Podcasts

Graham Spooner of The Share Centre looks at the recent results from Marks & Spencer, asking if they could have done anything differently with hindsight. He also examines the closure of Tesco's non-food website Tesco Direct and figures from Kingfisher as well as setting into context in the light of the record highs for the stock market and the firmness of the oil price.

Steve Caplin turns his attention to the Google virtual assistant that can book restaurants, the device to "magnetise rice", 3D helmets for the Swiss Guard, Uber and NASA's flying taxis, chatting with life-size holograms and the Boggle-solving app.

High house prices mean that the biggest barrier to buying a home in Britain is raising a deposit. With mortgage interest rates at near record low levels, many would-be homeowners could afford monthly payments - but saving the average £30,000 deposit would take years. For a lot of first-time buyers that means a trip to the Bank of Mum and Dad, but what if that's not an option? It is possible to buy a home without raising tens of thousands of pounds, if you take a 95% mortgage. With one of these deals, a first-time buyer able to pass mortgage affordability tests could put down a 5% deposit of £10,000 and buy a £200,000 home. But is that a good idea? Didn't small deposit mortgages crash the economy a decade ago? Are they not leaving themselves heavily overexposed to falling house prices? In this week's podcast, Simon Lambert and Georgie Frost dig into the world of buying a home with a small deposit mortgage, busting the myths and considering the benefits and the risks.

Want to keep up with the latest earnings updates from the States? Well join Chris Hill and the Motley Fool Radio Show team here on Share Radio, direct from Washington DC, for news, views and analysis of the US stocks that matter. In this week's show: Macy’s surprises; Walmart slips; Home Depot sells off; PayPal makes a big buy; And Campbell’s Soup gets a shakeup; Our analysts discuss those stories and dish out some marital advice for the royal wedding.

It’s pretty easy to find investments that can pay you a chunky 5% or 6% yield. The challenge is to find investments where the dividend is sustainable and won’t be cut. Ed Bowsher heads to the “Big Call: Dividend Debate” conference and finds out several tips on how to do this by speaking to: Edward Lam of Somerset Capital Management, Mark Baker of Link Asset Services, Chanchal Samadder of Lyxor and David Stevenson of ETFstream.

Adam talks to career and life coach, Karen Bishi, about impostor syndrome: a condition which causes people to feel that they don’t deserve the success they have achieved. Is it OK to “fake it ‘til you make it”? What strategies can you use to free yourself from a condition that causes constant anxiety and worry? From high-profile celebrities such as Emma Watson and Tom Hanks, they discuss why some people can’t take the credit they deserve and instead constantly worry about being found out that they don’t “belong” in their position – and ways to overcome these feelings. Find out more at www.karenbishi.com.

Under this directive, from 25th May 2018, tenants will have the right to sue landlords for misuse of data. The NLA’s Chris Norris and Marlon Fox from Outlook Property talk to Richard Blanco about what landlords and agents need to do to comply. They discuss Ellie Flynn’s BBC Three documentary Rent For Sex (watch here) which exposes so-called landlords offering free rooms for sexual favours. A parliamentary select committee has proposed that landlords’ properties could be confiscated should they commit certain housing offences. And Tory party conference promises to fully regulate letting agents have now precipitated proposals for a legally enforceable code of practice, compulsory membership of a trade body, and a new regulator. Could this sound the death knell for ropey agents? Inside Property is produced in collaboration with the National Landlords Association.

Political commentator Mike Indian considers whether Theresa May's position has become untenable, and what extending the UK's membership of the customs union would mean. He also looks at the recent local election results and wonders why Labour didn't do better, as well as discussing the East Coast Line being taken back under state control.

Helal Miah of The Share Centre looks back at recent news from Royal Mail, Burberry, Vodafone, Ocado, Stagecoach and Mothercare and looks ahead to forthcoming results from M&S, Kingfisher and Babcock.

Does Steve Caplin hear "Yanny" or "Laurel"? What do you hear? Steve also looks at time travelling guests, failure for facial recognition, Gmail's automatic email generator, windows for blind travellers and the world's "most advanced underwear" that doesn't need to be changed for weeks!