By Amy McLellan It’s one of those deals that will have surprised few in the industry with Royal Dutch Shell ending years, if not decades, of speculation by agreeing a recommended cash-and-equity deal for BG Group. The offer values the London-listed exploration and production group at £47 billion, a 50 per cent premium on the…
As we enter the final month of campaigning for the UK general election, the British pound is threatening to fall to its lowest levels since 2009, and on Thursday made its lowest daily close of 2015. GBP/ USD Daily Chart The latest betting odds based on the polls imply an 85% chance of a hung…
In my recent musings about the relative charms of BP (BP.) and Shell (RDSB) equity, I concluded that I preferred BP because Royal Dutch could make a bid for BP. Earlier this week, Royal Dutch Shell blew that bit of rationalisation out of the deep blue waters of speculation, by saying that it was to…
While the US Federal Reserve and the ECB have been busily adopting counter-cyclical measures aimed at stabilising economic growth and price increases, commercial banks have been at the other extreme, always frustrating such measures and acting pro-cyclically. The Fractional Reserve system that allows for faster credit creation than the economy can absorb is the main…
Greatly to my surprise Petro Matad (MATD) has announced a farm-out of aspects of its Mongolian properties with BG Group (BG.). The money problem is also resolved. Petro Matad retains Block XX – apparently this could be pretty good as well. I bought 100,000 at 10p – just to keep my hand in. My friend…
It is something of a regret that I did not spend more than six weeks studying Economics at the London School of Economics, largely on the basis that I had the feeling it was an inferior place to Oxford. This may have been a mistake. But apparently not one that would have made a difference…
There are times when this Old Badger just doesn’t know where markets are going next. What I do know is that when markets feel uncertain on direction, it’s a sure sign something is going to change. The direction of bond, commodity and stock markets depends on answering a simple question: Is the world headed for…
Looking at the workings of Next (NXT) financial reports reminds me of those moments in the Antiques Road Show when the affable clocks expert opens the back of an 18th-century clock to reveal a still perfect working mechanism. Next is a similarly perfect mechanism for producing sales, earnings, dividend and cash growth. It will not remain eternally…
Following recent full year results shares in multi-jurisdictional financial services business STM Group surged by 17% and have since touched levels last seen in summer 2012. With significant investment having been put into the business in the past few years, and the firm benefiting from strong operational gearing, profits are set to continue rising. With…
I last visited Marks and Spencer (MKS), or ‘Marks and Sparks’ as our family used to know, it early in January. The drama was whether M&S was finished as a general merchandiser – most particularly in the ladies wear department, where it seemed totally incapable of revising its one time reputation as a big supplier…
