Our portfolio of picks for 2024 is off to a solid start in what proved an uneven first quarter for the stock market as a whole.Our return of 9% is comfortably ahead of our FTSE All-Share benchmark at 3.9%. It?s a tale of feast and famine, however, with half of our selections achieving double-digit gains while 40% are in the red.THE BIG WINNERSAt the end of 2023, shares in biotech specialist Purete

Energy services firm Hunting (HTG) is in the midst of a transformation which we think continues to be underappreciated by the market. The company has historically been heavily reliant on US onshore rig activity and is coming to the end of a restructuring process aimed at rebuilding profit after a difficult period in the wake of the pandemic.Evidence of its recovery should come through early in 202

AdobeIt may look like odd timing to back Adobe (ADBE:NASDAQ) just after lukewarm guidance, but we think this is a great opportunity.The creative digital software firm called for fiscal 2024 earnings per share of $17.60 to $18 on $21.3 billion to $21.5 billion revenue, a little light compared with the consensus of $18 and $21.7 billion revenue respectively.The shares plunged 7%, which seemed harsh

A combination of a favourable commodity price backdrop and positive operational progress has helped energy services firm Hunting (HTG) to a 20% share price gain in the past six months.As chief executive Jim Johnson explained to Shares an investor day on 13 September was intended to demonstrate to the market the business was about more than its flagship Titan product. This perforating gun is used t

UK is the best performing major market this monthFTSE 100 aided by big oil-price gains and weak poundFTSE 250 flat on the monthFor most major markets September has been something of a washout with the S&P 500 index losing 4%, the Nasdaq 100 off 4.5% and Germany's DAX down 3%.A key driver of weakness has been the relentless rise in bond yields, which hit their highest levels since 2007 in the US wi

Hunting (HTG) 208pLoss to date: 26.6%We flagged the appeal of energy services firm Hunting (HTG) at 283.5p in September 2022 as a means of playing a rebound in spending by the sector off the back of strong oil and gas prices. Hunting is particularly exposed to rig activity in North America.WHAT HAS HAPPENED SINCE WE SAID TO BUY?At first, our hypothesis proved on the money as in both operational a

After a big stumble for the shares earlier in 2022 now is an opportune time to snap up oil services business Hunting (HTG) given an encouraging outlook driven by robust commodity prices and a push for energy security.Hunting derives more than 70% of its revenue from providing equipment and services for use in drilling oil and gas wells. Its flagship product is its Titan perforating gun, a device u

The FTSE 100 finished 0.2% higher at 7,087.55 points on Tuesday with banks and housebuilders lending support.However food delivery platform Just Eat Takeaway.com (JET) was the biggest riser on the blue chip benchmark, bid up 3.4% to £68.40 as investors bet it would benefit from a surge in orders as consumers settled on sofas to watch the Euro 2020 clash between England and Germany.A decline in st

London's FTSE 100 was up 0.25% at 7,090.71 points by lunchtime on Tuesday, led by gains across sectors including banking, tobacco and beverages.A 0.3% decline in sterling against the US dollar to $1.3839 benefited some FTSE stocks with large US dollar earnings including CRH (CRH) and Ferguson (FERG).Housebuilders were lifted by the latest Nationwide house price index, which surged 13.4% in June co

UK stocks made steady progress on Tuesday with the FTSE 100 index gaining 22 points or 0.3% to 7,095 points on positive news for house builders.In contrast, Asian markets slipped overnight as global sentiment weakened on concerns that new coronavirus outbreaks in the region could hamper a recovery.Sterling remained in the doldrums, trading a $1.3860 against the dollar, while gold was not far off i

Travel operator TUI (TUI) is to lose its place in the FTSE 100 after its recent share price slump made it too small to qualify for the blue chip index.Index provider FTSE Russell reshuffles the FTSE 100 basket every quarter, ejecting any stock whose ranking drops below 110, and promoting into the index any that ranks 90 or higher.TUI shares have fallen by 42% year-to-date as investors worry that t

WHAT'S IN THIS ARTICLE?We'll run through the reasons why stocks have fallen, compare this sell-off to previous market corrections and consider why certain companies have been affected more than others.We will also look at the stocks that have risen in value during the market turmoil and finally we choose three shares to consider buying as long as you understand that their prices could easily fall

The basic principle of value investing is buying stocks on low valuations and waiting for them to re-rate. Warren Buffett calls it buying a dollar of earnings for 50 cents, or in the case of UK stocks buying £1 of assets for 50p. In theory this makes a lot of sense; in practice, it's far from simple and in today's market not a lot of stocks sell for 50p on the pound.Value investing has been out o

London's FTSE 100 gave up 26.8 points to trade at 7,304.5 early on Tuesday, dragged lower by supermajor BP (BP.), ongoing domestic election uncertainties as well as a further slowdown in house price growth which weighed on large cap builders Berkeley (BKG), Barratt Developments (BDEV) and Taylor Wimpey (TW.).Oil major BP softened 3.9p to 508.1p after reporting a sharp drop in third quarter 'underl

UK stocks start Thursday trading on the front foot buoyed by a firm showing for US markets overnight, offsetting more trade tariff tightening that will see the US impose an extra $300bn burden on Chinese goods by the end of the year.The pound continues its decline as investors worry about Brexit no-deal implications, although comes as a boon for the FTSE 100, sidestepping the swathe of mid cap sto

Oil services company Hunting (HTG) has reported deteriorating trading in the fourth quarter and management is becoming increasingly downbeat on 2019.That's enough to send shares in the company down 3.5% in early trading to 495.5p.Peers including Wood Group (WG), Petrofac (PFC) and Weir (WEIR) are also on the back foot as investors perceive the rpoblems to be industry-wide, not company specific. Th

The FTSE 100 is a bit lower this morning, down 0.2% to 6,832.58 on continuing uncertainties linked to global trade and Brexit.But there is only one place to start this morning and that is with the shockwaves being sent through the retail sector by a major profit warning from online fashion firm ASOS (ASC:AIM).Shares in the company plunge 37.8% to £26.02 as it reveals that for the current financia

Oil services business Hunting's (HTG) first half results reflect the improved industry backdrop created by rising oil prices.Restoring the dividend and swinging from last year's interim loss to a decent pre-tax profit of $38.9m helps support a 10.9% share price advance to 841p. Although the return of the dividend was expected, the promised payment of $0.04 is ahead of the $0.02 penciled in by anal

The FTSE 100 is down 48 points to 7,514 as positive trading in the US fails to cross the pond to the UK. As the pound continues to make gains against the dollar, the overseas earning constituents of the main index feel the strain.FTSE 250 staffer Hays (HAS) is down 2.7% to 197.35p on release of its full year results. The company's pre-tax profits grew by 17% to £238.5m and raised its core and spe

The tables featured in this article give you the perfect starting point to swot up on stocks during the summer lull and before the market kicks back into gear in the autumn.We've pulled together five data-driven snapshots that should help drive idea generation for all investors whether or not your focus is on value, growth or income.LOW PE CANDIDATES (PRICE TO EARNINGS)The widely-used PE ratio is