… but that could be good news for canny investors, says Jonathan Compton. Things can hardly be expected to get any worse, and the tidbits are looking cheap.

As inflation rears its ugly head again, John Stepek looks at what the charts can tell us about the way the global economy could be heading.

If you’d held it since 1999 and reinvested all your dividends, your money would have increased by a factor of 2.5, as the progress of the FTSE Total Return index shows.

High street bellwether Next is just the latest big name to hit trouble. It has made mistakes, but is also grappling with sector-wide problems. Alice Gråhns reports.

A backlash has forced Aviva to think again about scrapping its preference shares – but the damage is done, says John Stepek.

There’s one asset class that global investors absolutely loathe right now – UK stocks. John Stepek explains why, and how that can give you an advantage over the professionals.

Merryn Somerset Webb may not be wildly bullish about equity markets, but here she channels her inner Tigger to find reasons to be positive.

Conditions have been just right for stock markets for a while. Andrew Van Sickle explains why it won’t last.

Many UK company pension schemes are deeply in deficit, and that’s having damaging effects on how corporations spend their money, says Merryn Somerset Webb.

Britain’s high street banks are looking healthier, but they still haven’t recovered from their post-crisis hangovers. Investors should think about the risks ahead. Alice Gråhns reports.