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Unemployment hit a 53-year low as Apple, Amazon, and Alphabet delivered their latest earnings reports. Ron Gross and Jason Moser discuss another interest rate hike and a surprising jobs report, Apple's first sales drop since 2019, Guidance overshadowing Amazon's holiday quarter, Starbucks struggling outside the U.S. and the latest from Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Exxon Mobil, and AMD. Then from 19 minutes in, Jason and Ron keep earnings-palooza going and discuss McDonald's ending the fiscal year on a high note, Match Group's disappointing results and layoff announcement, the latest from Qualcomm, Peloton, and Snap, and two stocks on their radar: Kinsale Capital Group and Samsara. Stocks discussed: AAPL, AMZN, GOOG, SBUX, META, XOM, INTC, AMD, MCD, QCOM, PTON, SNAP, MTCH, KNSL, IOT. Host - Chris Hill; Guests - Ron Gross, Jason Moser.

The New Year has arrived and with it promises of inflation falling and a ray of hope on energy bills. But even if Rishi Sunak halves inflation, as he claims he will, it would still be running at 5% and his promise to get Britain back to growth may prove harder than the simple maths that sees inflation slow. Meanwhile, a slowdown in the rise of the cost of living doesn't mean things will get cheaper and the better energy price forecasts will still see costs at more than double what they were a year ago. So, will 2023 prove better or tougher for our finances? Georgie Frost, Helen Crane and Simon Lambert delve into the prospects for the year ahead. Plus, what is on the cards for the property market, for pensions and savers and why is Divorce Day tipped to be even bigger this year? And finally, the year is going to better financially for at least one person: the lucky January £1million Premium Bond winner who bagged the jackpot with less than £5,000 saved. Is it time we all stuck more in Premium Bonds, as the prize find is boosted?

Let's hope that, as we approach 2023, we can start looking ahead in contrast to the wave of pessimism with which we greeted 2022, and which has proved to be so accurate in retrospect. Is it too much to hope that we are at the nadir of the economic cycle, and at the point when tyrants recognise the limits of force and suppression of individual freedom? Is it unrealistic to imagine a world in which we share our resources more willingly, and empower young people from all backgrounds to achieve their potential? The next two weeks will give us a chance to reset the dial — we must do better in 2023. Background music: 'O Holy Night' by DJ Williams

If you missed the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Autumn Statement on Thursday 17 November 2022, here's the opportunity to listen to it in full: unabridged and with no interruptions.

‘If they could tax the air you breathe they’d do it.’ That age-old moan about taxes going up has sprung to mind over the past week, as rumours about pretty much any tax you can think of being hiked were spread about. So many kites were flown about potential tax rises that even taxing selling your own home and bringing back the 50p rate were floated as potential Autumn Statement ideas troubling Jeremy Hunt and Rishi Sunak’s minds. If all this came to pass it would surely become known as ‘the everything tax raid’. But will it come to pass? Probably not. You get the sense this is a massive exercise in softening up the nation, so that when some but not all taxes go up on Thursday, people breathe a sigh of relief. Yet could this bout of not-officially-encouraged-but-definitely-not-discouraged speculation do lasting harm to the economy? Simon Lambert argues that case, when he says with sentiment already heavily depressed going into a recession, striking the financial fear of God into the population might not be the best move. Simon, Georgie Frost and Tanya Jefferies discuss the tax hikes that have been rumoured and how likely they are to happen: one gets a minus two in five chance of occurring but others seem more likely. Also, will Hunt stage a raid on pension, either via tax relief or the triple lock? Plus, the story of how Tanya helped a podcast listener win back money after paying over the odds for her mother’s care home. And finally — if among all this gloom you’ve still got room to save, should you save or invest the money, or overpay your mortgage?

The UK Office for National Statistics reports that one person in every six was born overseas. It's evident that geographical mobility is already with us: the problem is now social mobility. Solutions lie not with parochial nationalism, but in working with business and organisations with an international governance remit such as the UN for a long-term resolve, just as we are attempting to do with climate change. Background music: 'Wandering Soul' by Asher Fulero image source: Hippopx https://www.hippopx.com/

Interest rates rise by the highest amount for decades: what does it mean for your money? But despite rising rates, are savers losing out and what can you do about it? Plus 'stealth' taxes — are they more palatable? And gas prices fall, but does it mean lower energy costs? And finally — should you invest in a BTT? Georgie Frost and Simon Lambert help to steer you through the money maze.

The tense situation between tenants and landlords is escalating: the former have seen rents spiral but the latter have faced a big jump in costs jump too. Meanwhile regulation has become a bugbear between the two sides, is there not enough of it or too much? What can be done to improve things in the rental market and have we come down too hard on buy-to-let? That’s the question asked on this week’s episode, as Georgie Frost, Helen Crane and Simon Lambert debate the problems in the rental market. But before that, it’s time for Rishi Sunak. He was once the Chancellor tasked with calming our nerves during the pandemic, but now Rishi is the Prime Minister expected to settle things down after a bout of financial chaos. Will he be able to pull that off, soothe jittery markets, navigate Britain through a painful cost of living crisis winter, and somehow please the nation while taking money off people instead of dishing it out? The team look at what Prime Minister Rishi could mean compared to Chancellor Rishi – and what the implications for our finances could be. Also on the agenda, there was good news for savers from NS&I this week, as rates were raised across the board, but they can get better deals elsewhere, so what should they do? Plus, what can you do to track down old pension pots and why is John Lewis annoying its loyal credit card customers?

Our new Chancellor of the Exchequer, formerly the longest-ever serving British Health Secretary, is uniquely well-placed to understand the burden that universal health care provision places on the public finances, and why we must crack this 70-year addiction. In this episode, we analyse how heavily this burden is impacted by care for older people, many of whom are well-placed to be able to cover the costs which they incur. Now is the time to take a fresh look at the 41% of central government spending committed to the health service — we propose that in future there should be an intelligent use of mandatory private medical insurance for those who can afford it, with the NHS drawing down the cost of their treatment from their insurer, as it’s incurred. (* 'FCE' stands for 'Finished Consultant Episode') Background music: 'The Plan's Working' by Cooper Cannell

The past seventy years have seen remarkable progress in so many areas, but they have also been accompanied by a growing addiction to debt. We've lost connection with the disciplines which should govern the use of debt: like the road runner who has just lost touch with the cliff edge, there is no longer any solid ground on which we can land — so we must now anticipate painful re-adjustment as markets fall. We need to move to a mindset where debt is a form of investment for the future, to be drawn down carefully and sparingly — not to be used either for chasing higher and higher prices, or for incessant Government bail-outs. Background music: 'Addicted' by VYEN