HSBC (LSE: HSBA) shares have been in freefall since the £1 purchase of Silicon Valley Bank’s UK arm a little over a week ago. And overall, the FTSE 100 bank’s stock has dropped a staggering 19% in only a month. Should I pick up a few battered shares for a timely bargain, or am I looking at a risky value trap? A shrewd purchase? After the run on lender Silicon Valley Bank happened last month, banks worldwide have been in crisis.  The US government averted the worst of the problems stateside by granting a bailout to the US portion of the business. Here in the UK, we watched as HSBC took c ..read more

Yalla Group (NYSE:YALA) is a Middle-East-focused tech stock that doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Last week, the company posted its fourth-quarter results, and pleasantly surprised some analysts. Despite registering year-on-year (YoY) growth in revenue and user growth, it’s a company in transition. A transition Last week, Yalla reported that non-GAAP net income had fallen from $27.5m in the fourth quarter of 2021 to $21.7m in the last quarter of 2022. This decline may concern some investors, but, for me, it’s purely reflective of the fact that Yalla is a company in transition. The ..read more

These cheap shares both trade on price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios well below the value benchmark of 10 times. Here’s why I’d buy them today and look to hold them for years. Pan African Resources Buying gold stocks could be a good idea as prices of the yellow metal soars. Pan African Resources (LSE:PAF) is one mining stock on my radar due to its incredible value. The AIM share trades on a forward P/E ratio of just five times. Meanwhile its corresponding dividend yield sits at a juicy 5.5%. The price of bullion has in recent hours rocketed back through the $2,000 per ounce level. With this key t ..read more

I’m hoping to take advantage of the falling share prices of many FTSE 100 companies. The UK benchmark has taken a beating in the wake of an unfolding banking crisis that has claimed stock market victims in both the US and Switzerland so far. As volatility rises, I’m looking for beaten-down dividend shares that could be bargain buys for my passive income portfolio. After all, broad market sell-offs can present unique opportunities. Macro factors often chip away at the valuations of otherwise healthy businesses. With that in mind, here are two Footsie dividend stocks that seem cheap to me today ..read more

The massive volatility we’ve seen in the market over the last week or so has created more than a handful of buying opportunities. Here’s three stocks to buy while they’re down. Massive yield Stocks in the financials sector are understandably the worst-performing assets across Europe right now. Some are down for good reason, but many aren’t, in my opinion. For me, pensions manager Legal & General (LSE: LGEN) is one baby getting chucked out with the banking bath water. The stock is down 13.3% since the banking crisis started on 9 March. That’s not to say the sell-off in L&G shares is t ..read more

After a newsworthy decline of around 7%, the FTSE 100 seems to have stabilised. But, I am not ruling out more bad performance. I think a stock market crash in 2023 is a real possibility. As it stands, the inflation rate in the UK is 10.1%. To inch it towards its target of 2%, the Bank of England (BoE) has been raising interest rates. The bank rate is currently 4%. It has not been that high since 2008. Raise it too high too fast and economic growth stalls. It’s not just the BoE. Central banks around the world are juggling rates, inflation, and growth. The big concern over the coming months is ..read more

The FTSE 100 has dropped around 700 points in recent weeks, but I’d call that a dip rather than a full-blown stock market crash. We may still get a crash as what BlackRock’s Larry Fink calls a “slow-rolling” crisis spreads through the banking sector. If we do, I’ll aim to take advantage by snapping up these three top stocks at reduced prices and holding them for the long term. Falling shares are cheaper The FTSE 100 includes some magnificent dividend stocks right now, and their yields will only rise if share prices fall further. As a fund manager, Schroders (LSE: SDR) could be on the frontlin ..read more

With demand for alternative energy sources and materials to store such energy increasing, I see opportunity. Indeed, some renewable energy stocks have done very well in recent years – and I expect there will be big winners in years to come, as well. As lithium demand grows, here are three London-listed companies that I think could benefit. Atlantic Lithium Shares in Atlantic Lithium (LSE: ALL) have tumbled 29% over the past 12 months. On a five-year timeframe they have moved up, but only by 9%. The shares dropped sharply this month after an online report cast doubt on the prospects of its lit ..read more

Here are two FTSE 100 dividend stocks I’m considering buying for my portfolio today. I think they could be terrific sources of long-term passive income. Persimmon I’m considering increasing my holdings in UK housebuilding shares. And Persimmon (LSE:PSN) — on account of its 6.4% dividend yield — is near the top of my shopping list. Investing in these highly cyclical shares is risky as Britain’s economy struggles. A surge in unemployment could cause home sales to fall sharply. So could the impact of additional interest rates hikes to tame inflation. Yet there are signs that the sell-off of hou ..read more

Scottish Mortgage (LSE: SMT) remains the UK’s best selling investment trust, latest AJ Bell figures show, yet it’s had a horrible year. The trust won its spurs during the post-financial crisis bull run, after taking a big bet on US tech and disruptive start-ups. At one point, three-quarters of its portfolio was invested in the US, with almost a tenth devoted to just one stock, Elon Musk’s Tesla. It also went big on tech giants like Amazon and Tencent. It’s not a mortgage company I repeatedly highlighted Scottish Mortgage’s success and increasingly, the risks it posed, too. The wheels came off ..read more