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Thursday marked a big day for the pound in our pocket. First of all, it was announced the energy price cap was to rise 54 per cent. Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Helen Crane take a look at what that means, what support has been made available and what happens next. Hot on the heels of that bombshell we had another rate rise from the Bank of England - piling pressure on borrowers. What will it mean for mortgages and will we finally seeing savings rates begin to head higher? With rates on the rise, would you fix your mortgage for a decade? Halifax and Lloyds unveil 10 year deals. And Helen launches her Crane on the Case consumer column – the first saw a remortgage mix-up land our reader with a bill of nearly £4,000.

This is one of those times when almost no company is going to get the benefit of the doubt from Wall Street and investors in general. Meta Platforms and Spotify are two timely examples. Meta Platforms faces headwinds in the form of inflation, its own investments, and Apple's new iOS privacy changes. Spotify is showing growth, but guidance has some spooked and the latest controversy involving podcast host Joe Rogan isn't helping matters either. Tim Beyers analyzes both companies and discusses the very public roles that CEOs Mark Zuckerberg and Daniel Ek are taking as their companies deal with varying challenges. Plus, Dylan Lewis and Brian Feroldi do a deep dive on Digitalocean, a cloud company some are comparing to a young Shopify. Our free Investing Starter Kit includes 15 stocks and 5 ETFs. For a copy just go to http://fool.com/StarterKit Stocks: FB, SPOT, AAPL, ALGN, DOCN, AMZN, MSFT

Some of your stocks getting stung? Ours too. Tim Beyers and Robert Brokamp offer some mindset help and historical perspective on this Saturday classroom. They discuss how you can be opportunistic in a down market, and how to think about your cash position. If you have cash and our looking for stock ideas, our free Investing Starter Kit includes 15 stocks and 5 ETFs. For a copy just go to http://fool.com/StarterKit Stocks: SBUX, AMZN

Russ Mould of A J Bell looks at the Bank of England's interest rate rise, noticing how much more hawkish the MPC has become, with 4 members wanting an even bigger hike. Although QE has been brought to an end, he wonders how far the bank can go before something breaks - and similarly the Fed. He also looks at the plunge in Meta Platforms/Facebook shares, wondering where future growth could come from for the company.

James Cameron-Wilson takes us through the latest UK box office figures, where Sing 2 has leapt to the top with a take of £6.9m, making it the 3rd biggest cinema opening since the pandemic began. The only other new entry is Almodovar's Parallel Mothers at #6. James enthuses about the awards hopeful CODA about a mostly-deaf family on Apple+ which he found not just moving but also funny. He was less excited about Netflix's My Best Friend Anne Frank which, despite being based on fact, he found rather unbelievable.

Political commentator Mike Indian looks at the energy price cap increase and the general rise in the cost of living, as well as the Government's attempts to ameliorate the effects of inflation in an era of rampant political short-termism. He examines the waning popularity of Boris Johnson and asks if the PM can survive, feeling the May local elections could prove crucial. And he turns his attention to the Ukraine, wondering if Russia is merely sabre-rattling or if Putin is seriously considering an invasion.

Share Radio's technology editor Steve Caplin discusses the success of the online game Wordle, just bought by the New York Times. The Royal Mail will be adding QR codes to stamps to show videos, rendering all existing stamps obsolete. Horse riders will soon be able to learn to ride using a smart saddle while there are proposals to make electric scooters safer by getting them to emit the noise of a cymbal followed by that of a tuba. There's a wetsuit to protect swimmers from sharks and Tesla has yet more problems with recalls and hacking.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella talked about his company doubling down on gaming, which should give gamers and investors pause. Tim Beyers analyzes not only the impressive 2nd-quarter results but the overall health of Microsoft's business and how much room to run the gaming division has. He also discusses Mattel's renewed partnership with Disney, and what investors need to understand about F5's place in the cloud industry. Plus, Olivia Zitkus and Keith Speights discuss how Pfizer, Moderna, and Abbott Laboratories are investing the money they've earned from Covid-19-related sales, and whether one is doing a better job of it than the others. Our free Investing Starter Kit includes 15 stocks and 5 ETFs. For a copy just go to http://fool.com/StarterKit Stocks: MSFT, ATVI, MAT, DIS, HAS, FFIV, SNOW, MDB, PFE, MRNA, ABT

Most investors are not as smart as they thought they were a year ago. Fortunately, they're also not as dumb as they feel today. Morgan Housel, author of the international best-selling book “The Psychology of Money” joins Motley Fool co-founder Tom Gardner on to discuss investing behavior and why it is the most fundamental piece of your investing success. They also talk about how you can think about your cash position and how to mentally prepare for down markets. For a free copy of our investing “Starter Kit,” visit http://fool.com/starterkit and we’ll email it to you. Stocks: NFLX, SHOP

It’s almost crunch time for our energy bills, with the new price cap that will kick in from 1 April due to be announced in just over a week. At that point those on variable rate price cap-linked tariffs will know how much their bills will rise by – a figure that’s widely expected to be 50%. But the worst of the bill shock pain will be felt by others, those with fixed rate deals cheaper than the current price cap but that are soon due to end. So, can people on either variable or fixed deals do anything to stop their bills soaring? Is there any merit in trying to fix? And what should we do to help the households for whom this will be not just another blow from the cost of living crunch, but a shove into fuel poverty? On this week’s podcast, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert talk through the options for Britons facing soaring energy bills and the government and industry in trying to deal with them. Plus, with Simon one of those people whose fix is imminently ending – in the middle of March – what are the options that his energy supplier Octopus has presented him with, and which one is he going to take? He talks us through that. Also on this week’s podcast, the team talk through the stock market wobble, the US growth vs rising rates conundrum, and the suggestions that it might be UK shares time to shine. And finally, Nationwide has at last raised savings rates – only a week before the Bank of England is forecast to deliver another rate rise – but will savers be cheered or disappointed?