FTSE indices raced higher in early deals on Wednesday after positive sessions on Wall Street overnight and Asia this morning, while key European bourses leap. Blue-chip financials, leisure and retail stocks are enjoying heady gains. Shortly after the open, FTSE 100 is up 50-odd points, or 0.85%, at 6,190, while midcaps make similar gains. But Small cap stocks fail to match the progress of...

Oil prices at record lows have so far failed to put the brakes on investment in the alternative energy sector. Going forward, the macro backdrop points to continued growth and investors have the option of taking a diversified approach using one of the many investment vehicles designed to gain varied exposure to Alternative Energy.This is a wide sector in terms of business segments and...

With oil prices on the way back south again after a recent rally, one might be forgiven for thinking that the timing was wrong for an alternative energy play but some compelling fundamentals at Alkane Energy (ALK:AIM) might prove that supposition wrong.Alkane is an independent energy company with three main businesses. The group divides its attentions between Coal Mine Methane (CMM) which...

The stock market's smallest and riskiest companies have always held fascination for private investors. On the premise that 'elephants don't gallop, but fleas leap,' to borrow Jim Slater's often quoted phrase, it's easier for a tiny company to double its size, and investor's money, than for a big one. Let's face it, a blue chip company worth £1 billion will find it much harder to double or...

At 2pm on 28 October the deadline for submissions to the UK 14th onshore oil and gas licensing round closed. This process is expected to be a litmus test of appetite to get involved in the nascent UK shale gas industry. Investor excitement about UK shale was sparked at the beginning of 2014 (13 Jan) when French major Total (FP:PA) became the first big player to join the search for shale gas,...

Power generation firm Alkane Energy (ALK:AIM) is attracting controversy for using a type of placing which bypasses the need for shareholder approval.On 17 July the company announced it was raising £8 million at 36p (a 9% discount to the previous night's close) to help fund the acquisition of three power response firms. The number of shares to be issued (15.2% of the enlarged share capital)...

Investors seeking opportunities to make multiples of their initial capital outlay should look at micro cap stocks. This is a very high risk part of the market but the potential rewards are proportionately rich. While there's inevitably a lack of the balance sheet strength seen in mid and large caps, it can only take a positive contract win, technical breakthrough or resource discovery to...

Irish charmer Paddy Power (PAP) falls 4.1% to 56.59p as long-standing chief executive Patrick Kennedy announces his plan to step down by next April. David Jennings, analyst at stockbroker Davy, comments: 'Given the group's very impressive track record under his tenure, this is likely to lead to a period of uncertainty for investors with questions in relation to succession and the group's...

Media giant British Sky Broadcasting (BSY) falls 2.4% to 868.5p after confirmingtalks to buy its European sister companies, Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia. Such a move would consolidate Rupert Murdoch's European pay-TV operations. The German and Italy broadcasters are majority owned by 21st Century Fox, itself controlled by Murdoch. Investec says such a deal would be sensible for scale but...

The launch of Apple?s (AAPL) new iPhones yesterday gives UK chip champ ARM (ARM) a 5% lift to 987p, within a whisker of the £10 level Shares flagged in July. The talk is that ARM's new 64-bit A7 processor design in the new iPhone 5S could raise royalties from $0.89 to $1 per handset.Mike Ashley's Sports Direct (SPD) jogs 6.5p higher to 722p early on, as the UK's marketing leading sports...

Growth in online shopping is helping to boost profits at UK Mail (UKM). The delivery group jumped 10.9% to 510p after reporting a 37% rise in pre-tax profit to £17.8 million. The market also liked news that UK Mail would invest in 'significantly increased automation' across its network as this should be a strong driver for volume growth and improved profit margins.Shares in soft drinks...