Sunday newspaper share tips

By This Is Money
Updated: 09:07 EDT, 19 January 2010

Each week we round up share tips from the Sunday newspapers.

Read all about it: Share tips on Sunday.

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• Financial Mail's Midas column, which this week rounds up which picks proved the most lucrative in 2009.

Sunday Telegraph

The Sunday Tel rounds up 2009 and boasts that it's policy of going defensive has paid dividends – literally.

Yield plays over the last 12 months included National Grid, Northern Foods, Imperial Tobacco and Primary Health Properties. All of these shares remain buys as we enter 2010, Questor said.

The mining sector has proved lucrative as commodity prices jumped after being oversold last year. Vedanta (up 368%), Centamin Egypt (up 191%), Petropavlovsk (up 67%) and Randgold Resources (up 38%) have been notable success.

A buy stance remains on Russian gold miner Petropavlovsk and Egyptian gold miner Centamin. However, Questor did tip South African ferrochrome producer International Ferro Metals at the wrong time and the shares have plunged by more than 50%.

Investments in the oil sector have also proved good investments, including Tullow Oil, Afren, BP and Dana Petroleum. The oil services sector has proved even more lucrative, with shares in Petrofac up 116% and Cape shares up 226%. The stance on Petrofac shares is hold and Cape shares remain a buy.

Sunday Times

The Inside the City column examines Footsie heavyweight Vodafone. There is a question mark over how the 45% stake in Verizon Wireless – worth around £40bn – will be handled.

Verizon is the US' biggest mobile operator and a sale of part of the stake could free up Vodafone to dish out a dividend – having seen it's own shares move sideways in 2009.

In any case, the Times says, it's a nice problem to have. Buy Vodafone.