There was a certain degree of investor bemusement last month when shares in US electricity generation company Constellation Energy (CEG:NASDAQ) soared on news technology giant Microsoft (MSFT:NASDAQ) had signed a 20-year power purchase agreement.This was no ordinary deal, however, as it paves the way for the restart of Three Mile Island 1 ? not the reactor which famously melted down in 1979, but a

Prices of uranium have spiked this year to 12-year highs amid the rehabilitation of nuclear power. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the actions of oil producers in limiting production to support crude prices have increased the pressure on global governments to prioritise energy security.Nuclear, which had been tarnished by the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan, is now seen as a viable, low-carbo

THIS IS AN ADVERTISING FEATURENatural resources have been seen as vulnerable to economic weakness, but there are structural reasons why demand for commodities ? and the companies that produce them ? can thrive, says Mark Hume, manager on the BlackRock Energy & Natural Resources trust. Capital at risk. The value of investments and the income from them can fall as well as rise and are not guarantee

Given the poor recent performance of many investment trusts compared with the FTSE 100 index - which has held up relatively well this year and which investors can access via a tracker fund for a few basis points - the age-old issue of fees has reared its head again.The big question for investors in investment trusts which carry a high OCF (ongoing charge fee) is should they stick with them when th

Rising interest rates since the turn of the year, runaway inflation and Russia's shocking invasion of Ukraine have shaken the investment kaleidoscope in 2022 and forced many investors to reposition portfolios for an increasingly uncertain world.This is reflected in developments in the investment trusts universe, which has thrown up some obvious and more surprising winners in the opening months of

One of the biggest takeaways from the UK's new 'Energy Security Strategy' announced on 7 April was that nuclear power would be a crucial part of the Government's plan for secure and sustainable energy.The issue has become particularly pressing amid surging energy costs and the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In this article we will look at how the UK's plans sit in a global context and the

The human tragedy unfolding in Ukraine is having dramatic ramifications across the world, not least in the energy market.The US has banned the import of Russian oil, LNG (liquefied natural gas) and coal. Europe is not able to turn the taps off overnight as it is more reliant on Russia to meet its energy needs. However, the direction of travel is clear - the West is committed to weaning itself off

The dust may be settling for now on the recent unrest in Kazakhstan, but the ructions are still being felt in the markets.Prices of oil and uranium, of which Kazakhstan is a major producer, moved higher amid the disruption. The country is a key centre for bitcoin mining and concerns over the violence helped contribute to volatility in the cryptocurrency, which recently hit a four-month low.Several

In the end 2021 proved a rewarding year for stock markets as vaccines were rolled out and economies began to recover from the worst ravages of the pandemic. In the early part of the year, growth was shunned for value before bouncing back into fashion as the year progressed.On the whole, this was a volatile period, with investors contending with concerns over inflation and the rising interest rates

Politicians are known for expressing well intentioned platitudes regarding climate change but failing to deliver action as climate change activist Greta Thunberg has so often highlighted.Ahead of the 26th climate conference in Glasgow which got underway on 31 October, investors seem as sceptical as ever over real change and appear instead to have placed bets on increased demand for uranium (to fue

When Gateley (GTLY:AIM) listed in London in June 2015, it became only the second law firm in the world to join a public stock exchange. Only Australian firm Slater & Gordon had made the move before, back in 2007.Now there are four legal 'companies' on the AIM market and while all feature lawyers as their main employees, they are all very different businesses.Keystone Law (KEYS:AIM) has been descri

Birmingham-based law company Gateley's (GTLY:AIM) release of a strong set of pre-close results has pleased the market, driving up its share price by 5.3% to 169.5p.The firm has announced its third acquisition since listing in 2015, buying land and property experts GCL Solicitors. The deal will cost £4.15m, its biggest yet and one that will be immediately earnings accretive.The deal is structured

Mining was the second best performing FTSE 350 sector in 2016 and is still in the top 10 so far this year. Improving commodity prices, stronger balance sheets and more lean mining operations have all contributed to share price success.Anyone who wants exposure to the sector without the individual country risk should look at the wide range of investment trusts that invest in miners. You should be a

Waiting for a commodities revival can be extremely frustrating. Like any money manager who can find a suitable chart to show their fund is outperforming a particular benchmark (the good old 'discrete' performance data that cherry picks a positive period), there's oodles of people in the resources industry who can always find data that implies a bullish outlook for commodities. That means expectati

Widening discounts on investment trusts so far this year could be the harbinger of future stock market declines, election jitters or a result of industry-specific factors, according to analysts.Research from market maker Winterflood shows discounts widened at 193 of 289 investment trusts analysed from 31 December 2014 to 30 March 2015. Discounts widened by a median average of 2 percentage points f

Anyone with an interest in investment trusts will notice they make regular announcements to the stock market titled 'net asset value' (NAV). Some trusts publish these on a daily basis, others monthly or less frequently. This important piece of information shows the latest value of a trust's holdings. This can then be compared to its share price to see if the fund trades at a discount or premium to

The sharp decline in the oil price since June has put commodities back on the mainstream news agenda as investors speculate where energy, metal and food prices are headed next. The direction of oil, copper, wheat and other commodities are hugely relevant to investors as they are key raw materials for companies around the world, not to mention a major influence on the cost of everyday living.Amid c

Trading at $30 per pound Uranium has staged a 7% rally since May. Bullish investors can play a continued recovery through Spanish miner Berkeley Resources (BKY:AIM) at 17.8p or get more diversified exposure via fund Geiger Counter (GCL) at 25p, which invests in uranium miners.Uranium peaked at $136 per pound in June 2007 and the market fundamentals were shaken up by the Japanese nuclear disaster f

The uranium revival has begun. The Japanese government has announced plans to restart the country's 48 nuclear reactors. Russia has flexed its muscles in Kazakhstan by curtailing new uranium supplies; and China is trying to address large pollution problems by moving to clean energy sources which plays well to an acceleration of nuclear new-build. All these factors should revive interest in uranium

Resource firms are coming into focus as investors search for oversold equities and yield opportunities. But anyone deploying cash here needs to step back and take a careful look at the project economics relating to each individual miner or oil and gas play given what is likely to remain a challenging backcloth for commodity prices.When commodity prices were roaring away, picking a successful secto