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Russell Pointon of Edison Group discusses their latest ConsumerWatch report. Despite weak consumer confidence and low economic growth, the sector did well at the end of 2024. Looking ahead, they expect progress from every sub-sector. Those likely to prove consistently strong are hotels, restaurants and leisure with 27 companies highlighted, among them Topps Tiles, Deliveroo, M&S, Next and Hollywood Bowl. The report is on the Edison website. Russell also discussed BAT, which has just had full-year results. They anticipate getting half their revenue in future from smokeless products. It's a company that is innovating and, as a result, better growth and profits are coming through.

Sam Altman, the tech entrepreneur who built OpenAI and its ground-breaking ChatGPT Artificial Intelligence functionality, correctly says that increasing equality may require new ideas. He's right: governments and political ideologies of many hues just can't deliver, besieged by conflicts of interest and debt. The Credit Suisse Wealth Distribution chart shows the huge contrast between those who are super-rich (in blue), the wealthiest of whom are the giant tech oligarchs, and those who live in real poverty, in red. It's time we accepted that 'The State', whether socialist or populist, can't deliver, and for philanthropists to step up to the plate, working in partnership with governments who still need to provide the necessary regulation and logistics. Background music: 'Resolution' by Wayne Jones Image source: Wikipedia

The future of the Cash ISA has been in the spotlight of late, with rumours that the Chancellor could tinker with one of Britain's best-loved tax breaks. It's believed some City bosses are lobbying her to make the limit less generous, and push more people into investing their money instead. While just speculation, it's a move that would certainly ruffle a few feathers. This week, Lee Boyce, Georgie Frost and Angharad Carrick discuss the future of ISAs and ask: should people with cash parked in savings accounts be strong-armed into investing instead? Elsewhere, Octopus has launched an investment platform where you can buy into a wind turbine — is it a good home for your cash? Council tax has been in the spotlight, with some areas seeing increases in annual bills of up to 9.9% — and with it a social movement to cancel direct debits. Here's why that's not a wise move. Ang spoke to Virgin Media O2's customer service boss about their pledge to turn around their poor performance over the years. Will we just be shoved to chatbots? And does living in a hard water area make energy bills more expensive?

Now he wants to run OpenAI. Jason Moser and Mary Long discuss Elon Musk’s bid for OpenAI, what BYD’s rollout of self-driving technology means for Tesla, revitalized interest in Upstart’s AI lending platform, and developments in the buy now, pay later space. Then, 18 minutes in, Anand Chokkavelu hosts Fool contributors Jason Hall and Rick Munarriz for a Scoreboard episode breaking down Trex, the composite decking company. To become a premium Motley Fool member and gain access to all Scoreboard episodes, go to www.fool.com/signup. Companies mentioned: MSFT, TSLA, BYD, UPST, JPM, AFRM, FIS, TREX. Host - Mary Long; Guests - Jason Moser, Anand Chokkavelu, Jason Hall, Rick Munarriz

The principles of investing are fairly simple to understand. Application requires some intensity. William Green is the author of 'Richer, Wiser, Happier: How the World's Greatest Investors Win in Markets and Life'. Green also hosts a podcast with the same title. Robert Brokamp caught up with him for a conversation about what successful investing comes down to, the personality traits of market beaters, and investing lessons from Charlie Munger, Howard Marks, and John Templeton. Companies mentioned: BRK.A, BRK.B, MKL. Host - Robert Brokamp; Guest - William Green

Adam Cox is joined by Yvette Langton from YL Introductions. They discuss what YL Introductions does, as well as the concept of 'swipe fatigue' and building authentic connections through matchmaking services. https://www.ylintroductions.co.uk/

If you're trying to lose weight but your eating choices are already good, there's just two potential routes to follow: cut out an existing meal window (known as intermittent fasting), or exercise (increase physical activity): either route achieves a calorie deficit so that your energy requirement feeds on body fat. Adam Cox uses the metaphor of an invisibility blanket, as in Harry Potter stories, in order to show how small changes over a period can really work.

James Cameron-Wilson reports on box office +13%. Avoiding animated #1 Dog Man, he found #5, September 5, a true-life drama about TV's coverage of the Munich Olympics kidnapping of Israeli athletes totally engrossing, if uncomfortably timely. At #6 is The Brutalist. Despite admiring its many exceptional attributes, including the acting, he found the characters in this 215-minute labour of love tiring. He admired the film but has no wish to see it again. He enjoyed The Gorge on Apple TV+ which begins as a Tom Clancy thriller but ends up being more like a Richard Curtis movie. He found it barmy, surprising and ludicrous.

From the world of tech, Steve Caplin talks about the perfect way to cook a boiled egg and a giant barbecue that is controlled by your mobile. There's a touchscreen display for a bicycle, a camper van for an eBike and a one-bedroom flat that fits into a trailer and can be set up by one person in an hour with all – or at least most – mod cons. Glasses are to have hearing aids built into them to reduce discomfort, an ePaper frame will display your photos on the wall and you will soon be able to touch up your old videos and Super-8 movies and massively improve them.

Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University says that people are misreading Donald Trump. Discussing Greenland, Gaza, the Panama Canal, North Korea, NATO and more, he says that there is coherency there. Trump enjoys chaos and is actually thinking several chess moves ahead. He is forever and a day a New York real estate developer – loud, proud, bold and radical. Tim feels that with Reform consistently ahead in the polls and poised to have the largest UK party membership, this is the most important development in British politics in 40 years. The Conservative Party may haemorrhage money, talent and members and could even find themselves the fourth party behind the LibDems at the next election.