A DIY INVESTOR

Best investment platforms: How to choose the right account for you

Investing Essentials

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Easy investing and ready-made portfolios

AJ Bell

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AJ Bell

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Free fund dealing and investment ideas

Hargreaves Lansdown

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interactive investor

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Trading 212

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Affiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence.

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INVESTING NEWS AND IDEAS

Market mayhem as Trump halts strikes: Oil plunges and stocks rally but UK gilt yields

Donald Trump's pullback from bombing Iran's power infrastructure brought oil prices down and produced a retreat in Britain's ten-year borrowing costs.

EXCLUSIVE

Posing on a specially chartered £150,000 private jet, self-proclaimed 'property expert' Samuel Leeds had a message for his fellow Britons scrambling to flee drone-battered Dubai.

Number of Isa millionaires trebles to 17,600 in past three years as Britons make full use

With Donald Trump in the Oval Office, it would be foolish to assume global leaders will co-operate on a rescue, or that the Federal Reserve will again ride to the rescue.

Coping with difficult times requires you to have a Government with sound finances. It is easier to fend off higher energy costs if your inflation is low. Sadly, we have neither.

Growing number of couples keep investing a secret thanks to differences over risk

They'll have been so caught up with paying off their debts throughout most of their working lives that they won't have had the opportunity to build up their pensions.

The typical energy bill could now reach almost £2,000 per year as the Iran conflict, while a Government bailout looks less likely due to a rise in borrowing costs.

Fee-free investing apps lead the pack in rankings of top platforms with Trading 212 voted

EXCLUSIVE

The investment platform IG has launched a prediction game that tests your knowledge of financial markets, with a huge pot of prizes up for grabs.

Uniquely among major economies, Reeves has left Britain's public finances exposed to external shocks such as the surge in the price of oil and gas caused by the Iran war.

How to profit from the beauty boom: Shares to give your investments a glow up

The investment platform InvestEngine has launched its deal for tax-year end. Is it worth taking, now that it accepts pension transfers from more than 20 providers?

The AIM All Share fell almost 4 per cent over the week to 729, and is down 5.8 per cent in the year to date. The FTSE 100, by contrast, was off 1.7 per cent, with blue-chips seen as a 'safer' bet.

UK borrowing costs hit highest level since 2008 as gilt sell-off deepens

Britain is in a parlous situation. The Labour Government and Chancellor Rachel Reeves have been put to the test over the last 21 months in office and found sorely wanting.

An Isa and pension have their own tax rules and benefits but if you know how to use them together they can help slash your tax bill and increase your wealth.

Markets tumble as oil nears $120 a barrel and gas prices soar after fresh strikes on

It takes money to make money, they say. We are giving five contestants £500 each and asking them to turn it into £10,000 - as quickly as they can.

While the results of the FOI request showed that 2025 was the worst year since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 for planned or completed redundancies, the picture is looking worse for 2026.

MPs condemn 'Trumpflation' as interest rate hikes loom with energy bills set to surge by a
UK borrowers face a painful interest rate hike after the latest escalation of war in the Middle East fuelled 'Trumpflation' fears on both sides of the Atlantic. Traders are betting rates will have to go up later this year - with financial markets indicating a 60 per cent chance the increase will come in June.

Bank of England tightens the seat belts as it prepares for the next financial meltdown:
As wonderful as it was to hear the Chancellor address Britain's growth deficit in her Mais Lecture, the whole event had an air of unreality. Make UK, which looks after Britain's manufacturers, pointed out elevated energy prices are 'the biggest single factor impacting on industry competitiveness'.

The Dividend Hero investment trusts that have hit 59 not out

Among senior financiers, economists and policy makers across the Western world, there's a rising sense of fear. We have been here before.

US raider Saba Capital has forced a second investment trust to propose drastic measures to avoid shareholders being trapped in the company if it succeeds in taking over the business.

Isa bestsellers of 2026: Investors shun Trump's America... plus we reveal a distressed

The investment platform IG has launched a deal paying 5% cashback on your investments. We compare it with other deals launching thick and fast for the tax-year end.

Just as your tastes change as you age and the pace of your life switches gear, so should your investment choices.

How to get your Isa to pay you a £12,000 a year tax-free income

All eyes may be on Iran and the prospect of a war that has already sent oil and gas prices skyrocketing. But there lurks a ticking time bomb that experts fear is primed to explode.

The Bank of England is expected to hold interest rates at 3.75 per cent later this week as it waits to see how the war in the Middle East will materialise.

Iran conflict incinerates inflation forecasts: Traders now bet on interest rate hike

Making money tends to take time, effort and sustained commitment. Investing is an exception. All you need is to commit just under an hour of your time to get started.

The AIM All-Share is down 2.6 per cent this week and off around 7 per cent since the US and Israel began bombing Iran.

Do you need to invest in the HALO effect? Why old school company shares are back in

Normally I'd say anyone who told you you could turn £2 into £10k, run a mile, it's a scam. But because this is investing £2 regularly every now and again, it can quickly add up.

Savvy investors can earn up to £5,000 in cashback for switching their stocks and shares Isas as providers offer huge sums to entice new customers.

What should I do with my £7,500 bonus: Invest it in my stocks and shares Isa or pay off

Oil price climbs amid warnings world faces 'largest-ever supply disruption'

The boss of private equity giant CVC yesterday warned that global upheaval amid the war in Iran was comparable with the dotcom crash and the global financial crisis.

Rachel Reeves has been humiliated after the OECD declared it was the only G7 nation with inflation above 3 per cent - just as it is expected to get even worse.

How to invest in Europe and two of the best investment trusts to pick now: The INVESTING

The world's biggest oil exporter warned of 'catastrophic consequences' as the Iran war disrupts shipping in the Strait of Hormuz - even as global stock markets bounced back.

Hargreaves Lansdown is probably the UK's best-known investment platform. But it's up against a host of others, with many providing low fees

Conflict wipes out £10bn of Reeves Budget headroom as prospect of interest rate hike sends

After the price of oil soared towards $120 a barrel, ING and RSM UK warned inflation could jump to well over double the Bank of England's 2 per cent target.

A jump in oil prices to over $100 a barrel has sent markets into a tailspin, as it raises the chances of a sharp rise in inflation, pushing central banks to tighten policy.

High Street bosses warn war in Middle East will hike shop prices after wet February

But the FCA is embarking on a lengthy consultation. That simply allows Weinstein to carry on with his siege of investment trusts and to ride roughshod over the interests of investors.

Global oil supplies are disrupted, aviation routes are in chaos and stock markets around the world face turbulence - there's a lot for investors to make sense of.

Should you keep holding the 'retro' stocks now embracing AI?

The next few days will be difficult, and the longer-term consequences of this war will be felt beyond its eventual outcome. But common sense is the best policy.

What does the conflict mean for petrol prices, mortgages, investors, energy bills and more?

Oil prices on track for biggest weekly gain in four years as stocks remain under pressure
Brent crude trimmed losses to sit above $85 a barrel, as prices soared by over 20% this week. It followed a brief retreat on Thursday after the US signalled its intention to curb surging prices with measures that include allowing the Treasury to trade oil futures.

Qatar warns that oil could double to $150 a barrel and 'bring down the economies of the
Qatar's energy minister has warned that the price of a barrel of oil could double to more than $150, dragging down global economies. Saad al-Kaabi says the Middle East conflict could result in a new energy crisis and 'bring down the economies of the world'.

Has my £1,200 Tiffany necklace grown in value - or did I overpay for the name? DAN

The most recent data shows there are were 5,070 Isa millionaires, up from 4,850 in 2022, according to a Freedom of Information request from money app Plum.

Surface Transforms' shares hit the skids this week, collapsing 98% after the brake manufacturer revealed that General Motors has decided to cut ties with the company,

My £250,000 stocks and shares Isa is with Hargreaves Lansdown - should I switch to beat

As war raged in the Middle East, the FTSE 100 index fell another 1.24 per cent to 10,284.75, taking losses since Monday morning to 5.7 per cent.

Investec Save has launched a one-year fixed-rate Isa paying a table-topping rate of 4.2%.

Britain bears brunt of bond market sell-off triggered by war in the Middle East
The ten-year gilt yield - a key measure of the interest rate paid by the UK government to borrow - rose as high as 4.56% yesterday having been just 4.23% at the end of last week. Bond yields across Europe have also risen - but not by as much - with analysts warning that the 'parlous' state of the UK's finances leaves the country vulnerable to soaring energy prices and a fresh inflation shock.

How will Trump's plan to cover war-risk insurance for tankers in the Gulf affect the City
President Trump has promised to look at insurance guarantees for ships in the Strait, as insurers hike premiums making it less likely that they will pass through. But it is piling pressure on insurers in the City of London, in a further attack by Trump after the UK failed to join the US and Israel's initial attacks last week. So what does it all mean, and will British insurers bear the brunt of Trump's plan?

I'm a financial adviser who has seen every crisis for 40 years: Iran conflict has made

Borrowers were last night warned they face higher mortgage costs on top of soaring energy bills as war rages in the Middle East.

The financial fall-out from Donald Trump's war on Iran is rapidly changing the global outlook. It has rendered Rachel Reeves' Spring Statement irrelevant.

What you must do NOW to protect your nest egg from Labour's tax grab: JEFF PRESTRIDGE
The run-up to the end of the tax year - April 5 - is always a crucial time to ensure long-term savings and investments are set up as tax-efficiently as possible. Yet I suspect that, in the next few weeks, this seasonal flurry of good housekeeping will reach unprecedented levels. Some of us will top up our pensions, utilise our annual CGT and make gifts to mitigate inheritance tax bills.

Massive capital gains tax raid on small investors means Chancellor could take big extra
The taxman could cream off an extra £3.7bn a year on average between now and the start of the next decade after a much better than forecast market performance in early 2026. Investors have been hit with a massive capital gains tax raids by both former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and his successor Rachel Reeves. She could now take a huge extra cut of their profits after the stock market surge in recent months.

What investors need to know about gold, metals and miners: INVESTING SHOW

Gas and oil prices soared on Monday as attacks by Iran across the Middle East choked off supply and threatened a painful financial squeeze on UK households and motorists.

Even before America's decision to join Israel in a military assault, with 1700 sorties over Iran, the country's public finances were way of track.

How investors should react to the Iran conflict: Don't panic and think long-term, say

EXCLUSIVE

IG says it will match the first investment into the junior Isa account up to £250, when parents first start investing at least £50 for their child.

The UK stock market is on a roll. Despite all the gloom and doom, the FTSE 100 Index is roaring away like a late winter fire but there is still more to come, say experts.

FTSE 100 firms on brink of relegation after shares tumble

It is futile to be an AI denier. The companies that do best may well combine solid assets and moats with positive deployment of AI. Rolls-Royce is a case in point.

We know an end will come, just as we know the sun will rise in the morning and that there is a global economic cycle.

How to profit from the new space race: Funds and shares that could see returns rocket

EXCLUSIVE

Andrew Bresler tells This Is Money that he thinks it has what it takes to challenge Hargreaves Lansdown after a fee shake-up that has seen unhappy customers leave in their droves.

It's a simple but extraordinarily powerful force that anyone saving or going into debt should understand, says Tom Stevenson of Fidelity International.

How to solve Britain's government borrowing problem with an inheritance tax break: SIMON

Parents considering opening Junior Isas can be encouraged by news that most young adults don't plunder their savings at once, says AJ Bell.

EXCLUSIVE

Analysis of Refinitiv data reveals the 20 best-performing blue-chip shares in London over 12 months are all up by more than a half.

Forget the US Magnificent Seven... shares in Britain's 'Fusty Five' with more than 1,000

Bailey, pictured, said it would have been 'rather premature' to cut rates earlier this month without evidence that underlying inflation pressures are fading.

America's appetite for dealing swiftly and firmly with white-collar offenses long offered a sharp contrast with the desultory response in the UK.

Markets rattled by new round of Trump tariffs and 'AI scare' trade

Josef Licsauer, research analyst at Kepler Partners, explores what investors need to know about investment trusts right now.

Should we be keeping multiple different pots with different providers as our pensions and Isas grow, to ensure we are adequately covered by the FSCS?

Stock Exchange boss urged to calm nerves over threat of AI

Move over artificial intelligence, it's time for investors to consider exposure to space technology in order to fuel their investment portfolios, Isas and pensions.

Somewhere in the future there is the next bear market, but wise investors should not miss the final months of this one.

How to turn £2 a day into £10,000: A beginner's guide to 'micro investing' in the stock

Investors change tune on defence as BAE and rivals' share prices soar and conflict risks

With both countries stepping up military action in the oil-producing region, Brent crude rose as high as $71.60 a barrel having been as low as $65 early this month.

The number of Isa millionaires who invest with stockbroker AJ Bell has jumped 74% in a year.

NatWest shares start to recover as investors 'buy the dip': Should you snap up its 5.3%

A survey by the British Retail Consortium found 84% of finance chiefs now rank employment costs in their top three worries - up from 21% last July.

Tens of thousands of children had their Isa pots filled to the brim by parents and guardians in the 2023/24 tax year.

Hargreaves Lansdown offers to pay up to £8,000 cashback as it shakes up fees

Saba Capital, run by financier Boaz Weinstein (pictured), said it would table a vote to remove the directors of Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust.

Investment trusts have given ordinary small investors a way in to some of the most exciting and potentially lucrative innovations of their day.

Defence stocks boosted by £26bn Ukraine aid pledge

Accountancy firm Azets said a surge in cross-border deal activity suggested there would be more such acquisitions to come - partly due to owners cashing in amid Labour's tax rises.

Do you have a money question for one of our star experts and columnists? They all have a wealth of experience and knowledge they are keen to share.

Is it time to log off from old-school software firms?

Adrian Gosden, manager of Jupiter UK Multi Cap, talks to Simon Lambert about where he believes some of the UK market's golden opportunities lie.

Companies have started to step up their investment in the technology, with a growing belief that artificial intelligence could usher in a new era, akin to the industrial revolution.

The nine strategies that can turn you into a millionaire. No, you don't have to be a

Schroders has agreed to a billion-pound takeover by a US asset manager, in another blow to the London market.

Crypto has always left me cold. I am not in the least surprised at the recent bust in Bitcoin, which has lost more than half its value since its October peak.

Popularity of Isas has exploded in recent years - LEE BOYCE on the data that shows how
INVESTING ESSENTIALS

50 of the best funds and investment trusts: Our experts reveal their top ideas

If you have the right accountant in your corner, it can save a lot of stress and ensure you don't get stuck paying incorrect amounts of tax, says our columnist Heather Rogers.

Many people could benefit from one-time help over some aspect of their finances, and this need not tie you into a long-term relationship with an adviser.

How to be a first-time investor: SIMON LAMBERT on why you shouldn't let fear hold you back

Corporate bonds typically offer lower risk and higher income than shares. We explain how to invest in bond funds, or lend money direct to businesses via retail bonds.

If you want to sort your finances in 2026, my first tip would be to crack on with an achievable list of the essentials - then you can move on to the bits to grow your wealth

What is pension lifestyling? The 'low risk' option that has its own dangers

Global government bond markets are vast and affect everyone who pays tax, saves or invests. We unscramble the jargon used by industry insiders to help everyone else fathom what's going on.

Investors can rack up big losses early on and never make them up if they aren't careful. People who persist in taking an income can pile up future problems.

How capital gains tax works: The rates you pay - and how to cut your bill

Dividends can bring great returns, particularly if you keep reinvesting them - but the Government inevitably wants its share of this wealth.

Investment fund names are often a baffling mixture of impressive but vague words, which mean little to people who aren't already clued up on financial jargon.

Should I overpay my mortgage or invest?

There's no getting around it, you need do some homework and maths if you're thinking of buying shares. But which sums are the most useful to investors?

If you are interested in buying shares or know more about unearthing good companies and valuing them, read our guide to share investing.

How to read a balance sheet and find out if a company is financially sound

Investment trusts have interesting quirks and features that mean careful research is important in order to fully understand what you are buying, says Ryan Hughes of AJ Bell.

Deciding which fund to invest in can be a challenge when managing your own portfolio. Expert Tom Stevenson explains what information to look for and where when selecting investments.

How many shares do you need to diversify a portfolio?

Pension freedoms mean retirees can now invest their savings how they like rather than buy a stingy annuity. But what do you need to consider and plan ahead for when funding retirement this way?

Many are at risk of hasty blunders like selling and putting money in a current or savings account, missing out on tax breaks - or even holding onto old share certificates for sentimental reasons.

DIY INVESTING PLATFORMS

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FUND JARGON BUSTER
The investment industry's world of abbreviations...

Acc: Accumulation - any income generated by the fund like dividends or interest is automatically reinvested.
Inc: Income - any income generated is distributed by the fund instead of being reinvested.
Dis: Distribution - any income generated is distributed by the fund instead of being reinvested.
R: Retail - fund is aimed at ordinary investors, but will almost certainly include old-style commission payments to financial advisers and brokers, so opt for the clean version that strips them out instead.
I/Inst: Institutional - the fund is aimed at corporate investors like pension funds but I is also often doubled up to denote clean funds sold to ordinary investors.
A, B, C, M, X, W, Y, Z etc: Different fund houses use letters for different things. Check with them what they stand for and which indicates the clean version that carries no commission for financial advisers, brokers or fund supermarkets.
U2: Fund firm has struck a deal with some of the biggest brokers - Hargreaves, Bestinvest and so on - to give their customers a lower fee.
Gr: Stands for gross.
H: Currency hedged version of fund.
GBP/£: Fund denominated in pounds.
EUR/€: Fund denominated in euros.
USD/$: Fund denominated in US dollars.
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