The five oil supermajors- Exxon Mobil, Chevron, BP, Shell, and TotalEnergies- made a combined $48 billion profit between April and June, helped by higher fossil fuel prices amid hostilities between the US and Iran, following which oil prices went flying to over $100 per barrel.

The companies also generated nearly $90 billion in cash during the quarter, the highest level on record and above the cash generated following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

The strong earnings have also drawn political criticism. US President Donald Trump last week criticised Exxon and Chevron for making “too much money” from higher fuel prices during the Iran war and renewed his call for lower prices at the pump.

Where is the money going?

Much of the additional cash has gone towards building reserves and reducing debt, according to IEEFA’s (Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysts ) Williams-Derry to CNBC. Cash reserves across the five supermajors increased by a little over $17 billion from the previous quarter.

Williams-Derry described the industry’s financial approach as one that relies on periodic price spikes, such as those triggered by the Ukraine and Iran crises, to strengthen finances. He said periods of high prices and fuel shortages provide financial relief after longer stretches of low and stable prices.
CNBC reported that the companies were focusing on areas they can control during the Middle East conflict, including operational performance, trading and optimisation.BP CEO Meg O’Neill said the company was concentrating on reliability across its upstream assets, where it produces oil, as well as its refining operations. She said BP had also changed the way its refineries were operating to maximise the availability of products most needed by consumers, including jet fuel and diesel.

Shell CEO Wael Sawan described volatility as “the new normal” and said higher commodity prices had provided a strong tailwind for the company’s results.

The American Petroleum Institute, which represents about 600 drilling companies, refiners and other industry participants, said oil and gas is a cyclical business that should be assessed over decades rather than quarters. It also opposed calls for a windfall tax on excess profits.

The API said the industry was delivering record production and world-leading refining during one of the biggest global energy disruptions in decades, while continuing to invest in supply, infrastructure and resilience.

On windfall taxes, the lobby group said such taxes would not lower consumer prices and could discourage the long-term investment needed to strengthen supply, infrastructure and energy resilience.

Where is oil headed?

The duration of the supply disruption will be a key factor in determining where oil prices go from here. JPMorgan estimates that every additional month of disruption could add about $7 to $8 a barrel to Brent prices. If the disruption lasts three months, the bank expects average monthly Brent prices to reach around $114 a barrel.

Goldman Sachs has similarly warned that Brent could rise to $120 a barrel if shipping disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil transit route, continue.

Read more: US Iran war: Trump may ditch nuclear deal plan if Tehran reopens HormuzIts base case, however, remains that tensions in the Middle East will eventually ease. In that scenario, Goldman expects Brent to average $80 a barrel in the fourth quarter and $75 a barrel next year. It also cautioned that risks remain tilted to the upside due to the possibility of prolonged disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)

Helen Crowder’s family is linked with Raleigh in a slightly different way.

“We lived in Grantham in the 50s and I was promised a Raleigh bicycle if I passed my 11+ [the exam to get in to grammar school],” she said.

“Luckily I did that and my parents said, ‘right, we’ll have to go to Nottingham’ which was quite an adventure because we had to get the train.

“But I had that bike for a long, long time.

“I was tall, so I got a full-sized bike and I used it through school and my teens and used it when I started work.

“I moved away when I married and I left it with my mother but when we came back I got it again and rode with each of my three children in turn on the back.

“It was a super-strong, well made bike, really excellent and I only had to give it up when it was really worn out.

“I must have ridden it for the best part of 50 years.”

Shares of Cupid dropped over 2% on Monday even after the condom-maker reported a whopping 3x surge in net profit for the April-June quarter of the ongoing financial year 2027.

Cupid’s multibagger shares fell to Rs 256.80 apiece on the NSE. The company on Saturday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 44 crore for the first quarter of FY27, from Rs 15 crore reported in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year. The firm’s revenue from operations rallied 159% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 155 crore during the quarter under review.

EBITDA rallied 265% YoY to Rs 60 crore, while the EBITDA margin improved 1,127 bps to 39% during the first quarter.

Cupid began FY27 with strong momentum across its international B2B healthcare and domestic consumer healthcare and FMCG businesses, supported by healthy execution across key operating segments, it said.

Strong growth in operating income reflects the increasing contribution of its core operating businesses, reinforcing the quality of earnings and the sustainability of its growth trajectory, Cupid said in its press release, adding that it expects sizeable orders across its IVD Kits portfolio from multiple state governments in India, along with significant international opportunities following the receipt of CE certifications.

Several opportunities are in the final stages of the award process, providing a strong near-term growth pipeline, it further said.
Cupid has implemented a minimum 10% price increase across its export portfolio, supporting improved realisations and margin expansion, while a favourable USD/INR environment has supported export realisations, it said. Supported by a strong order book, expanding consumer healthcare and FMCG portfolio, healthy international B2B demand and expectations of robust performance during the second half of FY27, Cupid has increased its FY27 guidance to Rs 725-750 crore in revenue and Rs 210-225 crore in net profit.Also read | FIIs turn buyers after two quarters of selling; 13 stocks rally up to 665%, 5 become multibaggers

What Cupid management said

Looking ahead, Cupid remains focused on disciplined execution, maintaining healthy margins and building a future-ready organisation through continued investments in manufacturing, product innovation, international B2B healthcare and consumer healthcare and FMCG businesses, said Aditya Kumar Halwasiya, Chairman and Managing Director, Cupid.

He believes that these strategic initiatives position Cupid to deliver sustainable long-term growth and create enduring value for all its stakeholders.

Also read | Cupid’s multibagger stock turns Rs 1 lakh investment into Rs 87 lakh in just 3 years

Cupid share price

Cupid shares have gained 14% in a week and 24% in a month, and are overall up 150% in 2026 so far. In the longer term, the multibagger stock has delivered a whopping 683% return over one year, 8,923% in three years and 10,979% in five years.

The company currently has a market capitalisation of more than Rs 35,191 crore.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

LAS VEGAS — The man accused of orchestrating the 1996 killing of rap icon Tupac Shakur went on trial Monday in Las Vegas, nearly three decades after the drive-by shooting that has stood as one of the most notorious unsolved crimes in American music history.

Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, faces a single count of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang in connection with Shakur’s death. Jury selection began Monday before Clark County District Court Judge Carli Kierny and is expected to take about a week, with the full trial projected to run as long as a month, and by some estimates up to six weeks.

Shakur, 25, was fatally shot on September 7, 1996, while stopped at a red light near East Flamingo Road and Koval Lane, about a block off the Las Vegas Strip, after attending a Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon boxing match at the MGM Grand. He died six days later at University Medical Center. The shooting also wounded Death Row Records executive Marion “Suge” Knight, who was driving the car. Knight is now serving a 28-year sentence in a California prison in connection with a separate, unrelated 2015 killing.

Davis has been jailed without bail since his arrest in September 2023 and has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he faces a possible sentence of life in prison. According to court filings and reporting on the case, Davis rejected a plea deal ahead of trial, opting instead to fight the charge despite the risk of a life sentence.

Prosecutors allege Davis was the on-the-ground leader of the group responsible for the shooting and supplied the firearm used in the attack, though the case is not expected to identify who actually fired the shots. Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo has previously described Davis as the “on-ground, on-site commander” who “ordered the death” of Shakur.

What makes the case unusual, legal analysts say, is the near-total absence of traditional physical evidence. There is no murder weapon, no recovered getaway vehicle and no surveillance footage of the shooting. Instead, prosecutors are relying almost entirely on Davis’s own public statements — including his 2019 memoir “Compton Street Legend,” years of podcast and documentary interviews, and statements he gave to police — to build their case.

“In this case, almost all of the evidence the state will seek to introduce, will be to establish the credibility of Defendant’s various accounts of his role in the killing,” prosecutors wrote in a recent court filing.

That reliance on Davis’s own words has created what legal observers describe as an unusual courtroom dynamic: prosecutors will argue that the man they allege is a killer is nonetheless a credible narrator of his own crime, while defense attorneys are expected to portray their client as an unreliable storyteller who fabricated details to help sell books and boost his public profile. Since his arrest, Davis has said his previous accounts were false and were made largely to generate publicity, and he has blamed a co-author for inserting inaccurate information into his memoir.

Marc DiGiacomo has pointed to the irony at the center of the prosecution’s case, noting that Davis’s own public statements are what ultimately led to charges being filed. “Had Mr. Davis never opened his mouth, never written the book,” the case likely would not have resulted in prosecution, he told the court, according to reporting on a pretrial hearing.

Davis’s history with the case dates back decades. He has said publicly, including in his memoir, that he provided the gun used in the shooting to his nephew, Orlando Anderson, who authorities have long believed was the actual gunman. Anderson denied involvement before his death in an unrelated shooting in 1998 and was never charged. Authorities allege the killing was carried out in retaliation for a physical altercation between Anderson and Shakur inside the MGM Grand casino just hours before the shooting.

At the time of his 2023 arrest, Davis, a former high-ranking figure in the South Side Compton Crips street gang, spoke candidly with the arresting officer about the significance of the case. Asked what he was being taken into custody for, Davis responded that it was “the biggest case in Las Vegas history.”

In pretrial rulings, Judge Kierny allowed prosecutors to introduce excerpts from Davis’s book and media interviews at trial, finding that a prior proffer agreement with investigators did not shield his public statements from being used against him. She also permitted prosecutors to use statements Davis made to police during earlier proffer sessions, though she noted some concerns about the legal basis for doing so. The defense had separately sought to suppress interviews Davis gave to police in 2008 and 2009 and to have the jury fully sequestered for the length of the trial; both requests were denied, though the judge did allow for partial sequestration.

Given the intense public interest in the case, the court has implemented a daily seating lottery to manage limited courtroom capacity once the jury is empaneled, and proceedings are expected to be livestreamed, offering the public a rare, largely unfiltered look at testimony and evidence in a case that has captivated hip-hop fans for a generation.

Shakur’s family members have continued to press for accountability in the decades since his death. His stepbrother, Mopreme Shakur, has spoken publicly about the significance of finally seeing the case reach trial after nearly 30 years of unanswered questions.

Once jury selection concludes, both sides are expected to deliver opening statements before witness testimony begins, with the case likely to draw sustained national attention given its cultural significance and the decades-long wait for any resolution in one of the most closely watched unsolved killings in American popular culture.

LOS ANGELES — Actor Scott Eastwood has shared a long-circulating account of how his father, Clint Eastwood, once directed Kevin Costner to leave the set of their 1993 film “A Perfect World” after the younger star remained in his trailer.

Speaking on the “Armchair Expert” podcast hosted by Dax Shepard, Scott Eastwood, 40, described the episode as a “legendary story” from the production. He prefaced the recollection by noting he was paraphrasing and might not have every detail exact.

“Kevin Costner sort of going through maybe, the Kevin Costner rise to fame and maybe got a big ego, you know, blah blah blah, but they were doing ‘A Perfect World,’” Scott Eastwood said. “Apparently, he didn’t want to come out of his trailer for some reason.”

Clint Eastwood directed the crime drama and co-starred as a Texas Ranger pursuing Costner’s character, an escaped convict who takes a young boy hostage. According to Scott, his father preferred to remain on set rather than spend time in a trailer. He recalled his father’s consistent advice while growing up around film productions: “You want to learn how to make movies? You want to learn how to do this? You stay here with everybody else, and you make the damn movie.”

When informed that Costner was not emerging for a scheduled scene, Clint Eastwood responded without raising his voice, Scott said. “Well, send him home then.”

Crew members questioned the decision because Costner was needed for the scene. The director repeated the instruction. According to Scott Eastwood’s account, someone then approached Costner and told him he would be going home for the day.

Costner replied, “What do you mean I’m in the scene?” The response, as Scott recounted it, was: “Well, I guess you’re not anymore. Clint changed that.”

Scott Eastwood said the message appeared to land. “I think the next day he was on set ready to go.”

He emphasized that his father maintained a calm presence on set and did not raise his voice. The story, he suggested, illustrated a clear hierarchy and a practical approach to keeping production moving.

“A Perfect World,” released in 1993, starred Costner in the lead role opposite Eastwood, with Laura Dern also featured. The film follows the relationship that develops between the convict and the boy during their flight, while law enforcement closes in. It was not a major domestic box-office success upon release but performed more strongly internationally and has retained a following among admirers of Eastwood’s work as both actor and director.

Scott Eastwood has spoken previously about the influence of growing up around his father’s sets. He has credited the experience with shaping his own professional standards and giving him an early view of both strong leadership and less productive behaviors in the industry. In earlier interviews he has noted that his father worked to keep the family’s life relatively private and grounded, living outside Los Angeles in Carmel rather than immersing the children fully in Hollywood’s more public aspects of celebrity.

The recent podcast appearance has drawn fresh attention to the 1993 production anecdote. Similar accounts have circulated before. Cinematographer Jack Green, a frequent Eastwood collaborator, recounted a version of events years earlier in which the director instructed the crew to use Costner’s stand-in when the actor was not ready, then continued filming. Green described Eastwood’s preference for capturing performances efficiently and moving forward rather than waiting extensively.

Representatives for Costner were contacted by multiple outlets following Scott Eastwood’s comments and did not immediately provide a response. Costner, who rose to major stardom in the late 1980s and early 1990s with films including “Dances With Wolves,” “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” and “The Bodyguard,” has not publicly addressed the specific recollection in recent days.

Clint Eastwood, now 96, has maintained a long career marked by a reputation for efficient sets, limited takes and a no-nonsense directing style. He has directed dozens of films and continued working into advanced age. Scott Eastwood has built his own acting career with roles in films such as “The Longest Ride,” “Suicide Squad” and more recent projects, while often reflecting on the lessons absorbed from observing his father’s methods.

The story underscores differing approaches to the collaborative and hierarchical nature of film production. One side of the anecdote frames the decision as a straightforward exercise of a director’s authority to keep a schedule intact. The other implies the pressures and adjustments that can accompany a rapid rise in an actor’s profile. Scott Eastwood presented the episode primarily as an illustration of his father’s consistent presence and expectations on set.

“A Perfect World” remains part of Eastwood’s substantial filmography as a director who frequently explores themes of justice, consequence and human connection under pressure. The 1993 production brought together two major stars of the era under Eastwood’s dual role as director and co-lead. Decades later, the recollection shared by his son has returned the collaboration to public discussion, focusing less on the finished film than on the practical dynamics of getting it made.

Scott Eastwood’s account adds a personal dimension to long-standing descriptions of his father’s working habits. By emphasizing presence on set, readiness and the willingness to adjust plans when necessary, the story aligns with broader accounts of Eastwood’s preference for momentum over prolonged delays. Whether the precise sequence matches every prior version of the anecdote, the core elements of authority, efficiency and a subsequent return to work have been consistent across retellings.

As both a family story and a window into 1990s Hollywood production culture, the episode continues to circulate because it captures a moment of quiet decisiveness rather than confrontation. Clint Eastwood’s reported instruction to send Costner home required no raised voice and produced, according to his son, a swift adjustment the following day. For Scott Eastwood, it remains an example of the standards he observed while learning the business from the inside.