Oil wells up in TD Direct Investing top ten

"Oil and gas explorers were the most notable new entries this week. Nostra Terra Oil (NTOG) appears as the ninth most popular buy and seventh most popular sell, with a buy:sell ratio of 1.5:1, as TD clients speculated that there would be a results announcement from the two wells currently being drilled by the company. However, old favourites Barclays (BARC) and Lloyds (LLOY) occupied the top buys and sells spots respectively, accounting for almost 46% of all top ten trades as the FTSE 100 dropped slightly to close at 5,655.06 on Friday 4 May.

"BP Plc (BP.) was another newcomer from the oil and gas sector this week, heading straight into second place in the buys table. The British oil giant has received preliminary approval from a court in New Orleans for settlement with private sector plaintiffs over damages arising from the 2010 oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil company's share price reached a high of 443.85p on Wednesday 2 May, but dropped back down to close at 423.67p last Friday (4 May).

"Meanwhile, Kazakhmys Plc (KAZ) entered the buys table in sixth place, as its share price dropped almost 9%, from 864p on Tuesday, 1 May, to 787.8p on Friday, 4 May, following an underground strike by miners in their Annensky mine in central Kazakhstan. Bahamas Petroleum Company PLC (BPC) was another new entrant from the oil and gas sector, appearing in the sells table in tenth after its share price dropped to 7.98p at close on Friday (4 May) amid reports that the Bahamian government had rejected the oil explorer's bid to renew its drilling licences.

"TD customers also seemed to find Tesco Plc (TSCO) a tasty share, entering at ninth place in the sells, during a week which saw competitor Waitrose announce that it would be matching Tesco prices, by launching its "never knowingly undersold" pledge."