For anyone worried that the good times have been and gone, here are a few uplifting statistics:

• The S&P 500 (which is better studied that its British equivalent) breaks its record high an average of 38 times every single year.
• The index ends the month on a high one in every four months.
• Nearly half of all trading days end within 5% of the previous all-time high.

Near highs

So what’s going on here? To summarise: stocks markets tend to usually be at or near record highs. This shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. For one, the effects of inflation mean that even if everything else remains constant, an index like the FTSE 100 should be slowly creeping upwards as the value of money decreases.

But perhaps more importantly, businesses are designed with growth and efficiency in mind. This is why stocks have made the best investments down the years – even beating housing most of the time, which I imagine comes as a shock to some of us.

A useful phrase to be reminded of here is that ‘time in the market beats timing the market’. What this is getting at is that investors should buy as early as they can and not worry about the day to day swings. The more time spent investing, the better. And that’s why getting started today is better than waiting for a better opportunity.

Not going anywhere

Where to get started? One stock that ticks a lot of the boxes for a newbie investor might be consumer goods giant Apple (LSE: APPL). The company sells popular products that aren’t going anywhere. An investment could be a great starting point to build wealth for a passive income.

It’s worth saying that for many American stocks, the dividends on offer are miserly. Investors here are looking at a dividend yield of 0.39%. The share price will need to rise from growth and share buybacks to make this a good investment. Yet Apple is up 98% in the last five years, so the track record here is good.

As for downsides, there’s an argument that the firm has lost its creative edge. The company that revolutionised consumer electronics with the iPhone and iPad has had a couple of stinkers recently. The recently released Apple Vision Pro – a £3,000 virtual reality headset – has hardly taken the world by storm and there are rumours of the product being wound down.

Like stock markets as a whole, the Apple share price is very close to a record high at the moment. Yet I don’t think that’s any reason to steer clear and I believe this is a stock to consider.

The post Starting with nothing? Here’s why now is the perfect time to start building a passive income appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

It’s hard to know which. But I think the situation is very different from one company to another and there are some key things investors can look for to try and find potential generational opportunities.

Disruption

Software companies have a few potential defences against the threat of AI disruption. But my strong sense is some of these are likely to be more effective than others.

Vertically integrated businesses are likely to be hard to disrupt. Companies that produce physical hardware have something that AI agents won’t be able to replace in the near future.

Equally, firms that operate in regulated industries are going to be more resilient. Getting the relevant licenses and permits is going to be hard – if not impossible – for new AI start-ups.

By contrast, switching costs might well come under pressure. Training staff on a new system is a lot of work, but it doesn’t matter as much if a firm is going to replace them with AI agents.

Likewise, companies launching their own AI products probably won’t offer much protection. It might stop customers leaving, but more competition will make it harder to increase prices.

What all of this means will vary from one company to another. But investors looking at tech stocks need to be clear about a firm’s long-term prospects in an AI world.

Hiding in plain sight 

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been relatively quiet in the AI movement. But it might have been pursuing a very smart strategy by staying away from the huge costs others have been incurring.

The firm hasn’t been competing in the battle for LLM supremacy. But it might not need to – it doesn’t have a search engine, but that hasn’t stopped it from making money.

Apple has used its market-leading position to extract fees from Google in exchange for prominent positioning on the iPhone. And my sense is that something similar is going to happen with AI.

If this is right, Apple is in an incredibly strong position without having to spend like some other companies are. That makes it very attractive in terms of cash flows. 

The biggest threat to this position, in my view, isn’t AI. It’s antitrust – and this is likely to be something that moves in and out of focus over time, so investors need to be aware of it. 

Importantly, though, the foundation of Apple’s strength is its hardware – specifically, the iPhone. And this is something that isn’t likely to be displaced by AI at any time in the near future.

Generational opportunities

Unlike some other tech stocks, Apple shares aren’t trading at an unusually low multiple. In fact, the stock has been relatively resilient while others have reached record lows.

That, however, is because it’s in a much stronger position than some of its rivals. And that’s why investors might consider buying it, even at today’s prices.

The post Is this the best time in a generation to buy tech stocks? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

Which index is better? Where should investors look to grow their wealth? Which country is likely to offer the best returns on investment in the years ahead? The answer is obvious, isn’t it? Or is it?

Exceptions

A common viewpoint on this in the year 2026 is: yes, the S&P 500 is top dog. This is based on the dynamism of the US economy, a smorgasbord of exciting tech firms, a favourable business environment, and other factors. In many eyes, the S&P 500 is the embodiment of American exceptionalism.

Data backs this up. Proponents point to 10%-11% yearly returns stretching back over a century. The last 10 years have been particularly fruitful with 16% average returns for the S&P 500!

Aye, there’s the rub. The year 2016 marked a strong divergence in fortunes between the two indexes. The primary reason being the rise and rise of tech. The S&P 500 has the world’s biggest and brightest tech firms. The FTSE 100 has hardly anything by comparison.

What about before that? Interestingly, the FTSE 100 was performing better in the early parts of this century. A £10,000 stake in the S&P 500 would be worth £16,000 by the year 2014. The same stake in the FTSE 100 would be worth £17,000.

The original question then. Is the S&P 500 that much better than the FTSE 100? Perhaps, but it’s only the last 10 years where there has been a serious difference.

Of course, we can’t know whether the future will be better for the S&P 500 or the FTSE 100 any more than whether England will ever again win an Ashes series in Australia. That’s why I plan to get the best of both worlds – by investing in both.

One to consider

With the rise of modern banking and investing apps, I can invest in stocks from the US, UK, and other countries all from my iPhone. I can even invest in the maker of said electronic device Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL).

The popularity of iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, and other devices propelled Apple to being the second-biggest company in the world. It has also been in the vanguard of the S&P 500’s excellent performance in the last decade.

While the hardware is excellent, I think one reason the company could continue to excel is on the software side. When it comes to operating systems for smartphones or computers, no one else comes close, for my money.

That’s not to say Apple will always rule the roost. For one, the newest iOS release caused some controversy with users complaining that it prioritised ‘form over function’. The firm’s $3,500 VR headset – the Apple Vision Pro – looks like it will end up a flop too. Perhaps that’s a sign the innovative spark is no longer present.

To sum up? It’s impossible to say whether technology and the S&P 500 will continue to dominate. But if it does, I expect Apple shares to do very well. I’d say they’re worth considering.

The post Is the S&P 500 really that much better than the FTSE 100? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

In its latest update, the company announced annual revenue growth of 16% and earnings per share up 19%. That’s exceptional, so should investors be thinking about buying the stock?

Growth

Apple reported revenues of $143.8bn in the three months leading up to 27 December 2025. It’s a new record, but this isn’t the most impressive thing about the update. 

For obvious reasons, the company often sees a boost around Christmas. But 16% annual growth is outstanding for a business that was already doing $124bn in sales. 

Buffett once stated that the attachment people feel to their iPhone was a key part of the reason for buying Apple shares. And the number of users reached 2.5bn in the latest quarter.

The firm’s high-margin Services division also performed well. But the stock market didn’t really react to what I thought was a strong update and that gives investors something to think about.

AI

Until recently, the market’s view with AI has been that you’ve got to be in it to win it. And Apple has very much avoided joining in the huge capital investments made by other companies.

Instead, it’s focused on looking after its capital. In the last three months of 2025, it returned $32bn – almost half of Meta’s capital expenditures for the entire year – to investors.

Staying out of the arms race is a bold strategy and it can be a risky one. Investors who want to know about what happens when a tech company misses a major trend only need to look at Intel.

Apple, though, plans to make money from AI by charging other companies for access to its customer base. And if this strategy proves to be the right one, the rewards for investors could be enormous. 

Valuation

Returning $32bn in capital to shareholders is a huge achievement. But investors should note that, in the context of Apple’s $3.8trn market value, it’s a return of less than 1%.

Put another way, the company is being careful with its cash and prioritising investor returns, but the stock is still expensive. And that’s an important consideration for anyone looking at the stock. 

While Apple hasn’t been catching the attention of investors focused on AI (at least, not for positive reasons) it also hasn’t fared badly over the last five years. It’s handily outperformed the S&P 500.

As a result, it’s hard to say that the share price looks cheap at the moment. Despite scepticism over its AI strategy, investors are still buying the stock at a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple above 30.

Berkshire Hathaway

Apple has been a huge part of the Berkshire Hathaway stock portfolio for some time. But Buffett has shown an inclination to reduce this in recent years. 

I’ll be interested to see what the latest news is when the firm files its 13F in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, though, the latest results from Apple look very strong.

I think the firm’s AI strategy could prove to be genius. Investors wary of big tech companies overinvesting might well want to consider the stock as a potential counterweight to this.

The post Warren Buffett’s biggest stock investment keeps going from strength to strength appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

On the one hand, it seems as though there’s still strong demand for everything to do with the data centre industry. That, however, could all change very quickly. 

Momentum

In physics, an object’s momentum is its mass multiplied by its velocity. And while share prices don’t have mass, there’s a very real force that’s been driving AI stocks recently.

The scale of AI investment has been huge from cloud computing firms and even sovereign nations. More importantly, it’s not really showing any signs of slowing down recently. 

Semiconductor equipment companies have been seeing continued strong demand and this has been showing up in their share prices. So there might still be some way to go. 

Maybe that’s right, but investors need to think about more than what might happen in 2026. Even if the next few moves are higher, this won’t matter if it all comes crashing down.

The lessons of history

A good example of what happens when things go wrong is Cisco Systems. The stock climbed over 150% in 1998 as investors – rightly – anticipated that the internet was going to change everything.

Importantly, in January 1999, it wasn’t too late to buy the stock in one sense – it went up another 200% before March 2000. But when it came down from there, the results were spectacularly bad.

After the share price crashed, it took a long time to recover. While there were ups and downs, the stock was trading at its January 1999 levels in February 2016.

That’s the risk to be wary of with AI stocks. Investors weren’t wrong in thinking that the internet was going to be revolutionary – but that didn’t mean great long-term returns from buying shares.

Being strategic

One strategy I think more investors should pay attention to is the one Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is taking. The company is choosing to stay on the sidelines in the AI spending race. 

The firm’s decision not to enter what looks like a spending contest has been criticised by a number of investors. But it could be an incredibly smart decision when all’s said and done.

If the huge investments don’t pay off, Apple’s move to watch – rather than participate – will turn out to be a terrific one. And I think this is something that’s well worth taking seriously. 

The firm is set to be an AI customer, rather than a supplier. But that might be a good thing – the story of Cisco shows that being involved in the supply chain isn’t always a good thing. 

AI investing

I don’t think it’s too late to be looking at AI investments, but jumping into what looks like a spending competition is risky. By contrast, I like the strategy Apple is taking at the moment.

That’s not to say there are no threats –  there are constant antitrust regulations that investors can’t afford to ignore. But I think the stock is well worth keeping an eye on right now.

The post Is it too late to buy AI stocks? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

Indeed, one reason his company Berkshire Hathaway has been sitting on a cash pile of many billions of pounds over recent years is that Buffett thinks it is hard to find enough good deals that are big enough to move the needle for the company.

But it was not always like that. In fact, Warren Buffett first started in the stock market as a schoolboy, using some pocket money he had earned from doing a paper round.

So, could someone with a few hundred pounds to invest today take an approach inspired by the Sage of Omaha when it comes to investing in the stock market?

Sticking to some basic principles

I think they could.

Although Berkshire owns a lot of businesses outright, it also owns stakes in companies such as Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Coca-Cola, in the form of shares. A small investor can buy shares easily enough on the stock market.

With his decades of market experience, Warren Buffett knows all too well how important it is for an investor to stay diversified across different holdings, as a way of reducing their risk.

£500 is enough for someone to diversify across several different shares.

On a fairly modest amount, though, minimum commissions and share dealing fees can soon add up. Warren Buffett keeps a close eye on costs.

I think it makes sense for a small private investor to do the same when it comes to selecting a share-dealing platform such as a Stocks and Shares ISA or share-dealing account.

On the hunt for individual shares

Warren Buffett has said before that he thinks many private investors with a small sum of money to invest ought to consider buying into a fund that tracks a stock index, such as the S&P 500 or FTSE 100.

Personally, though, I prefer to do what Buffett himself does and buy individual shares in what I see as great companies.

The reason why can be illustrated by examining Buffett’s own investment in Apple over the past decade. That has made Berkshire tens of billions of dollars.

Some of that has been from dividends, but most of the gains are due to Apple’s stock price gains.

Buffett likes strong brands that give a company pricing power. Apple certainly has that. He likes business models that are simple to understand. Again, Apple offers that.

Its proprietary technology, service ecosystem, and large installed user base are all competitive advantages. In fact, at the right price, I would be happy to buy Apple stock for my portfolio, as I have done in the past.

Currently, though, the share price is too high for my tastes so I have no plans to invest in Apple for now.

A high share price puts me off because even great companies can run into problems. Growing completion in the phone sector is a risk to both revenues and profitability for the tech giant. I also see a risk that a weak economy could hurt demand for pricey smartphones.

Still, I continue to use Warren Buffett’s approach as I scour the stock market hunting for great businesses that I think are more attractively valued than Apple!

The post Can someone invest like Warren Buffett with a spare £500? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

Why? Because Buffett’s never sold a single share of Coke since he first invested in the 1980s. Meanwhile, Apple is Berkshire’s single largest holding at 23.7% of the entire investment portfolio. In fact, between the two stocks, Buffett has almost $100bn invested!

So if the world’s most successful investor has such a large amount of money within these two businesses, should other long-term investors consider them as well?

Is Coca-Cola still a good investment?

While a beverages business isn’t the most exciting enterprise, in 1988 the billionaire spotted what most investors were overlooking – a powerful competitive moat protected by an iconic brand driving substantial pricing power.

That’s translated into over 60 years of consecutive dividend hikes. So can this steady compounder continue to deliver similar results in the future?

Even during economic downturns, Coca-Cola has proven to be quite resilient, with consumers still happy to pay up thanks to brand loyalty. And with management using its excessive cash generation to invest in product innovation, the business has been quite skilled at adapting to shifting consumer preferences.

But with Coca-Cola now penetrated into almost every market in the world, is there really much more room for growth?

That’s a question many institutional analysts seem to have about this business. And this concern is only being compounded by the slow but steady decline in soda consumption in developed markets as consumers become increasingly more health-conscious.

What about Apple?

Apple’s another interesting stock pick from Buffett and his team. Rather than viewing Apple as a tech stock, Buffett saw it as a consumer products powerhouse with an ecosystem that locks in users.

Considering Apple shares have climbed over 1,000% since the start of 2016, I think it’s fair to say Buffett was once again spot on. But, like Coca-Cola, is there really much more room for growth?

While Apple’s certainly not delivering massive sales surges in its latest results, it’s hard to ignore the enormous success of its new iPhone 17 launch in September.

Demand for the new device has been significantly higher than what most analysts were expecting. And a total of 247 million devices are expected to be shipped in 2025, compared to the previous record of 236 million in 2021 for the iPhone 16.

The result? Record revenue and profits.

The bottom line

Both businesses enjoy deep global market penetration. But out of the two, Apple seems like it still has a long way to climb.

iPhone sales are ultimately just one part of the equation for this business. Services are the other. And by upselling services to its device users, there remains plenty of untapped value left to explore – an opportunity Coca-Cola doesn’t have.

This growth potential doesn’t come risk-free. The business is already having to navigate the challenges that US tariffs have created. And as one of the largest companies in the world, Apple’s frequently finding itself in the crosshairs of regulators.

However, given the quality of this business, those might be risks worth taking. That’s why I think it’s wise to dig deeper into this Buffett stock.

The post Warren Buffett has $94.2bn invested in these two stocks! appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

That does not mean the legendary stock picker is retiring. He still plans to be chair once the clocks ring in 2026.

In 2026 – and likely far beyond – I plan to apply some classic Warren Buffett thinking to my own investments. Here are three examples.

Looking for a business moat

Some people buy shares just because they think the price will move up. Others simply look at shares that have fallen badly and bank on a recovery.

But sometimes, shares fall for a good reason – and their price never recovers.

Warren Buffett is not averse to buying cheap shares. Indeed, that helps explain much of his success over the decades as an investor.

But when looking for shares to buy, he does not just look at price. He also carefully considers a company’s business model and asks what sort of “moat” it has.

As with medieval castles, a moat in this context is something that helps protect a business from its rivals.

Think of Warren Buffett’s investment in Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) as an illustration. From its strong brand to its user ecosystem, the tech giant has plenty of competitive advantages that together constitute a sizeable moat.

Focusing on the long term

Will Apple have a good 2026, thanks to its large installer user base and proven business model?

Or might the share price — up 11% this year — fall, as weakening economies and growing smartphone competition threaten its sales of pricey products?

I do not know. But I also think the bigger question for investors is not what happens to Apple in coming months, but rather over the next decade or more.

That is because, like Warren Buffett, I take a long-term approach to investing.

Berkshire has done tremendously well from its Apple holding. It still owns a sizeable stake, albeit smaller than several years back.

Buffett’s approach to Apple, as with so much of his investing, has always been to ignore short-term noise and focus on the long-term investment case. I aim to do the same.

Staying diversified

What will happen to Apple? Nobody knows – including Warren Buffett.

It remains a significant element of Berkshire’s share portfolio.

But, crucially, it is only one of the company’s holdings. Buffett is a smart enough investor to know that, no matter how brilliant a company may be, it is possible to have too much of a good thing. Even the best business can run into unexpected challenges.

From an investing perspective, that means that smart investors stay diversified.

That is not just something for wealthy investors with large sums to invest. Even on a small scale, diversification is possible – and an important risk management tool.

The post 3 Warren Buffett investing ideas I plan to use in 2026 appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

This was highlighted in a recent presentation by UK money guru Martin Lewis on his Martin Lewis Money Show. Here, he showed how much an investor would have now if they’d stuck £1,000 in several different indexes 10 years ago.

Stocks have smashed savings accounts over the last decade

Before I show the figures, it’s worth pointing out that Lewis highlighted the risks of investing in the stock market. “Investing is volatile,” he said.

“Only invest what you won’t need for at least five years, after clearing expensive debts and building an emergency fund,” he went on to say. This is very sound advice.

As for the calculations, Lewis showed that had someone started with £1,000 a decade ago and put this money into top UK savings accounts over the 10-year period, they’d now have about £1,270. Note that to break even after inflation, they would have needed to grow the money to around £1,390, so by staying in cash savings products they would have actually lost money in ‘real’ terms (ie factoring in purchasing power).

By contrast, £1,000 invested in the FTSE 250 index 10 years ago would now be worth about £1,640. Meanwhile, £1,000 invested in the S&P 500 index would now be worth about £3,790 – almost three times the amount of the cash savings figure.

These calculations include reinvested dividends. I assume they don’t include fees though (such as fund and platform fees).

Overall, it was an eye-opening presentation from Lewis. The takeaway was clear – while volatile in the short term, stocks can generate very attractive returns over the long run.

Even higher returns are possible

Now, I’m a big fan of funds that track indexes like the different FTSEs and the S&P 500. I hold a number of these index products in my ISAs and SIPP.

But I also hold a lot of individual stocks. The reason why is that individual stocks can generate even higher returns over the long run (note that they’re higher-risk than index funds).

Take Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), for example. I first bought this stock back in late 2018 near the $40 mark.

Today however, it’s trading near $280, meaning that on a US dollar share price basis, I have made around seven times my money in the space of around seven years. That’s a far higher return than major indexes like the FTSE 100 and the S&P 500 have delivered.

Why has this stock risen so much? Mainly because Apple’s revenues and earnings have risen significantly on the back of the success of its smartphones and App Store.

Note that it hasn’t gone up in a straight line. At times, concerns over growth and competition (long-term risks) have hurt the share price temporarily.

Now, I’m not saying that investors should rush out and buy Apple shares today. I think there are probably better opportunities in the market to consider right now.

But the performance of this stock highlights what’s possible when picking individual shares. Get it right, and the results can be fantastic.

The post Martin Lewis just gave a brilliant presentation on the power of investing in stock market indexes like the FTSE 100 appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

Given the focus on AI at the moment, I thought I’d see what ChatGPT made of the situation. It didn’t give a particularly insightful answer, but maybe that’s what I should have expected.

AI insight

ChatGPT’s answer was a bit strange. Its general view was that short-term traders should sit tight, but that long-term investors might want to consider buying. 

The basic idea is that high valuations might lead to volatility over the next few quarters. But for those who can wait it out, there’s a decent chance that things will turn out well.

I’m not convinced by this idea. If the risk of share prices going down is enough to warn short-term traders, then I think it’s something long-term investors should also consider.

But the big question is whether there’s enough evidence that this is likely to happen to justify staying on the sidelines for now. And I’m not convinced there is either. 

2000 again?

The thing worrying investors at the moment is AI. They’re right to pay attention – AI spending is pretty much the only thing moving the US economy forward right now.

During the 2000 dotcom crash, Cisco shares fell 90% from their highs. And despite a 700% gain since then, the share price hasn’t fully recovered a quarter of a century later.

Microsoft, though, also fell 60%. But unlike Cisco, the stock is up 1,900% and even investors who bought at the peak have managed outstanding returns since then. 

The difference is that one company managed to keep growing its earnings much faster than the other. And that gives investors a clear sense of what to look for right now. 

Opportunities

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) hasn’t really participated in the AI arms race. Instead, it’s watched from the sidelines as other firms spend heavily on building LLMs and AI infrastructure.

As a result, the stock has underperformed some of its rivals over the last 12 months. But I think the company’s strategy might turn out to be a very good one over the next few years.

If LLMs ultimately turn out to be a commodity, then the firm’s decision to stay out of the race will have saved shareholders hundreds of billions. And there’s a chance this could happen.

Even if they don’t, though, Apple should still be in a strong position. Alphabet decisively won the internet search battle, but the iPhone manufacturer still profits to the tune of $20bn a year.

Investing

Apple shares aren’t a risk-free investment – there’s a constant threat of antitrust action that shows up every so often. But it is well-insulated from the threat of overinvesting in AI.

Investors wary of an AI bubble might want to look at shares that have a decent chance of doing well on the other side. Apple is one example, but it’s not the only one on my list right now.

The post I asked ChatGPT whether it’s a good time to buy stocks and it said… appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.