Royal Dutch Shell

Legg Mason Capital Management's Sam Peters has said US financials are the cheapest cyclical stocks in the US market and will climb sharply if interest rates increase this year.

Vodafone, BP and some less predictable names including a number of UK housebuilders have been tipped to lead the income tables in 2014.

Shell and HSBC are favourite ideas in £2.7bn Investec fund as gains lag wider market.

BP and Royal Dutch Shell produced mixed results last week, but top managers are returning to the beaten-up oil majors, predicting a focus on shareholder returns instead of "growth at any cost".

Our best read story this week was Halloween-themed, as we revealed the ten scariest stocks in the UK, guaranteed to give you nightmares.

Royal Dutch Shell has seen a $2bn (£1.25bn) drop in third-quarter profits as costs across the business have soared.

COMMODITIES

Shares in Lloyds Banking Group and Jupiter Fund Management soared on Thursday after both groups reported hefty profits in their half-year results.

UK equity income funds are nearing single stock limits on key holdings, causing concentration risk fears to mount, but which funds are taking the biggest bets?

Henderson Global Investors has reopened its UK Absolute Return strategy, managed by ex-Gartmore duo Luke Newman and Ben Wallace, Investment Week can reveal.