Playing FTSE

This week we answer the first part of Kevin's question regarding our best and worst performing stocks - find out each of our top twos and some honourable mentions along the way!

Which is Steve D more excited about: the UK budget, or the Tesla stock split? Find out in this week's PlayingFTSE!  

No game this week -- there's no time for that. With Chris Hill on the show last week, we've got too much news to catch up on.   

We kick off with the UK budget. Up goes the NI threshold -- what does that mean for people's state pensions? This is something of an important topic for us, since a good part of the reason we're here is that we're all worried about what the state pension will look like by the time we hit retirement age. Here's what we think on the subject.  

Then it's the big one. Tesla has announced that it plans to split its stock in a move that hasn't been seen since... 2020. Steve W isn't impressed, Steve D isn't interested. But Paul thinks there's something hiding beneath the surface. Has he been seeing something that the Steves have been missing?  

Adobe reported its earnings recently. Guidance was weaker than some were expecting and the stock slipped as a result. Chris called this an "uphill" last week and it's a business that we like very much. But do we like it at these prices? And what does the competition look like? This one's in the wheelhouse of Paul and Steve D, find out what they think.  

We finish with news from Steve W on Intel and Nvidia. It's an interesting time for the chip companies at the moment. Intel's attempting to get into manufacturing and Nvidia's CEO has said it would be willing to use Intel's foundries. Looks like a win-win. Nvidia's popular with growth investors and Intel's popular with the value brigade. What does Steve W think?

In this one we go over the key learning s we took from our guest Chris Hill. We reflect on Chris's views on the role luck plays in investing, his stoic view on time horizons and of course why you should definitely buy stocks whilst high!

This week, we’re joined by podcasting superhero Chris Hill! Chris hosts the daily podcasts at the Motley Fool. Chris reached out to us after we were offering an unsolicited review of the Motley Fool’s new podcast format. Trying not to be too starstruck, we made time to have a sit-down and a chat about his investing life, his career at the Motley Fool, and what he thinks about stocks. Well, two of us did, anyway. The third one, well, you be the judge. Anyway, we had an absolute blast, Chris was an absolute gent from start to finish. He's a terrific story-teller with a real depth of wisdom to share. You do NOT want to miss this one.

In this one we take a look at Amazon and Googles recent stock split announcements. We discuss our theories as to why they're doing this and why we don't think Amazons recent buyback announcement is a departure from their growth focused mindset.

The band are back together for this week's show!   

Steve D has this week's game. Paul and Steve W revisit some of their least favourite subjects as we look at how Chamath Palihapitiya's SPACs from before been performing. Most of them are down, two are up -- who will win this time at "U suck at ChaMath II"?   

With Paul back on board, we talk about the economic consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As the UK, US, and Australia have committed to banning imports of oil from Russia, we think about what this means for oil demand in the short term and renewable energy further ahead.   

Next is the latest from China. Chinese stocks (or their ADR counterparts) have been rallying this week on an announcement from the Chinese regulators. What did it say and what does it mean for investors? Steve W leads us into the subject of VIE structures, Chinese regulation, and the risk associated with investing in China.  

Lastly, we're looking at interest rates. As the Bank of England announced an increase in rates to pre-pandemic levels, the FED began increasing rates and reducing its balance sheet. The market took the news well, so what else is coming for the rest of the year?

The Steves discuss their takeaways from the Feroldi interview, take a closer look at the key points and offer their takes on what was we learned from Brian.

Brian Feroldi is on this week's show!  

Telling us about companies that grow. 

He shared with us thoughts 

About things that he's bought 

So check out his new book below!  

This week's episode is an interview with Motley Fool contractor, growth investor, and now *author* Brian Feroldi! Steve D and Steve W recently sat down with fellow YouTuber Brian Feroldi to hear his stories about how he got into investing, how he thinks about companies to buy, and what his most important lessons to learn about markets are. There's also a quick game of Bri-in or Bri-out on some stocks that might be of interest. Brian was an absolutely superb guest. Sit back, relax, and enjoy. We did.

In this one we take a look at Freetrade's news both good and bad and take a deeper dive into Salesforce Earnings and their venture arm - which will throw up some interesting treats!

-*We had some pretty big technical issues on this one. Steve D's done a super job sticking it back together. This isn't as sharp as we'd like, but thanks in advance for bearing with us.*  

What isn't Paul balls-deep in? Find out in this week's PlayingFTSE podcast!   

Last week, our show was recorded before the Russian invasion of the Ukraine. So this week, there's only one place to start.   

The Russian invasion of the Ukraine shocks, horrifies, and saddens all three of us in equal measure. Thinking about stocks, finances, or anything really, at a time when so many people are suffering so unjustly seems almost absurd. But there's been a lot of discussion around where we are about how we should think about the Russian situation as investors. And while we're all thoughtful, concerned, and saddened, we're also not ducking the question people are asking.  Russian stocks listed on the London Stock Exchange, such as Gazprom and Evraz, have collapsed. Does this represent a buying opportunity? Are the risks too great? Or are there decisive moral reasons to stay away from these stocks? We kick off the show by giving our thoughts.   

Next up, Steve W has a game. It's all about Paul. Specifically, it's all about some of the amazing things that he's said in some of his historic videos. As an avid Briscoe follower, Steve W knows many interesting things that Paul has said about many different stocks. The game involves reading out some quotes and having Steve D trying to guess what stock Paul was talking about. Along the way, we'll test out Paul's memory, to see whether he can remember what he was talking about when he said that he didn't understand all the offshoot businesses of... Alibaba? Alphabet? Or Shell? (This is the part where we had some problems with our connections, so thanks for bearing with us).  

We're delighted at having Paul back with us for this week's show. So delighted that we've thought of some stocks to pitch to him! And unusually, both Steves have gone for a similar theme. Appropriately, consider Paul isn't balls-deep in RDSB, we've both got semis. And we've both got ones in competition with each other. Steve W has a debt-laden big hitter while Steve D has a high multiple upstart. Stay tuned to the end to find out what they both are!   

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