What a tin of battered beans can tell us about behavioural finance April 25, 2019 "Most people get interested in stocks when everyone else is. The time to get interested is when no one else is. You can’t buy what is popular, and do well.” Those are the words of one of the greatest investors of our generation, Warren Buffett. The investment guru got me thinking: why is the stock [...]
London Capital & Finance investors rage against the FCA, EY and PwC in stormy meeting April 24, 2019 Angry bondholders of collapsed lender London Capital & Finance railed against the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and accountants PWC and EY today at a packed meeting in City Temple church. Furious investors raged against the FCA, blaming it for failing to intervene in the regulated firm sooner. “We’ve been sold down the river!” One investor [...]
Exxonmobil throws £800m to nearly double diesel production at Southampton plant April 24, 2019 US oil giant Exxonmobil has confirmed it will invest more that $1bn (£770m) in a Southampton refinery as it aims to increase the earnings potential of its downstream business. The plan will boost production of ultra-low sulphur diesel by nearly 45 per cent, or 38,000 barrels per day, at the Fawley refinery run by Esso, [...]
Saudi Arabia will not ‘immediately’ ramp up production to offset US sanctions on Iran – energy minister April 24, 2019 Saudi Arabia today said it will not “immediately” increase oil production after toughened US sanctions on Iran threatened to drive down global supply. Energy minister Khalid al-Falih said his country was not guided by global prices, which hit a 2019 record on Tuesday after the US ended exemptions from Iranian sanctions for eight countries which [...]
Equinor joins Shell and BP by linking management’s pay to climate change targets after investor pressure April 24, 2019 Norwegian oil firm Equinor has become the latest big player to bend to investor pressure by attaching executive pay to climate change targets. The firm follows the likes of BP and Shell, to vow action on the Paris Agreement on climate change. Read more: Equinor falls short of expectations as production set to remain flat [...]
Occidental seeks to outbid Chevron with $57bn offer for US explorer Anadarko April 24, 2019 US oil and gas producer Occidental this morning tabled a $57bn (£44bn) bid for Anadarko Petroleum, outstripping rival Chevron’s $50bn offer for the company. The deal would create a behemoth with production reaching more than 1.4m barrels of oil equivalent per day, Occidental said, and promises $2bn in annual cost synergies. Read more: Chevron and [...]
Shell in talks with BP over $250m stake in North Sea oil and gas field Shearwater April 24, 2019 Shell has entered talks to buy BP’s stake in a North Sea oil and gas field, according to reports, as oil majors continue to offload assets in the basin. The deal is valued at around $250m (£193m), sources told Reuters, and will almost double Shell’s share in the Shearwater venture. Read more: North Sea explorers get [...]
The coming squeeze on US profits April 24, 2019 | City Talk Progress on US-China trade talks has seen investors’ concerns about a trade war fade, and be replaced instead by worries about economic growth and politic risks. The real concern for equity investors, ultimately, is how slower growth will be reflected in company profits. In 2018 markets were driven by stronger corporate earnings, but share prices [...]
Facebook and Tesla: what to expect from earnings April 24, 2019 | City Talk Facebook: a juggernaut in motion Facebook will report fiscal first quarter earnings after the market closes on Wednesday. Consensus EPS forecasts indicate $1.63, on revenues of a little short of $15bn. This would represent a roughly 4 per cent decline in EPS from the $1.69 reported in the same quarter a year before. However, the advertising [...]
Netflix to sell $2bn worth of bonds amid competition with streaming rivals April 23, 2019 Netflix will issue $2bn (£1.5bn) worth of bonds, denominated in both dollars and euros, to raise money as the battle over TV and film streaming intensifies. Read more: Netflix predicts slowed subscriber growth as price hikes begin to hurt The online media giant said the interest rate, maturity date, and other terms of the bonds [...]