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The Fate of BP - Royal Dutch Shell plc .com

…if prices remain in the region of $60 per barrel, then the current scenario would be retained for a longer period of time, exposing it to takeover bids. Also, if Royal Dutch does indeed takeover BP, it could work out well for both companies. Extracts from an article published by GuruFocus.com on 30 Dec 2014 under the headline: British Petroleum Is A Buying Opportunity To Explore With “Sudden Dips”  British Petroleum remains a buy, despite being a size lower than some of its competitors mentioned above. Its market capital of £74.6 billion ($116.5 billion) is dwarfed in terms of Royal Dutch Shells £208 billion ($323.85 billion), which might put it at risk considering the strategic issues at hand. With the uncertainly looming over the entire industry, experts feel that the company might be unsafe as a medium term investment, but there are clues to express otherwise.
According to sources like Forbes and IB-Times, Royal Dutch could be in the race to bid for some of the British oil major’s assets, which might sweep ion a new wave of optimism, putting in a position of a being a “buy” company. But since no confirmation has yet come through, there isn’t a credible source of attributing optimism for a price rise for BP shares on an immediate basis.
Conclusive thoughts
The first two quarters of 2015 will determine the fate of British Petroleum. If oil prices stabilize to around the $80 per barrel price bracket, British Petroleum might experience more stability, would perhaps be able to control capital expenditures more systematically, and may not also have to incur the higher the high attrition it is doing currently, and also feel easier to pay sizable dividends to its shareholders. But if, prices remain in the region of $60 per barrel, then the current scenario would be retained for a longer period of time, exposing it to takeover bids.
Also, if Royal Dutch does indeed takeover BP, it could work out well for both companies. The reason is, from profits to costs, everything would be shared, and with the current scenario, lesser costs would mean better margins for both the companies. Comparing Royal Dutch in terms of size, their buying into BP would send their shares into a rally for a short duration of time, which if capitalized upon, will cement its position as a “buy” for some time in the future. Hence, investors should stay calm and keep watching the future moves of BP.
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RELATED: BP ON A RESTRUCTURING SPREE

ISIS Is World Richest Terrorist Group In History: Forbes Reports - International Business Times AU

The ISIS, also called ISIL, is the wealthiest terrorist group worldwide and in history, according to Forbes Israel's list of ten richest militant groups. ISIS is raking annual revenue of $2 billion yearly - the figure being closer to $3 million daily, Forbes Israel estimates.
Through this money, ISIS is able to expand its activities across the Middle East, including funding its recruitment process and its training efforts for new members.  According to the report from Forbes Israel, ISIS is obtaining this amount of money from donations, charities and in some cases by government agencies. Just like companies and big organisations, ISIS is not without expenditures, Forbes Israel notes. The ISIS spends for maintenance of its facilities, salaries of officials, training and purchase of weapons and vehicles.
Hamas ranks second with its annual income amounting to $1 billion. Forbes Israel said the group's takeover of Gaza in 2007 brought these much money to the group. Aside from donations, Hamas is reportedly amassing taxes from both civilians and big corporations. Forbes Israel also alleged that Hamas is receiving percentage from all international aid given to Gaza by Arab countries and by different countries across the world.
Terrorists group are also purportedly connected to drug trafficking syndicates, robberies and extortion activities according to Forbes Israel. These groups have business schemes and models similar to how large corporations are creating their financial plans, Forbes said as translated in English by Haaretz.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC comes in third place with its annual revenue amounting to $600 million. In fourth place is Hezbollah with $500 million annual income, Taliban comes in at number five with $400 million and Al-Qaeda comes in at number six with $150 million.
The Pakistan based Lashkar e-taiba lands at number seven with $100 million yearly income. The group was said to be responsible for the fatal Mombai bombing in 2008. Al-Shabab from Africa lands at number eight with $70 million a year. At number nine is real IRA or the Volunteers of Ireland with $50 million a year. Lastly, at number ten is Nigeria's Boko Haram with $25 million annual revenue.
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(Photo: Reuters / Leonhard Foeger)
A Kurdish protester sits behind a sign reading " STOP ISIS terror" in front of the United Nations headquarters in Vienna October 9, 2014. A group of Kurdish people living in Austria are on hunger strike since Monday in solidarity for Syrian Kurds who are fighting to defend the Syrian-Turkey border town of Kobane from Islamic State militants.
This article is copyrighted by IBTimes.com.au, the business news leader

Why Is It So Cold And Snowy In November? Blame Global Warming - International Business Times

The first major Northeastern snowstorm of the season dumped five feet of snow in some areas of upstate New York and record low Nov. 19 temperatures were shattered in many states Tuesday, kicking off what many forecasters say will be a tough winter for much of the country. Shifting weather patterns caused in large part by global warming -- which causes changes in air pressure and other dynamics that drive air to flow differently -- were a key cause of Tuesday’s staggering snowfall in Buffalo and other areas of upstate New York near the Great Lakes, according to Thomas C. Peterson, a principal scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Climatic Data Center.
“The cold air came down from Canada so early in the year, so the Great Lakes were still so warm,” Peterson, who also serves as president of the World Meteorological Organization’s Commission for Climatology, said. “If the same cold air came in January, the Great Lakes would’ve been a lot colder than they are now in November, so now in November is when we’re getting all these really heavy lake-effect snows from this storm.”
Evidence shows that as global average temperatures rise, the phenomenon causes changes in weather patterns that are leading to colder winters in localized areas of the world, such as the much-publicized “polar vortex” that brought cold northern air to much of the U.S. last year and is being echoed this week. Monthly global average temperatures have been higher than the 20th century average for each of the past 355 months, and September was the warmest September globally since such records were first kept in 1880, according to NOAA.
“Because it’s warmer it also affects atmospheric patterns in the jet stream, how the jet stream moves across the U.S. … The jet stream is diverging way up into Canada, where it’s very cold, and after the northerly turn it takes a southern dip,” John M. Zobitz, a mathematics professor at Minnesota’s Augsburg College who specializes climate change, said. “As the temperature changes, you’re going to change patterns of precipitation and some places are going to end up being wetter on average than what they have been and some are going to be drier.”
That means just because Americans are feeling the chill this week, that does not mean that people in other places around the world have not experienced temperature spikes that, when combined with any isolated areas of low temperatures, average out to an overall pattern of a warming globe.
“Yes, the globe is warming in temperature, but that means some places are warm a lot more, and some places are sometimes colder,” Zobitz said. “We happen to be on the cold side of that right now, and no matter how you want to slice and dice it, that’s the reality.”
In what has become something of a holiday tradition, the early round of severe wintry weather has been met by a chorus of global warming deniers crowing about how snow and freezing winds demonstrate that climate change is little more than a liberal hoax.
“Global warming strikes America! Brrrr!” U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, a Missouri Republican, joked Tuesday via Twitter, echoing similar sentiments by climate skeptics from all walks of life.
But most climate experts and scientists say that such jibes and declarations should be ignored, as the science in fact shows that the Earth continued to heat up this year. The snowstorms and cold spell that befell the nation Tuesday may seem to provide a counterpoint to that fact, they say, but just because there is snow in November doesn’t mean that climate trends show anything less than a steady rise in average global temperatures.
“If it’s cold in the small area where you may live, that doesn’t disprove global warming, and if it’s hot that doesn’t prove global warming,” Peterson said. “If you want to look at global warming, you want to look globally and at global averages. And as for global averages this year, I’d be very surprised if 2014 is not the warmest on record. It’s currently the warmest to date as of October, and something very strange would have to happen for it to not be the warmest year on record.”
Facts like these go against the narrative pushed by energy companies, conservative think tanks and right-leaning politicians and others who seek to discredit global warming and climate change.
One such organization is the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, a conservative Christian think tank that has denied the existence of global warming. The group argued in a 2009 statement called "An Evangelical Declarati

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