HannamariaH/iStock via Getty ImagesForeword This article is based on two January Barron’s Weekly articles aimed at revealing 36 select stocks for the New Year 2024. Those two articles were: Interest rates will come down, but [Barron’s] panelists don’t see another magnificent year for stocks. Eight picks to beat the odds. With a few exceptions, the members of the 2024 Barron’s Roundtable expect the stock market to disappoint, with the index delivering returns of minus-5% to plus-5% for the full year. No, ...

The energy market remains volatile, especially the trade in crude oil. After running up to $120 a barrel in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine, the price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, the U.S. benchmark, fell about 10% in 2023 during a difficult year. So far in 2024, prices continue to fluctuate amid geopolitical conflicts and demand concerns, notably in China. Currently, WTI crude oil is trading just above $76 per barrel. The price volatility has pl ...

BP Plc (BP) intends to keep the Whiting refinery closed for up to three weeks as it grapples with the aftermath of a plant-wide power outage at its Indiana refinery.The Whiting refinery, with a capacity to process 435,000 barrels of crude daily, holds a pivotal position as the largest refinery in the Midwest and BP’s largest in North America.The sudden halt in operations following the Feb 1 power outage has prompted extensive inspections of units and piping to assess damages and identify the root cause of t ...

BP logoSOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty ImagesPerhaps conscious of being a share performance laggard among its peers, integrated energy giant BP (LON: BP) recently came out fighting despite posting lower annual profits.Having fallen behind rivals such as Shell, Chevron and ExxonMobil, not just in terms of returns but valuation as well, and batting away embarrassing market chatter of being a somewhat implausible takeover target, the company's CEO Murray Auchincloss appeared in fine fettle at the unveiling o ...

The benchmark S&P 500 index is at a record high and on the cusp of closing above 5,000 for the very first time. While the index is comprised of the 500 largest publicly traded companies in America and is viewed as a diverse collection of both small and large cap stocks, its gains continue to be driven by a small group of technology companies, most of whom are leaders in the area of artificial intelligence (AI).The majority of stocks in the index continue to lag its overall performance. So lopsided is the cu ...

A pension fund managing more than £200 billion has sold all its shares in BP PLC (LSE:BP.) and Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL) as it believes the oil and gas giants are not reducing emissions fast enough. PFZW, the Dutch pension fund, revealed it sold its £2.4 billion shareholding in some 300 oil and gas companies over the last two years. “During this period, dialogue with oil and gas companies was significantly intensified to encourage them to produce verifiable transition plans that support the goal of th ...

With the U.S. economy running at full steam and the labor market continuing to impress onlookers, the concept of value stocks might not be the most popular idea. After all, many of the usual suspects of 2023 are still printing strong returns. However, just for prudence sake, it might be a good idea to consider some bargain opportunities.For one thing, the market always goes through an ebb and flow. Just because everybody’s betting on the same horse doesn’t necessarily mean that the horse will win. Further, ...

Shareholder returns among the oil majors are back in the spotlight. By Jefferies’ estimations, Shell is projected to buy back up to 50% of the company by 2030- that’s £80 billion at current prices. The oil major’s decision to keep quarterly buybacks at $3.5 billion means it is projected to return 42% of its cash flow from operations to shareholders, comfortably above its 30-40% policy range when including dividends. This should be seen “as a commitment to maintaining a stable distribution level”, said analy ...

Wirestock Holding Steady In A Tougher Environment Since 2020, BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) has been pursuing a strategy to transform from an "international oil company" to an "integrated energy company" in their words. With the world not going green as fast as BP's management originally thought, the company pivoted slightly one year ago to be less aggressive in ramping down oil and gas production while still planning to grow renewable energy capacity. It's been six months since I last covered BP, rating it a Buy. At ...

BP plc (BP) has reported fourth-quarter 2023 adjusted earnings of $1.07 per American Depositary Share on a replacement-cost basis, excluding non-operating items. The bottom line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.09 and declined from the $1.59 reported a year ago.Total quarterly revenues of $52,586 million lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $59,530 million and declined from the $70,356 million reported in the year-ago quarter.Lower realizations of commodity prices led to weak quarterly results.BP ...