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Important information: The value of investments can go down as well as up so you may get back less than you invest. Investors should note that the views expressed may no longer be current and may have already been acted upon. This is a third-party news feed and may not reflect Fidelity’s views.

Tuesday newspaper round-up: BNPL, Unilever, oil prices

(Sharecast News) - The Trades Union Congress has accused the Tory government of promoting a "greed is good" culture among bankers, who it said would be able to "cash in on unlimited bonuses" after a cap on payouts was lifted on Tuesday. The TUC said that while ministers had repeatedly called for pay restraint for most workers, they had been "silent over excess in the City". - Guardian The City regulator has taken action after finding that customers of two leading buy now, pay later providers were "at risk of harm" because of potentially unfair and unclear small print. The US-based online payments group PayPal and the TV shopping channel QVC have changed the terms of their contracts after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) expressed "concern" over the impact to customers. - Guardian

Unilever is freezing its chief executive's salary until 2026 as it tries to calm frustration among shareholders unhappy with the performance of the company which owns Marmite and Ben & Jerry's. Hein Schumacher, who took over from Alan Jope in July, will not get any increase to his fixed pay packet of €1.85m (£1.62m) in 2024 or 2025, Unilever said. - Telegraph

MPs have accused Britain's biggest high street banks of seeking "to do as little as they can get away with" on raising savings rates for customers. The Commons' Treasury select committee stepped up its pressure after quarterly trading reports from banks over the past week and amid continued scrutiny from the financial regulator over their practices. - The Times

Oil prices could surge to a record high of more than $150 a barrel if the Israel-Gaza war escalates into a regional conflict, the World Bank has warned. Brent crude, the global benchmark price, rose from less than $85 a barrel before Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel to exceed $93 a barrel on October 18, amid fears that escalation could result in supply disruption. Prices have receded slightly since and yesterday Brent was 1.7 per cent lower at $86.49. - The Times

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Wednesday newspaper round-up: Amazon, dividends, Weardale Lithium
(Sharecast News) - Amazon profits soared once again in the first quarter of 2024, the company announced on Tuesday - the latest in a series of robust earnings reports for the retail giant. The company attributed the boost to artificial intelligence and advertising sales. Amazon reported overall revenue of $143.3bn in the first three months of the year - up 13% from the same period in 2023 and surpassing Wall Street expectations of $142.65bn. The e-commerce giant reported an increase of more than 200% to $15bn, with net income more than tripling to $10.4bn from $3.17bn at the same time in 2023. - Guardian
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Meta, ExxonMobil, Very Group
(Sharecast News) - The Federal Communications Commission on Monday fined the largest US wireless carriers nearly $200m for illegally sharing access to customers' location information. The FCC is finalizing fines first proposed in February 2020, including $80m for T-Mobile; $12m for Sprint, which T-Mobile has since acquired; $57m for AT&T, and nearly $47m for Verizon. - Guardian
Monday newspaper round-up: Thames Water, Brexit, Babylon
(Sharecast News) - Senior Whitehall officials fear Thames Water's financial collapse could trigger a rise in government borrowing costs not seen since the chaos of the Liz Truss mini-budget, the Guardian can reveal. Such is their concern about the impact on wider borrowing costs for the UK, even beyond utilities and infrastructure, that they believe Thames should be renationalised before the general election. Officials in the Treasury and the UK's Debt Management Office fear that, unless the UK's biggest water company is renationalised as soon as possible, "prolonged uncertainty" about its fate could "damage confidence in UK plc at a sensitive time", with elections in the UK and the US later this year. - Guardian
Sunday share tips: Centrica, Lancashire Holdings
(Sharecast News) - The Sunday Times's Lucy Tobin told her readers to book their profits in Centrica and 'sell'.

Important information: This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment you should speak to one of Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice. When you are thinking about investing in shares, it’s generally a good idea to consider holding them alongside other investments in a diversified portfolio of assets. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.

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