While the relentless advances in Nvidia (NVDA:NASDAQ), Bitcoin and US equities continue to grab most of the headlines (and that is not forgetting new all-time highs for headline stock indices in France, Germany, Taiwan, Australia and Japan), one asset is outstripping them all so far in 2024 ? and that is cocoa. Futures prices for the commodity have melted up by almost 150% this year alone, to a ne

Stock slumps 8.5% after US market closed on MondayCloud and overall revenue came in shortCEO flags ?astronomical rate? of demand, but challenges awaitA 15% rally since late October is starting to unravel for software database giant Oracle (ORCL:NYSE) after its cloud growth showed further signs of slowing.Oracle?s cloud revenue jumped 25% to $4.8 billion, but that was down from 30% in the previous

Database and software giant a major player in new AI worldPowerful innovation at heart of investment story$15-plus billion revenue boost over next few yearsIt's been a quite a ride for Oracle (ORCL:NYSE) this year, shares in the database monster rallying 22% so far even after September's sharp rebasing. That's twice the return of the S&P 500 although not quite as strong as the Nasdaq Composite's 2

Firm's AI potential underappreciated by investors, claims analyst'Outsized allocations' to Nvidia chips relative to sizeStock has rallied 44% year-to-dateEnterprise database giant Oracle (ORCL:NYSE) has been handed another analysts boost after UBS said it believes there's still significant room for the company's AI (artificial intelligence) story to unfold.Shares in the Silicon Valley software fir

You have almost certainly never heard of RC365 (RCGH). The payments business joined London's Main Market in March 2022, raising £2 million at 6.2p per share for a £6.7 million market cap. Fifteen months on, the share price has surged more than 2,000% to 154p. The stock is up more than 600% since the start of June this year.Why? Because last month it jumped into the AI (artificial intelligence) s

There is no hotter area to invest in today than artificial intelligence, or AI as it is commonly known. Ever since OpenAI's ChatGPT took the world by storm, investors have been racing to find winners from this explosive trend.Corporate leaders, meanwhile, have been scrambling to prove to investors that they are harnessing the technology to drive revenue growth, improve operational efficiency, and

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

Shares in private equity and venture capital firm Oakley Capital Investments (OCI) jumped over 7% to 408.5p following the announcement of a better than anticipated year-end trading update.Net asset value increased by 21% in the second half of 2021, whilst the full year the return was 35%.During the year, 76% of the increase in the portfolio's value was driven by EBITDA (earnings before interest, t

Home improvement retailer Kingfisher (KGF) continues to take share in a booming market for DIY products and has upgraded its full year profit outlook following a good start to the fourth quarter.However, the shares fell 4.4% to 322.5p as investors focused on a 2.4% third quarter like-for-like sales decline. B&Q's same-store revenues reversed 5.6% as the FTSE 100 retailer lapped strong, pandemic-bo

Shares in private equity investment trust Oakley Capital Investments (OCI), edged higher following the announcement of a $35 million investment in Seedtag, a leader in contextual advertising in EMEA and Latin America.This deal is in line with Oakley's focus on areas with structural growth prospects. Oakley is focused on three sectors: technology, education and consumer.It targets businesses and su

There are many options for an investor wanting to put their money to work right around the world.Even if you've narrowed it down and decided to go for an investment trust instead of an open-ended active fund or a passive exchange-traded fund (ETF), choosing the trust for you can still seem a daunting task, particularly when there are 15 of them in the Association of Investment Companies' (AIC) glo

The number of deals involving stocks being bought by third party investors from the troubled Woodford Equity Income Fund (BLRZQ73) is picking up pace.Dealing in the fund is currently suspended while fund manager Neil Woodford restructures the portfolio, selling the most illiquid holdings and reducing exposure to many other stocks in an effort to raise cash to meet redemptions and be able to increa

Dire weather kept the nation's dwindling band of DIY enthusiasts at home in the first quarter to 30 April, says home improvement giant Kingfisher (KGF), causing group like-for-like sales to slump 4%.After falling early on, shares in the B&Q-to-Castorama chain owner trade 1.8p higher at 297.2p as investors pin their hopes on progress with the company's ONE Kingfisher transformation plan.BEAST FROM

Is it bad practice for an investment trust to raise money by issuing new shares priced at a premium to net asset value (NAV)? It's an interesting question given that several trusts have recently asked shareholders to pay more for assets than they are worth in order to provide more money to make further investments.The concept of issuing new shares at a premium to underlying value might seem odd if

Gold producer Centamin (CEY) has started to give the Egyptian government a share of its profits from the Sukari mine earlier than expected.The miner previously indicated it would start payments in the first half of 2017. That's been brought forward to October this year as a result of strong production, lower costs and a higher gold price.HOW THE DEAL WORKSIt will pay 40% of free cash flow to the g

Two big catalysts for Amara Mining (AMA:AIM) over the coming months could ease investors' nerves over fundraising requirements and prove its two growth projects are economic at lower gold prices.An optimisation study on its Sierra Leone-based Baomahun gold deposit is expected by the end of January. This could reveal up to a 40% reduction in the capital expenditure needed to get the mine into produ

CSR alters focusAfter the axing of its flagging cameras business earnings quality should improve at connectivity semiconductor designer CSR (CSR). Some analysts have already raised profit estimates for 2014 despite the implied $20 million cut to revenues next year, as $30 million of operational costs are also stripped out. (SFr)Amara put to test A large resource upgrade at the Yaoure gold project

Risk-tolerant investors might like to cultivate a stake in palm oil developer DekelOil (DKL:AIM). A forthcoming mill construction update should be encouraging while the firm could move into sustainable revenues and cashflow generation at the start of next year.Overlooked by the market after its spring Aim debut (18 Mar) DekelOil is the 51%-owner and operator of an established and vertically integr

Diversification across the strongest stocks in the best-placed economies is one of the cornerstones of successful global investing and as such, no portfolio would be complete without partial exposure to fast-growing emerging and frontier markets. In the fourth of our eight-part series, we examine the investment credentials of Africa and the Middle East.In line with the FTSE All-World geographic we

We are bullish on prospects for the mining sector in 2013. Equities look to have fully priced in bad news, in the shape of weaker commodity prices and lower earnings. Turmoil caused by higher costs, demand shocks and tougher capital markets is forcing miners to rethink the way they do business, for the better. This could result in positive earnings and cashflow surprises and therefore higher share