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Google General 45m ago

UK households free to install plug-in balcony solar panels from end of August - The Guardian

UK households free to install plug-in balcony solar panels from end of August The GuardianPlug-in solar panels can be installed in homes from end of next month The i PaperThe UK Will Legalize Plug-In Solar On August 27 EngadgetLessons from Germany: what the UK can learn from Europe’s most mature plug-in solar market The Eco ExpertsPlug-in solar panels to go on sale this summer, after new safety rules confirmed BusinessGreen

Our Take

The Investors Centre on the stories shaping UK markets and household finances.

Forex Spread vs Commission: the Maths Nobody Actually Does

Quick Answer: Spread-Only or Commission? Which Actually Costs Less? Run the numbers on a standard lot of EUR/USD and the gap is smaller than either camp admits. A spread-only account like IG's, from 0.6 pips, costs about $6 per round turn at the minimum spread with nothing else to pay. A typical raw-spread account charges a near-zero spread plus roughly $6 to $7 per lot in commission, so call it…

The Indices UK Traders Should Actually Care About (and the Ones I Skip)

Quick Answer: Which Indices Are Actually Worth Trading? Four, in my view, and for different jobs. The US 500 is the workhorse: the deepest market on the board and the tightest to trade, from 0.4 points on IG. The FTSE 100 is the home fixture, from 1 point, ideal for learning because it moves at a walking pace. Germany 40 is the volatility play for the European session, from 1.2…

Options Trading in the UK Is Harder Than It Should Be. Here Is What Actually Works

Quick Answer: Why Is Options Trading So Awkward for UK Retail Traders? Because the products American traders take for granted mostly are not offered to UK retail accounts. Listed options venues either will not onboard you, bury you in professional-client hoops, or have withdrawn altogether, and IG itself has retired its US listed options offering. What a UK trader actually gets is the OTC route: options traded as spread bets…

Five Questions Your Prompt Must Answer Before Claude Touches Your Portfolio

Quick Answer: What Makes Claude Genuinely Useful on a Portfolio? The specificity of your prompt, nothing else. Claude's output is capped by the detail you give it, so a portfolio review request has to answer five questions inside the prompt itself: what the money is for and when you need it, exactly what you hold, how you would actually behave in a 30% drawdown, the real-life constraints it must respect,…

Is Pepperstone Spread Betting Tax-Free? The UK Rules, Honestly

Quick Answer: Is Pepperstone Spread Betting Really Tax-Free? For most UK retail traders, yes: profits from spread betting are free from capital gains tax and stamp duty under current rules, and that applies to Pepperstone's spread bets exactly as it does anywhere else, because the treatment comes from what spread betting is rather than who provides it. The parts the headline leaves out matter just as much: your losing years…

Scalping on Pepperstone Razor: Does the Raw Spread Survive the News?

Quick Answer: Can You Scalp Pepperstone's Raw Spread Through News? Mostly, yes, and I have the log to show it. Through the Q1 releases I traded, EUR/USD widened from its 0.1-pip average to 0.9 pips through US payrolls and about 1.0 pips around the ECB, then normalised within minutes. My fills came back at a 47ms median, with roughly 78% of orders filling with no slippage at all. A raw…

5 things you need to know today

Hand-picked across the day's most active topics.

1

Google General
UK households free to install plug-in balcony solar panels from end of August - The Guardian
2

Google Regulation
EU fines Google €890m for competition breaches over search and apps - The Guardian
3

Google Markets
‘Customers prefer AI chatbots to humans’ says British Gas boss as 1,300 call centre staff axed - The Guardian
4

Google General
Carmakers lobbied UK to revoke ban on petrol and diesel cars after 2035 - The Guardian
5

Google General
Elon Musk says he got ‘carried away’ with Trump – but still holds on to contentious political views - The Guardian

Markets

‘Customers prefer AI chatbots to humans’ says British Gas boss as 1,300 call centre staff axed - The Guardian

‘Customers prefer AI chatbots to humans’ says British Gas boss as 1,300 call centre staff axed The GuardianBritish Gas owner Centrica to cut 1,300 jobs, flags slower trading arm growth ReutersCentrica plans overhaul in 1300-job cut proposals BdailyBritish Gas customers reckon with AI chatbots as call centre jobs cut The TelegraphBritish Gas owner to cut 1,300 jobs over two years in major overhaul The Independent

Regulation

EU fines Google €890m for competition breaches over search and apps - The Guardian

EU fines Google €890m for competition breaches over search and apps The GuardianGoogle fined €890m by EU for favouring its own apps over rivals BBCEU risks Donald Trump backlash with $1bn fine on Google Sky NewsEU fines Google €890mn in test of Donald Trump’s threats to protect Big Tech Financial TimesGoogle Hit With $1 Billion Fine By EU Over Search Engine Practices The New York Times

General

Carmakers lobbied UK to revoke ban on petrol and diesel cars after 2035 - The Guardian

Carmakers lobbied UK to revoke ban on petrol and diesel cars after 2035 The GuardianSee more headlines and perspectives on Google News

Elon Musk says he got ‘carried away’ with Trump – but still holds on to contentious political views - The Guardian

Elon Musk says he got ‘carried away’ with Trump – but still holds on to contentious political views The GuardianElon Musk admits he 'got carried away' after backing Donald Trump's 2024 campaign with $200 million, says he should have focused on Tesla instead of DOGE The Times of IndiaSuddenly, as His Empire Crumbles, Elon Musk Admits He Made a Huge Mistake With DOGE FuturismElon Musk Political Regrets and Future Visions The Cryptonomist‘I got carried…

Trump’s dubious nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia

An accord lacking ‘gold standard’ safeguards on enrichment would carry proliferation risks

Google and Tesla shares plunge as AI spending rattles markets

As major tech companies race to capitalize on a new wave of AI technology, investors wonder when financial benefits will appear.

ChatGPT medical advice brought man 'to brink of death', lawsuit alleges - BBC

ChatGPT medical advice brought man 'to brink of death', lawsuit alleges BBCSee more headlines and perspectives on Google News

Oil hits $100 for first time since May while US stocks slide

Donald Trump warns US is weighing ‘massive attack’ on Iran as Middle East tensions ratchet higher

Oil surges past $100 in a first since May as Middle East conflicts rage - Al Jazeera

Oil surges past $100 in a first since May as Middle East conflicts rage Al JazeeraOil prices hit $100 for the first time since May BBCGas, groceries and back-to-school items are where shoppers might see higher oil prices surface The IndependentOil hits $100 a barrel after Iran-backed Houthis ‘strike two tankers’ in Red Sea The TelegraphLive updates: Oil tops $100 a barrel as Red Sea attacks mark new escalation in Iran conflict CNN

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