Published 4 days ago
Hello Share Pacers. Recently I opined that BP (BP.) was possibly a better bet than its rival Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA and RDSB) at the moment. But there’s not much in it, and it might be a good idea to take out the insurance of investing in both jumbos. The thing driving both shares at the moment is, of course, the rising oil price...
Published 11 days ago
Hello Share Scratchers. On the heels of my last piece, in which I commended the fortunes of giant oilers, a few readers have asked me which jumbo firm do I prefer. I suppose the choice for British investors is between Shell (RDSA) and BP (BP.) I have big holdings in both outfits, but I lean towards one of them.
Published 107 days ago
Hello, Share Sparers. Over a year or two now, I’ve extolled the arguments for investing in oil giants. That argument, especially for Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) is becoming more compelling. Here's the reason...
Published 132 days ago
Hello, Share Scrapers. Who among us isn't a bit spooked by issues affecting the global economy? But what should we do to protect ourselves - and make the most of any opportunities? Well, after doing the research and basing predictions on it, this is what I think.
Published 254 days ago
Hello Share Trackers. I’ve heard on Radio Four just now that petrol stations are being urged to cut prices by two pence a litre. According to the BBC, this is because the price of Brent Crude has fallen. Talk about an exaggeration! The price has only dropped a few points after skyrocketing in the last six months.
Published 282 days ago
Hello Share Scrollers. I think I recall saying way back in 2017 that the oil price could soar to reach $80 a barrel in the Spring. And we’re only a dollar away from that forecast now. Of course, I did not know that troubles in the Middle East would get so horribly worse.
Published 303 days ago
Hello, Share Pickers. When a share continues to look even more promising after earlier recommendations, there’s an excuse to return to the story. So let’s have yet another stab at Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) - there are also Shell ‘B’ shares, known as 'RDSB', which are subject to Dutch rules on dividends, so you may get a better yield from these.
Published 317 days ago
Hello, Share Cakers. As troubles in the Middle East mount, it’s natural that oil prices will rise. And as I write, the cost of Brent crude has hit a new high. Not a record of course, as the price was once twice what it is now.
Published 357 days ago
Hello Share Shiverers. At the risk of over-simplifying matters, it’s time to winkle out companies who’ll benefit from the icy weather. Some of the choices are obvious, but that’s no reason not to remind you of a few opportunities. And you’ll be surprised how very temporary events - like the current cold snap - can influence share prices. Though the effect is usually confined to a week at the most.
Published 384 days ago
Hello, Share Slickers. The world’s biggest oil company Exxon Mobil has posted disappointing numbers. As a result, the shares dipped 5%. Analysts were expecting profits to jump on the big rally in oil prices. But get this. The company actually announced 4th quarter net profits of £8.4 billion. Yes, $8.4 billion!
Published 392 days ago
Hello, Share Trekkies. The oil price still forges ahead. It’s around $71 for a barrel of Brent crude. And yet the big oil companies are not really reflecting the boom. However, they’ll probably catch up soon.
Published 414 days ago
Hello Share Twangers. After a phoney war start, this winter is turning out to be quite chilly. Most of us saw snow over the Christmas period and though things have warmed up a bit now, there’s still an icy wind blowing. And it's even colder in many parts of the world, including the USA which is seeing temperatures plunge to record lows. Europe has also been unnaturally cold. All this has the effect of using up oil reserves.
Published 431 days ago
Hello Share Blasters. On the road in the grim north, I don't have access to the usual research channels. So allow me to review a trio of shares I've scanned in more detail recently, but which I believe have not so far taken full advantage of the current Santa Rally.
Published 490 days ago
Hello, Share Scoopers. Sometimes, gang, it makes sense to include advice from a different source when bringing shares before you for a possible punt. Especially when the other analysts agree with me. The boys and girls at Barclays have repeated an ‘overweight’ commendation for two big oil giants, and I’m glad to say I have chunky holdings in both of them.
Published 506 days ago
Hello Share Eaters. As I write, the share I recommend you look at today is nudging towards its all-time high price. Will it now run out of steam? Not if most of the signs are anything to go by. And meanwhile, there is a vast divi, paid four times a year.
Published 517 days ago
Hello, Share Collectors. Many of us, I know, are still awash in oil stocks, both the producers and riskier explorers. I’ve been advising that we cut down, as the competition from wind, sun, waves and biomass, threatens to grow. But I think I may have been too hard on ebony nectar and here are a few reasons why.
Published 529 days ago
Hello, Share Splurgers. This seems a good moment to review Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA), that huge Footsie company upon which so many pensions, insurance giants and hedge funds rely. It also happens to represent my biggest shareholding. And that, silly me, is far in excess of my usual 10% of my bag allowed to any company. Holding more than a tenth of your assets in one firm is not a safe thing to do.
Published 636 days ago
Hello Share Smashers. OPEC, the cartel of 12 big oil producers led by Saudi Arabia, has let us down.
Published 657 days ago
Hello Share Grinders. Unusually for me, I’m a little pessimistic this weekend. And the cause - a very weak oil price. This is a big disappointment, as the signs a few months ago were that the price of the ebony nectar was on the rise.
Published 685 days ago
Hello Share Chirpers. Once again, hostilities threaten the world. The Americans have launched a missile strike on a Syrian airfield. The Russians and the Iranians don’t like it. The Middle East is in even more turmoil.
Published 704 days ago
Hello Share Twirlers. Though the Footsie has been striding ahead, it would have done far better if the oil price had behaved itself. We are not just talking oil shares, but the whole of the share economy. A weak oil price has a negative effect all round.
Published 711 days ago
Hello Share Shakers. A bit of a dilemma faces me. I have some BP (BP.) shares in my ordinary trading account. I want to switch them to my ISA. When I do that, there’ll be an interim few days when I no longer hold the stock. For BP at the moment, this is a bit dangerous.
Published 715 days ago
Hello Share Masters. I’ve taken a long hard look at the budget from our point of view and found it improves the shareholder’s lot quite a bit. However, I’m no tax expert, so in case I’ve got anything wrong, please do your own research.
Published 749 days ago
Hello Share Pagers. The results of Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) were not too clever. Profits down by another 37% on last time. But remember how lousy the price of Brent Crude is at the moment.
Published 754 days ago
Hello Share Suckers. You’ve may have noticed, but probably haven’t, that I’ve been selling shares in some companies which I am heavily invested in. This is because times are uncertain and success with a few of my favourites, have left them a little top heavy in their pricing territory.
Published 779 days ago
The bulls among us are rejoicing at the beginning of the new year. But what’s causing the Footsie to beat its all-time highs?
Published 798 days ago
Hello Share Pickers. I'm in the middle of one of those interminable train journeys where you pass loads of familiar town names everybody knows, but where nobody ever stops. In this case Wilmslow, Hereford, Leominster, Ludlow, Crewe, Craven Arms etc. Well, have you ever been there?
Published 801 days ago
Hello Share Cybers. One does not like to preen. And to be honest I haven't had much justification lately, what with Advanced Oncotherapy's woes. But you will allow that I did see oil prices rising.
Published 809 days ago
Hello Share Twangers. I was beginning to worry that my predictions that the price of Brent crude would rise steadily were not going to happen. The ebony nectar value has been falling in the last month or so (by about 10%).
Published 842 days ago
Hello Share Diviners. Jim Slater's legendary book on shares, second in my view only to my own works, including the recent Share Attack, advocated investing in shares you really know something about. I seem to remember - though could be wrong - that the Zulu Principal got its name because his wife knew plenty of stuff about Zulus.
Published 857 days ago
Hello Share Smackers. You may be getting a little tired of my banging on about my expected recovery in the price of Brent crude. Never my, my vicar’s sermon on Sunday was all about the importance of ‘pestering’ if we want to be heard by the Almighty. So I’ll keep pestering you about this.
Published 863 days ago
Hello Share Twiggers. The price of oil continues to nudge up. As I write, it is only a whisper away from a 10 month high. I see no reason why that trend won’t continue, especially with winter drawing on and my central heating boilers going full pelt for the first time today. Another clue to rising oil prices is that big costs are returning at the petrol pumps.
Published 868 days ago
In my humble view, now could be a good time to return to oil shares. I certainly hope so, as I have lost a packet since the big oil crash which began a few years ago. I’ve gradually dumped my holdings in the hopeful explorers, but I still have major holdings in the big producers, like Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA), BP (BP.) and Tullow (TLW). All of them are well shy of their previous bests.
Published 899 days ago
Hello Share Scuffers. As I write the price of Brent crude is $47.62 dollars a barrel. That is lower than recent days when the price crawled back above $50. However, the trend is up and after reaching a nadir of $38 dollars a year or so ago, well the current oil price is a lot better now than it was.
Published 919 days ago
Hello Share Swiggers. If you have shares in producing oil firms you might want to consider hanging onto them. And if you have spare cash you might research a few likely companies with a view to a bit more investment. The reason is that the price of Brent crude oil is going up again. It is tickling $50 a barrel as I write. It was there a few months ago when the price level caused some excitement. Quite a few oil companies nudged up on the news, including Shell (RDSA) and BP (BP.).
Published 960 days ago
Hello Share Mates. My flight was about two hours late getting into Cardiff Airport after my trip to Munich. Then the plane was held for about another hour because all the lights had gone out in the terminal due to a massive power cut. So I missed the big match between Wales, where I live, and Portugal where I don't. Consequently I'm penning this in the early hours of the morning. Worse still, in a few hours' time, I will be under the surgeon's knife.
Published 969 days ago
Hello Share Cats. One thing the Brexit vote hasn’t attacked so far is the oil price. Well, Brent did go down a tiny fraction, but hardly worth noticing. And that could be due to world factors, anyway. Which reminds me that Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) has risen for the two trading days since the Big Vote result was announced. I am a giant holder of Shell oil. It is the biggest lump in my portfolio. I already held a lot of Shell shares. Then it gobbled up BG and part of that deal was its handing over even more Shell stock.
Published 981 days ago
Hello Share Bunnies. Tullow Oil (TLW) shares I've held a long time. Too long, as it turned out. Not many years ago they doubled my outlay in a year or two. Then, like nearly all other big oilers they were hit a year ago, or so by the big black stuff crash. Actually the share had been on the back foot before that. But I reckon Tullow could be on the march again. Over the last few days, the advancing oil price has decided to take a rest. But not for long, I fancy. You can see my reasons in a few recent examples of my modest Shareprophets column.
Published 988 days ago
Hello Share Plungers. I’ve been teetering round some serious Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) research for a week or two now. That’s because I - along with a goodly few other City commentators - expect the price of Brent to skid upwards. But why buy Shell shares in preference to those offered by all that competition? Because of size mainly. Shell is probably too big to fail and if that oil price keeps bubbling up, then good old Shell we will among the biggest beneficiaries.
Published 989 days ago
Hello Share Poodles. As so many of us hold shares in companies involved in the ebony nectar, it’s seems a good wheeze to once again bring you bang up to date on how the price of Brent crude should fare in the next few months. Because there’s little doubt that the value of the black stuff has a huge bearing on share prices. And not just those of oil companies, but nearly every other listed firm as well. It’s a question of high oil prices raising general confidence.
Published 1001 days ago
Hello Share Changers. What gave me the arrogance to say that the oil price would rally quite nicely this year was experience. Though I am no longer an energetic young trader, I have been plying our golden game since I first dated Bodicea. So I know that when the price of a commodity falls, it always bounces back. Always. So the recovery of oil was never the world’s greatest prediction.
Published 1025 days ago
Hello Share Chancers. It wasn’t so long ago that my colleague Amanda Van Dyke was getting it in the neck on this beloved website for commending us all to buy gold. Now those detractors have had to admit they were wrong. We heard at the UK Investor Show more than one expert say that gold was the thing to buy, still. But though I’m holding onto my gold miners, I am now switching my main hopes to a rally in the next business which is likely to hit back. after a very bad time.
Published 1095 days ago
Hello Share Riders. As a long, but mild, winter gets set to change into Spring, I am going cold on Centrica (CNA). Time was when I was a great supporter. Much good did it do me. I made a lot of cash in my early years with them, but then the share price more or less flattened out.
Published 1184 days ago
Hello Share Trundlers. The big Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) and BG (BG.) merger has been the elephant in the room at many a big discussion on current share trading.
Published 1190 days ago
Hello Share Trundlers. The big Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) and BG (BG.) merger has been the elephant in the room at many a big discussion on current share trading. It was nearly a year ago, or seems like it, that Shell said it wanted to take over BG. (We are not talking about British Gas here, which is really Centrica (CNA). Confused? You will be.)
Published 1206 days ago
Hello share Mates. Those of us who have big holdings, or even small ones, in BG (BG.) have been on pins for most of a year now. That’s since Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) announced it was to merge with the big oil and natural gas giant. The $70billion offer was in cash and shares and made BG shares worth about £13.
Published 1271 days ago
Following yesterday's table of the top dividend payers among resource stocks in the FTSE100, below are the top five dividend paying shares whose share prices closed within 1% of a 52-week low on Friday. Qualifying stocks have a yield of >5%.
Published 1271 days ago
The recent pullback in stocks has created some attractive fundamental plays among the largest resource stocks. Although commodity prices remain in the doldrums and the medium term outlook is bearish, share prices of the stocks below make the expected dividend yields look extremely generous.
Published 1280 days ago
Hello Share Freakies. May I offer a few opinions on the way the world economies are going - and, to adapt the famous line from Harold Wilson - their effect on the shares in our pocket.
Published 1285 days ago
There are quite a few share dilemmas to be resolved as the long hot summer of not very much happening draws on. The first is what do we do about oil shares. I certainly am not going to invest any money in those companies, which put all their hopes on finding more of the black stuff. I’ve been let down too often.
Published 1298 days ago
Hello Share Sloggers. There’s a lot to be said gang for only investing in Footsie giants. Or at least companies which are big, rock solid and constant cash earners.
Published 1302 days ago
Hi Share Shapers. New life has been breathed into BG (BG.) the big British natural gas combine. The share has been gradually falling away in value even though Shell (RDSA) has bid for the company and had been accepted by the BG board as a goodly lot of fellows who would do a splendid job for we shareholders.
Published 1304 days ago
Hello Share Sweepers. Bloomin’ Heck! While I still agonise over whether I should accept the offer for Dragon Oil (DGO) shares from a bigger oil company, I get landed with another difficult choice over an insurance giant. That insurance set-up is RSA (RSA) the old Royal Insurance lot.
Published 1309 days ago
Hello Share Cats. Nobody talks about oil shares much anymore. It seems the low price of crude has taken its toll on those of us who have invested big time in oil companies, both big and small.
Published 1344 days ago
Anyone kicking themselves for missing out on the takeover bid for BG Group (BG.) looks to have another chance to benefit from any deal.
Published 1345 days ago
Hello Share Swipers. When I opined last month that Dragon Oil (DGO) was a goodly punt, I’ve been surprised that the performance of the exotic share purveyor would be quite as zapper as it is now.
Published 1357 days ago
Hello Share Scoffers. Uncle Tom believes that the present bull market is ‘ridiculous’. There are some other very perceptive and experienced writers on this scintillating website who agree with him. Including the morose, but sharply intelligent Frenchman and Amanda the Golden.
Published 1644 days ago
A month ago, I wrote a critical piece about Chariot Oil & Gas (CHAR) in reaction to its £8.8million placement. The company has responded perfectly. It didn’t petulantly jump up and down, demanding a retraction, but instead approached me, asking if I’d like to talk directly with CEO Larry Bottomley. I thought this was a risky move on Chariot’s part, as our reputation here for not taking prisoners is well deserved. However, the request was courteous and seemed genuine. I was happy to take the call on the understanding everything we discussed would be on the record and I wouldn’t write a PR puff piece. Chariot agreed and Mr Bottomley was refreshingly candid in his answers. In this first piece I deal with the looming deadline for the company’s Central Block licence, offshore Namibia.
Published 1665 days ago
Hello Share Snafflers: The latest trading update by Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) has well exceeded what City analysts had predicted. Such reports often do these days, as the 'experts' continue to under-estimate the effect of increasing growth on world economies.
Published 1707 days ago
There is a bit of current interest in Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) that is worth some comment. The shares now priced 2430p (last seen) have not only broken out from a recent sideways moving trading range (approximately 2340p -2370p) but have also reached new territory; not only that, they also reached at 2433p, their highest point in five years.. The share price has climbed by 15% this year; handsomely beating the All Share Index, which only managed a rise of 7%. Over the last month, when the FTSE 100 hardly budged, Royal Dutch Shares clocked a 3% increase which has taken them to this peak.