HONEYWELL Flour Mills Plc, Vono Products Plc, University Press Plc, e-Transact International Plc, Forte Oil Plc and Vitafoam Nigeria Plc enjoyed investors’ patronage last week to emerge top on the list of top performing stocks.

The federal government’s drive to create jobs for millions of unemployed Nigerians may suffer a huge set back following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) recent directive excluding some essential raw materials from the list of items valid for forex in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange (forex) markets. According to business analysts, this move will in no time lead to the lay-off of over 40, 000 Nigerians who work in the manufacturing sector.

Following the recent announcement by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the level of compliance by Capital Market Operators (CMOs) to the new minimum capital requirement, the Market-wide Implementation Committee has called on the investing public to verify the compliance status of their preferred CMO before patronising them.

Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Standard Alliance Insurance Plc Mr. Bode Akinboye, in this interview elucidates on the giant strides the company is taking to deliver superior services to customers.

E-TRANSACT led the top 10 performers last week with 13.17 percent or N0.32 increase, closing at N2.75 from N2.43 at the beginning of the week. NEM Insurance followed with 7.69 per cent or N0.05 appreciation, closing at N0.70 from N0.65.

Fitch Ratings has declared that reducing reserve requirements to 25 per cent will not add liquidity to the Nigerian banking system because the reduction will not lead to additional Foreign Currency (FC).

Ahead of the last quarter of the year, investors have been advised to be careful of the stocks they buy from the stock market. Shareholders, who spoke with Investors Forum, said that there would be further drop on stock prices occasioned by festive period, just as they advised investors to be beware of their purchases.

As crude oil prices dived lower threatening to dip below $40 a barrel for the first time since the financial crisis of 2008 and notching their longest losing streak since 1986, economies around the world are catching cold. Investors across the world are losing their investment in stock and property owners are also suffering losses as a result of depreciation in currencies. With deepening gloom over demand growth from the world’s second-biggest oil user, and expectations for a significant build-up in surplus oil stocks this year, most oil traders are unwilling to stabilize crude oil prices. The market seems to be stuck in a relentless downward trend.

MoneyGram, in conjunction with Access Bank, has launched a special consumer promo tagged Access Bank MoneyGram Big Splash Promo to reward customers who undertake receive transactions at all branches of the bank between July and December this year.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Akinwumi Adesina, has called for entrepreneurial skills development for profitable agriculture and agribusiness enterprises among African youth.