Another RNS and another shock profits warning from Tesco sending its shares down 7% to below 230p. Sainsbury is also down 4.5% to 290p and Morrisons is down 3% to 180p.

Plenty of news from some of the favourite AIM and small cap LSE oil and gas companies over the last few days.

The MSCI Emerging markets index has had a strong run since a sharp sell off between the end of 2013 and February 2014. Country by country performance in the emerging markets as a whole has been markedly variable with Russia being the stand out poor performer of the so called BRIC…

In February 1998, the key US index the S&P 500 hit 1,000, on the 25th August the index moved through 2,000 for the first time.

It has been a mixed picture for the hedge fund industry in 2014 with Macro funds struggling in particular.

The price of gold fell a staggering 28% in 2013 to finish just over $1200 an ounce, its worst performance since 1981, as investors in exchange traded funds dumped the metal as economic optimism took hold.

Quindell, the insurance claims processor and telematics specialist has had a pretty volatile trading day today. Falling as low as 183p in early deals and now down 8% at 193p after the publication of its interim results for the period ending 30th June 2014.

After the excitement prior to the result of the Darwin East well in April 2012, the subsequent period has been pretty painful for shareholders in the South Falklands basin oil and gas explorer, Borders and Southern (BOR).

Back on 20th June, Zambian focused tailings miner Berkeley Mineral Resources (BMR) which is listed on AIM got investors really excited when it announced that its 100% owned Zambian subsidiary, Enviro Processing Ltd (EPL), has today learnt via the Zambian press that approval for the processing operations at Kabwe has been granted.

After all the geo-political worries of a couple of weeks ago regarding the Ukraine and Iraq, shares are back on the up yet again.