The most-read non-Tom non-Quiz article this week is What does the ruling in favour of Iraq potentially mean for companies operating in Kurdistan? Share suspensions tomorrow? by Gary Newman at No 1 or No 1 including Bearcasts.

Oil has been showing signs of weakness in recent months after hitting highs of nearly $140/barrel – for Brent – earlier this year, and has suffered over concerns about the economic situation in many countries in the coming months.

Having spent the Woodford years attacking the chap who exposed disgraced fund manager Neil, while giving Mr Woodford a free pass, the organisation that claims to stand for private investors continues to mislead folks about claims against Woodford, or rather his ACD, Link.

Hello, Share Squeakers. The most interesting focus at the moment for share shifters like us is the price of oil. It’s reaching new highs. And that is despite that growing green campaign against the use of fossil fuels.

As long as you are prepared to accept a degree of geo-political risk, then I find it very hard not to like Genel Energy (GENL) at the current share price.

Oil prices have taken an absolute battering this week, but I suspect that what we have seen is somewhat of an over-reaction.

Hello Share Pilers. I’m going to stick my neck into dangerous custard and suggest that you might look into a share which may have given you kittens in the past. It’s Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP). I have a holding which has decayed over the years to be worth a lot less now.

When SOCO International (SIA) announced a possible merger the market seemed to take the news well, but ever since then the share price has been on the slide and it looks like this could be a good buying opportunity.

Monetary policy influences all financial markets as well as the cycles in the economy and no US president wants to have to run for re-election when the stock market and economy are turning down.

Today my friend Malcolm has stated that he is giving £1,000 to three Charities helping folks in the Calais Jungle as they wait to (illegally) enter Britain. He urges you to donate and you can read his article HERE. But I urge Malcolm to cancel his cheque and for no-one to give a cent to the Charities because what Malcolm says is just plain wrong. Malcolm means well but is naive and poorly researched.

Geo-political instability can make investments far more risky, but alongside that you will often find the potential for large returns with companies which look undervalued based upon their fundamentals.

The sort of folk who not only believe every word that the war criminals Blair and Straw say about Iraq but are also lobbying the BBC to have Chris Evans appointed as the new presenter of Top Gear, are heavily concentrated on the shareholder list at Cloudtag (CTAG), an AIM listed company that is almost insolvent and whose valuation is a joke. Its shareholders are possibly the stupidest folks I have encountered on twitter with the possible exception of the England soccer team.

Everyone is expecting oil to flood onto the market if the US agrees a deal on the Iranian nuclear programme and eases sanctions on Iran. I read that Iran is storing 30 million barrels of oil at sea as sanctions keep a lid on sales. I am quite sure that Iran has 30 million barrels of oil at sea but for those people who believe that Iran has meekly shut in production because of sanctions, well for you I have a bridge at the bottom of my garden which I would love to sell you.

In this week’s financial video postcard Tom Winnifrith discusses how the mood of investors is changing as the stockmarket falls to new year lows. Delusion, becomes denial becomes acceptance becomes anger. 

Today could be an eventful day! UKIP has gained its first elected MP, and yesterday stockmarkets took a sharp fall around the world (the two are not connected)!

Hello Share Wavers. There is a lot of dithering in the share market at the moment. We still can’t break through the glittering 7,000 barrier. We keep getting knocked back by various events which should not really affect share buying at all.

Hello Share Polishers. Dragon Oil (DGO) is a bit of a scary share to be honest. Though the price is holding up well, despite some slightly worrying aspects.

I just finished speaking with Gulf Keystone (GKP) CEO John Gerstenlauer and he has confirmed that the skilled technicians required to complete the final hook up of Shaikan 10 are flying to Kurdistan from Canada this week. In Mr Gerstenlauer’s words “we are still on track for 40,000bopd by the end of the year”. Hitting this target, by the self-imposed deadline, will be a significant milestone for Gulf. The company has been criticised in the past for slippages. In meeting the 40,000bopd goal this could go a long way to proving to the market that this business is finally on the cusp of fulfilling its vast potential. Mr Gerstenlauer is clearly confident of this being achievable subject to the security situation remaining stable.

Ben Turney wrote HERE that he gave Gulf Keystone (GKP) the benefit of the doubt after its analysts presentation last week. I do not.

The management of Bellzone Mining (BZM), a company henceforth known as Bellend Mining, has put its own interests ahead of those of shareholders. It continues to do so. And it is not telling investors everything. Oh No. What follows is more nauseating than Tony Blair explaining how he brought peace to Iraq.

President Obama has now ordered his warplanes to bomb some ISIS Islamofascist loons off to a place where they get to meet 72 virgins.  He is now off on a 2 week golfing holiday. If you think that this will save the Kurd oil plays in London - Genel (GENL) and Gulf Keystone (GKP) here is why you are wrong.

It now looks like the recent weakness in Gulf Keystone’s (GKP) share price has been caused by not one, but two civil wars. I covered events in northern Iraq a fortnight ago, yet it is boardroom infighting that is once again the greater concern. Greed does funny things to people and it is high time the directors of Gulf grew up and got their acts together. Failing that, they should just take off their shirts and go and wrestle in the car park until one side cries uncle. Anything would be better than having to watch this never-ending struggle for control of the company.

It would appear that inside the callousness and murderous propensities of the latest Islamic terrorist group ISIS, there seems to be some kind of business like brain. We were first alerted to that by the FT, when it published its last annual report for its financial donors and backers evidently in the Gulf and Saudi Arabia. But could a surprise beneficiary of the militants’ entrepreneurialism be International Airline Group (IAG)?

There is a bit of current interest in Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) that is worth some comment. The shares now priced 2430p (last seen) have not only broken out from a recent sideways moving trading range (approximately 2340p -2370p) but have also reached new territory; not only that, they also reached at 2433p, their highest point  in five years.. The share price has climbed by 15% this year; handsomely beating the All Share Index, which only managed a rise of 7%. Over the last month, when the FTSE 100 hardly budged, Royal Dutch Shares clocked a 3% increase which has taken them to this peak.

Hello Share Shakers: I am heavily invested in oil companies. This is partly due to laziness. They are fairly easy to research. I check how much they hold in reserve first.

It is entirely reasonable that rational, thinking people should worry about markets when they are looking fully valued in conventional terms. Particularly so, when they appear to have fallen into a kind of stupefied slumber, which contrast with the St Vitas dance of normal market hyper activity. Nothing, it seems, can ruffle these markets. Whether it is some mind blocking malady of perception or an expression of clear headed market judgement, is of course the question?

Tom Winnifrith returns to record his weekly financial video postcard ahead of a trip to the grim North to see the Mother-in-law. Some folks have all the luck. In this video Tom looks forward to an intense week of shareholder activism with particular reference to Tern (TERN) and Quindell (QPP)

I probably shouldn’t write this piece. Making personal judgement on geopolitical events inevitably results in oversimplification and, almost certainly, misunderstanding. I’ve never been to Kurdistan, so the truth is I can’t really have any real insight to what on earth is happening over there. However, my money is mine to do with as I please, and I suspect that the current pullback in Gulf Keystone (GKP) will present an excellent buying opportunity.