We start this month's round-up with news of a bid at just shy of a 50% premium for oil and gas exploration company I3 Energy (I3E:AIM) from US-listed Gran Tierra Energy (GTE:NYSEAMERICAN).The US firm, which has a market cap of $260 million, is paying roughly $225 million or £174 million for the UK company through a combination of cash and shares.I3 Energy operates in the Western Canadian Sediment

Wall Street beat in Q2Higher capex incoming as Meta seeds AI soil$590 target price slapped on stockAll gardeners know you plant seeds today to reap a harvest tomorrow and it's what Facebook-owner Meta Platforms (META:NASDAQ) is doing with AI (artificial intelligence). Yes, it means higher capex now, but the rewards down the line could be considerable.Investors seems to understand this, which is wh

At the centre of the current boom in generative AI (artificial intelligence) is chip maker Nvidia (NVDA:NASDAQ).It designs some of the fastest computer chips in the world which are needed to run data hungry LLMs (large language models) capable of understanding natural language.Readers may be familiar with Nvidia's historical link to the gaming industry, but less familiar with the US giant's connec

At a huge indoor concert venue in Silicon Valley on 18 March Nvidia (NVDA:NASDAQ) founder and chief executive Jensen Huang took the stage to a score composed entirely by AI (artificial intelligence) to introduce his company?s latest creation. Assembled at the developer conference were researchers and experts from just about every field which uses Nvidia?s chips to process large data sets, from cli

Stocks in London were down at the close on Tuesday, amid disappointing manufacturing data from both the US and the UK.The FTSE 100 index closed down 11.72 points, 0.2%, at 7,721.52. The FTSE 250 ended down 177.83 points, 0.9%, at 19,511.80, and the AIM All-Share closed down 1.77 points, or 0.2%, at 761.55.The Cboe UK 100 ended down 0.3% at 770.31, the Cboe UK 250 closed down 1.2% at 16,966.88, and

London?s FTSE 100 made a tepid start to 2024, with underwhelming manufacturing data from the UK and eurozone doing little to lift sentiment.Equities in New York are called to open lower ahead of a key week for the US interest rate outlook. The latest Federal Reserve meeting minutes are released on Wednesday, before the official US jobs report on Friday.The FTSE 100 index was down 29.34 points, 0.4

Shares jump 42% on positive trial resultsCancer prediction 81% compared with 60% for standard careDiagnosing lung cancer early is critical for patientsShares in LungLife AI (LLAI:AIM), the developer of clinical diagnostic solutions for the early detection of cancer, surged 42% to 65.2p after the company revealed the successful validation of its LungLB test for intermediate lung nodules.The study d

Meta shares fall over 4% to $299.53Google Cloud disappoints Wall Street analystsWPP third quarter revenue falls 1.8% to £3.5 billionFacebook-owner Meta Platforms (META:NASDAQ) reported a 23% increase in revenue for the quarter ended 30 September to $34.2 billion compared to $27.7 billion in the same year ago period, however it warned of softer advertising spend in the fourth quarter due to macro

In what will seem like yet another case of dejà vu for property investors, one of the biggest open-ended funds in the market has decided to suspend dealing in its shares and shut up shop.This move brings into question the future of this type of property fund given the inherent structural problems it has.Several open-ended funds suspended dealings in the aftermath of the Brexit vote in 2016

Everyone wants to be able to put away a little bit more cash each year, but no one wants to live on beans and have no social life in order to do so.We've crunched the numbers and found some of the best ways to save cash each year, with minimal effort and that are actually realistic. If you do all these you can save £3,000 and more each year. This money can then be used to invest in the markets.Yo

Shares in Leicester-headquartered homewares leader Dunelm (DNLM) are in demand. In morning trade the stock is 3.5% higher to a new 12-month high of 742p as the bedding, curtains and kitchenware seller delivers a spike in first half pre-tax profit despite the difficult consumer backdrop.Relatively new chief executive (CEO) Nick Wilkinson is certainly putting his stamp on the business. A renewed foc

London shares sag in early deals, following lower US and Asian markets, as miners and financials retreated. Ballast was also provided by some big-ticket corporate news with supermarkets a feature thanks to disappointment from Morrisons (MRW). The market is looking to Bank of England's interest rate and quantitative easing (QE) calls later today.Miners are under pressure once more, again, with BHP

Small cap oiL and gas companies have suffered acutely from the oil price crash and Colombia-focused Global Energy Development (GED:AIM) is no different.Having nearly halved in value in the past 12 months its shares at 46.5p now trade at a substantial discount to net cash. Research house Equity Development estimates the company has $41 million in the bank or the equivalent of 68p a share.Although i

London's FTSE 100 bounces 39.79 points higher to 6719.16 on Friday, with Berkeley Homes (BKG) among the major stocks in demand. An impressive set of interim results sends shares in the housebuilder 5.5% higher to £26.42. The £3.4 billion cap, guided by seasoned home builder Tony Pidgley, grew revenues 24.5% to £1.02 billion in the six months to end-October, driving pre-tax profits almost 80% hi

UK markets continue to slide on Tuesday as gains across the mining sector are offset by gloomy corporate newsflow, led by upmarket fashion brands Burberry (BRBY) and Mulberry (MUL:AIM), and from recruiter Michael Page (MPI). The benchmark FTSE 100 index loses 30 points in early trading, down to 6,337, testing 2014 lows.Fashion brand Burberry slides 5% to £14.05 as chief executive Christopher Bail

Discount retailer Poundland (PLND) - a running Shares Play of the Week - jumps 4.4% to 343.1p as investors like full-year results. Trading has been very good in the first three months of its new financial year with 18% rise in sales. Its trial store in Spain has launched this week.Drug-maker Shire (SHP) improves 1% to £45.93 on newspaper gossip suggests would-be suitor AbbVie (ABBV:NDQ) is courti

One of a flurry of retailers to float year-to-date, Pets at Home's (PETS) IPO (12 Mar) raked in £280 million to pay down debt and enabled private equity group KKR and members of management to reduce holdings. Vigilance is always required when weighing up private equity floats (see The Big Debate, Shares, 13 Mar '14) and Pets was a reminder of the potential pitfalls here, at 220p trading 10% below

Oil producer Global Energy Developments (GED:AIM) can put a difficult second half of 2013 behind it as it gears up for an exploration drive on its Bolivar shale oil project in Colombia. Investors may consider taking a stake in the £25 million market cap before this work gets underway.A re-entry and fracture stimulation (frack) programme on the Catalina #1 well in the Magdalena basin has been slig

Real estate investment trust NewRiver Retail (NRR:AIM) rises 2.8% to 267p on interim results and the £90 million acquisitionof 202 pubs from brewer Marston's (MARS) which it intends to convert into retail units.The pubs, which are located in residential areas, will be turned into convenience stores and restaurants. NewRiver, which specialises in the food and value retail property market, says it

By far the smallest of the nine regions covered in our series in terms of quoted company numbers, Wales and Northern Ireland offers exposure to sectors ranging from food production and technology to life sciences, media and insurance. Three small caps in particular have the power to augment both the growth and income portions of your portfolio. They are Cardiff-headquartered cake maker Finsbury Fo