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1 day ago | 
oilprice.com | Simon Watkins
Western energy giants like Chevron, Shell, BP, and Eni are ramping up investments in Egypt’s gas sector. Egypt holds a unique strategic advantage with its LNG infrastructure and control of vital transit routes like the Suez Canal and SUMED pipeline. Despite debt concerns, international support—including IMF and EU financing—continues to flow into Egypt.
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2 days ago | 
fool.co.uk | Simon Watkins
There are many ideas out there about how to make money with minimal effort – ‘passive income’ as it is known. Having tried several myself – most notably through buy-to-let properties – I still think investing in stocks for dividends is the best method. Generating money here only requires the initial picking of shares and then periodically checking they still look the best choices. Whether they are depends on three key factors in my 35 years’ experience of doing this.
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2 days ago | 
fool.co.uk | Simon Watkins
Investors who put £11,000 – the average UK savings amount – into Rolls-Royce (LSE: RR) shares a year ago have done very well indeed. That would have secured 2,600 shares in the firm at the 13 May 2024 opening price of £4.23. At today’s (13 May) opening price of £7.83 those shares are valued at £20,358. A 6p dividend was also paid, adding another £156 to the pot to make £20,514.
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3 days ago | 
oilprice.com | Simon Watkins
Israel prepares major Gaza operation that may forcibly relocate civilians and risks escalating regional tensions. Geopolitical flashpoints intensify, with Israel reportedly ready to strike Iranian nuclear sites. World Bank warns a large Middle East supply disruption could drive oil prices up by 56–75%.
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3 days ago | 
msn.com | Simon Watkins
Microsoft Cares About Your PrivacyMicrosoft and our third-party vendors use cookies to store and access information such as unique IDs to deliver, maintain and improve our services and ads. If you agree, MSN and Microsoft Bing will personalise the content and ads that you see. You can select ‘I Accept’ to consent to these uses or click on ‘Manage preferences’ to review your options and exercise your right to object to Legitimate Interest where used.
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3 days ago | 
fool.co.uk | Simon Watkins
FTSE 100 bank Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN) is down 17% from its 3 March one-year traded high of £12.18. Much of this resulted from the US’s 2 April announcement of tariffs on its trading partners. This increased the possibility of a US economic downturn for many analysts, and banks broadly reflect the economies of the countries in which they operate. This remains a risk in the stock. However, even if it does occur, the effects are less long-lasting than many investors may assume.
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3 days ago | 
fool.co.uk | Simon Watkins
Shell’s (LSE: SHEL) share price has dropped 17% from its 13 May 12-month traded high of £29.56. Such a fall could flag that a company is fundamentally worth less than it was before. Or it may signal a bargain-buying opportunity to be had. To find out which it is here, I ran the key numbers and looked more closely at the business. Its Q1 results on 2 May, which showed adjusted earnings of $5.6bn (£4.22bn).
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1 week ago | 
fool.co.uk | Simon Watkins
The FTSE 250’s QinetiQ (LSE: QQ) is a world leader in evaluating, integrating and securing military mission-critical platforms, systems, information, and assets. Following a 17 March trading update, the stock has fallen 26% in value. However, given two new contracts signed recently and strong earnings growth prospects, this leaves it looking a bargain to me. Its March trading update highlighted that short-term delays are expected in some contracts, due to US and UK spending reviews.
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1 week ago | 
fool.co.uk | Simon Watkins
Investors who put £11,000 – the average UK savings – into Lloyds (LSE: LLOY) on 8 May last year have done well. This would have bought them 20,754 shares at that day’s opening price of 53p. At today’s opening price of 72p those shares would be worth £14,942 – a £3,942 profit on the share price alone. However, Lloyds also paid dividends totalling 3.17p over the past year. These would have added another £658 to the total returns of the stock.
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1 week ago | 
fool.co.uk | Simon Watkins
GSK’s (LSE: GSK) share price is down 20% from its 15 May 12-month traded high of £18.19. This sort of a drop could indicate that a bargain-basement buying opportunity is to be had. Or it could flag that the firm is fundamentally worth less than it was before. I took a deep dive into the business and ran the key numbers to find out which is the case here. One risk that could dent GSK’s future profits is further legal action connected to its Zantac drug or any others.
