Lawrence Gash

The Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global has announced its divestiture of any interests in the miners of Glencore (GLEN), Anglo American (AAL), due to their role in the production and use of coal. The German utility RWE (RWEG), the Australian energy firm AGL Energy (AGL) and the South African petrochemical firm Sasol (SOLJ) have also […]

Oil prices have risen in Thursday trading as oversupply fears subside and lockdowns begin to ease. By mid-afternoon trading, both Brent crude oil futures and West Texas Intermediate crude oil have gained by 4.15 per cent, standing at $30.40 and $26.34 per barrel respectively. Indices in Asia, Europe and North America have fallen on Fed […]

Tencent has beaten analyst expectations and reported a strong first quarter, with the Covid-19 crisis benefiting the gaming business. A Refinitiv consensus had predicted that the Chinese tech giant would see revenue of 101.4bn yuan ($14bn, £11.6bn) and a profit attributable to shareholders of 23.83bn yuan. In reality, Tencent’s first quarter revenue jumped 26 per cent […]

Markets in both Asia and Europe have traded down on Thursday, as investors react to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s recent comments that the current economic situation is unprecedented. “The scope and speed of this downturn are without modern precedent, significantly worse than any recession since the second world war.” Powell said, In a webcast […]

Beleaguered US sportswear brand reports Q1 revenue decline of 22.5 per cent and warns of 50-60 per cent Q2 sales slump Under Armour (UA) was already struggling before the Covid-19 crisis. The American sportswear brand has increasingly lost ground to its competitors Nike and Adidas and is currently under investigation by the SEC and Justice […]

US President questions the legality of billionaires publicly criticising the market while betting against it The US president Donald Trump has condemned hedge fund managers and other billionaires who take to financial media to talk down the market. He argues that such actions are cynically done in order to strengthen their own positions. Taking to […]

Local government gives in and allows Tesla car production to recommence after CEO Elon Musk threatens to relocate California headquarters Tesla (TSLA) founder and CEO Elon Musk’s vocal threats and demands would appear to have been successful in obtaining local government approval to resume production at the carmaker’s California company headquarters. Musk has been a fervent […]

Iranian parliament approves redenomination of the rial as Covid-19 & sanctions take their toll Iranians are increasingly turning to Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies as the country continues to struggle with rampant hyperinflation. The number of Iranians using the world’s largest cryptocurrency remains relatively small. However, with the crippling effect of US sanctions on Iran’s...

Halfords (HFD), Britain’s largest cycling retailer, has seen its share price jump in Monday trading after the British government identified cycling as preferable to public transport. With 450 repair centres and a strong presence in the world of e-scooters, investors have flocked to the firm. By mid-morning Monday trading Halfords’ share price stands up 22.4 per […]

Constitutional Court gives central bank three months to justify itself Germany’s Constitutional Court has stunned European markets by calling into question the constitutionality of the €2trn (£1.7trn, $2.1trn) stimulus scheme launched by the European Central Bank (ECB) in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Court ruled 7-to-1 that the ECB’s quantitative easing program is not […]