Quindell’s shares rose strongly on Monday after a trading update reassured investors that a further cash call would not be necessary this year and showing a strong rise in revenues. After rising as high as 245p on this news, the shares are back at 194p after a series of negative articles

African focused oil explorer and FTSE 100 constituent, Tullow oil, isn’t having much luck recently and as a result its shares are languishing at £7.69, just over their 52 week low.

Global mining companies responded positively this morning to the news that China’s economy grew by 7.5% in the second quarter of 2014, in line with the full year forecast given by the Chinese government and ahead of the first quarter and consensus estimates of a 7.4% growth.

After rallying in the last couple of months from around the $1240 a troy ounce level in early June, gold has been under pressure this week, dropping over $30 or 2.3% on Monday as speculators took the yellow metal off the table in the face of fears about the demand for physical gold in Asian markets and whether central banks will continue buying after adding around 180 tonnes in the period between January and May.

Insurance services group, Quindell (QPP), seems to have put the shorters including Gotham City on the back foot this morning with the shares rising as much as 25% as it reassured investors with a trading update.

After several months of talks it seems that the deal for US tobacco giant Reynolds to buy fellow tobacco company Lorillard is on the verge of going through in a $56 billion combination. Reynolds is the number two player in the US, whilst Lorillard is third.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has finally suspended trading in an obscure company called CYNK Technology today. CYNK has risen an astounding 36,000% at one point since mid-June this year on hype and media speculation making it a $6 billion company at its peak share price.

After the financial turmoil of 2008 and 2009 investors seem to have a short memory when it comes to the financial institutions in the so called PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain) countries. Today the calm has been broken. The markets fell heavily today as one of Portugal’s biggest banks came a cropper with shares in Banco Espírito Santo (BES) dropping heavily…

After weeks of relying on economic data and the words of the world’s central banks to give an idea of the likely direction of the financial markets the focus is now switching to US corporate profitability with the beginning of the second quarter earnings season.

Gotham City Research bagged another scalp yesterday with news that Spanish target, Gowex, had filed for bankruptcy. Owners of shares in Quindell will know Gotham well after it published a series of allegations in April 2014 and the shares fell over 4% yesterday and are down a further 3% today to 198p.