A Brief Look At The Week Ahead

Cadbury Schweppes will be a hot topic this week. News last week that its 8bn drinks business is being eyed up by a pair of private equity firms sent the company's shares up. The speculation is that KKR could launch a bid within the next two weeks. The possibility that the entire company could be on the menu has created excitement, though it is understood that such a prospect was suggested as a way to increase the urgency of the drinks disposal. At the company's AGM on Thursday, CEO, Todd Stitzer, will give a trading update, but it does not take a genius to guess what the questions will be about. On Tuesday, Marks & Spencer should wow the City with a performance far surpassing last year. Charles Stanley, the stockbrokers, expects the group to have registered a pre-tax profit of 966m on the year, up from 751m the year before, with growth coming from improving food and merchandise sales and an increase of retail space. Also on the retail front will be Burberry, which reports its annual numbers on Thursday. Analysts are expecting a strong if dull performance. Most of the emphasis from the City will be on the look forward from CEO, Angela Ahrendts. On the property front, British Land and Great Portland Estates will unveil their annual results on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Both are expected to have been major beneficiaries of the UK property boom. British Land, which develops and rents superstore, commercial and office space, is expected to have grown its net asset value to 1,670p per share, up from 1,486p last year. It is likely to be a similar story for Great Portland Estates, for which analysts are expecting net asset value growth from 437p per share to 570p per share. Sugar giant Tate & Lyle will follow with its full-year performance on Thursday. The company should produce a significant gain on last year's 295m in pre-tax profit, with management likely focusing on its plans for Splenda, the artificial sweetener. The company opened a new factory to produce Splenda in Singapore last month, and CEO, Iain Ferguson, will be pressed for details on the group's plans to roll out the product globally. Amongst others in the spotlight this week will be Big Yellow on Monday; Mitchells & Butlers on Tuesday; Experian and EMI on Wednesday and Cable & Wireless; Scottish Power on Thursday and Britvic on Friday. Good hunting! Greystone Thanks, as always to Supermum, Digger and Kyoto for their invaluable input to the Traders Thread (Greystone is Alan English, City Editor at MoneyAM.)

Analysis selection SVE

SVE price 27.50p

Higher for the last two days and it was buys only not one sell

On a rising trend it managed to BREAKOUT late last Friday as Indicators moving up from oversold

NAV at about 50% discount to share price as a couple of stocks have been rising to record level lately

Going 1p X-dividend next Wednesday 23th after selling APP for a record price and doing a bit of buyback at the same time

Chart for SVE

"UPS" (Added by Master RSI on Sun 20 May 05:43 pm)

SGP - Mid 16p
Reason - Last Friday the company made an announcement that " it has received approaches from third parties " rumours where well afoot after rejecting one from Mamma Group July 06 when it was 19p. Share price broke from downtrend and a BREAKOUT the same day as the news

        JOKE OF THE DAY
barbershop
The dentist looked into his patient's mouth and said,
"The only way I can cure your bad breath
is to take out all your teeth."

"Will I be able to sing in the barbershop chorus afterwards?"
asked the patient.

"I don't see why not," replied the dentist.

"Well, I wasn't good enough to sing in it last time I auditioned."


Eating Disorder
A man with a banana stuck in his ear and a green bean stuffed
up each nostril walks into the doctor's office.

The doctor looks at him and asks what he can do for him.

"Doctor, I just haven't been feeling well lately."

"Well, I can see why. You aren't eating right."

Morning all. Friday's market reports:

Telegraph
Telegraph (Bloomberg summary)
The Times
FT
The Guardian
The Independent
This is Money

NIKKEI	AUSTRALIA	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

OUTLOOK - UK companies results for 2 weeks to June 1

Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Hang Seng ended the morning up 85.58 points at 20,990.42,
while the Nikkei was recently up 199.77 points at 17,599.35.

New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, was up
21 cents at $65.15 a barrel after closing at $64.94 in US trading Friday.

Happy trading!

G.

Asian markets summary

Asian economic and corporate news summary

Thomson Financial UK at a glance share guide - weekend

London shares outlook - Firmer after record NY gains Friday; M&A action key

STOCKWATCH BP raised to 'buy', Repsol to 'hold' by ING as it ups Brent forecastsThe Monday Press Roundup

NRK upgraded to neutral from reduce - target 1120 from 1100 - UBS
PDG downgraded to hold from buy - target 121 from 128 - Citigroup
SRP downgraded to hold from buy - target 486 - Citigroup

STOCKWATCH ITV maintained as neutral by JP Morgan, tgt cut to 114p vs 120pThomson Financial UK at a glance share guide

STOCKWATCH Cepsa initiated as 'underweight' by Lehman Bros, target 45 eur/shrAustralian shares close at record high on China gain

STOCKWATCH Northern Rock upgraded to 'neutral' from 'reduce' at UBS, tgt 1,120pTokyo shares close higher on Wall St gains, softer yen

ITV reiterated neutral - target 114 from 120 - JP Morgan

Russians ready to seize back BP's Siberian gas reserves

STOCKWATCH Lonmin upped to 'buy' from 'neutral' at Merrill Lynch, tgt 4,250p

FCD added to Europe 1 List - Merrill Lynch
LMI upgraded to buy from neutral - target 4250 - Merrill Lynch

UK smallcap opening - Nipson Digital Printing slumps after Q1 resultsAustralian shares close at record high on China gain - UPDATE

UK smallcap opening - X-Phonics jumps after Attic Lights licensing dealTokyo shares close higher on Wall St gains, softer yen - UPDATE

UK smallcap opening - Maghreb Minerals firmer as Zriba drilling begins

UK smallcap opening - IX Europe gains as bid hopes excite

FTSE opens slightly lowerUK smallcap opening - ITE Group climbs on demand from core markets

STOCKWATCH Next up after last week's trading update; Seymour Pierce 'outperform'UK smallcap opening - Pantheon gains on Louisiana farm-in agreement

STOCKWATCH Shire firmer on approval news; Bridgewell keeps at 'overweight'STOCKWATCH Bayer up in morning trade after UBS lifts tgt to 66 eur from 63 eur

UK smallcap opening - THUS Group gains as FY loss narrows

RPT UK smallcap opening - THUS Group gains as FY loss narrowsSTOCKWATCH BPM opens lower after clearing merger with BPERUK smallcap opening - PetroLatina Energy down as write-down booked on asset sale

UK smallcap opening - Treatt lower as margin pressure hits profits

UK smallcap opening - Whatman boosted by new distribution agreement

this week Selection SVE is on the move up

SVE 28 - 30p +1.50p

STOCKWATCH National Grid edges higher; Evolution Securities upgrades to 'buy'Metals - LME inventory data (Monday)

STOCKWATCH Seadrill up on contract hopes, conclusion of Eastern Drilling bid

The ones on the move up

SVE 28 - 30p +1.50p
keeps rising on a higher BREAKOUT

MYH 94 - 99p +8.50p
doing well for SVE has a stake

GOC 120 - 124p +2.50p
into a higher BREAKOUT

UK small caps open higher, with Maghreb Minerals firmer on drilling update

OUTLOOK Dairy Crest FY earnings boosted by strong sales of key brands

Metals - Gold flat amid steady dollar, weaker base metals

Metals - Copper recovers from last week's sell off as LME stocks decline

London shares - midmorning features

Metals - Gold flat amid steady dollar, weak base metals UPDATE

STOCKWATCH Anglo American gains with sector; Merrill Lynch ups target to 3,350p

STOCKWATCH Lloyds TSB kept at 'buy' by Deutsche Bank after Registrars sale

Metals - Copper recovers from last week's sell off as LME stocks decline UPDATE

STOCKWATCH Aegon lower as Merrill Lynch downgrade outweighs Barclays deal

STOCKWATCH DSM boosted as UBS ups price target for Germany's Bayer to 66 eurAsian economic and corporate news summary

Metals - Daily global aluminium production rises in April from MarchAsian bourse roundup

STOCKWATCH BG Group jumps; ExxonMobil bid speculation revives; crude higher

US futures look flat

CORRECTION STOCKWATCH Shire firmer; Bridgewell keeps 'overweight', tgt 1,160p

London shares - midday features

Midday Market Roundup

UK small caps higher at midday, with Maghreb Minerals firmer on drilling update

STOCKWATCH Shire flat; FDA approvable letter news for new drug slightly negativePrecious Metals Summary - London AM FixingsWALL STREET OUTLOOK Higher as M&A buoys sentiment; Alltel in 27.5 bln usd buyout

hello all,

we are experiencing some problems with our suppliers.

work is being done to rectify the problem so will hopefully be up and running again soon.

geoff

                LUNCH TIME FUN

OUTLOOK Morrison Q1 LFL sales growth excluding petrol seen around 3.5 pct

Metals - Gold falls below 660 on rebounding dollar, unimpressive copper price

Precious Metals Summary - London PM Fixings

End-of-day Market Roundup

                JOKE OF THE DAY

Two elderly women were eating breakfast in a restaurant one morning.
Ethel noticed something funny about Mabel's ear and she said,

"Mabel, did you know you've got a suppository in your left ear?"

Mabel answered, "I have a suppository?"
She pulled it out and stared at it.

Then she said, "Ethel, I'm glad you saw this thing.
Now I think I know where my hearing aid is."

               

Stocks mixed; S&P 500 passes high close

NEW YORK (AP) - Wall Street reached another milestone in a muted session
Monday, when the Standard & Poor's 500 index briefly passed its record close of
1,527.46 for the first time in more than seven years.
The S&P 500, considered by market professionals the best indicator of stock
performance, surpassed the mark shortly after noon following a fresh spate of
takeover deals. The broad market index has lagged the Dow Jones industrial
average in recovering from the prolonged stock slump earlier this decade.
The S&P 500 rose as high as 1,529.87, then edged back to 1,525.09, up 2.34,
or 0.15 percent, as cautious investors locked in some profits from weeks of
gains. The index's advance was driven by buying in non-technology sectors such
as energy, materials, industrials and financials, S&P data showed. It is still
well below its all-time trading high of 1,552.87 set on March 24, 2000, the day
the index reached its record close.
Reassuring Wall Street on Monday that acquisition activity will keep up its
record pace this year, General Electric Co. said it is selling its plastics
division to Saudi Arabia's largest industrial company, Saudi Basic Industries
Corp., for $11.6 billion.
The announcement followed news Sunday that telecommunications company Alltel
Corp. agreed to be bought for $24.8 billion, and that China's upstart state
investment company was investing $3 billion in Blackstone Group LP. Blackstone,
the second-largest U.S. private equity firm, is planning an initial public
offering for later this year, and has been on a buying tear; just last week, it
snapped up credit card services provider Alliance Data Systems Corp. for $6.43
billion.
The Dow retreated modestly after venturing further into record territory
earlier in the day. The blue-chip index fell 13.57, or 0.10 percent, to
13,542.96 after hitting an intraday high of 13,586.03.
The Nasdaq composite index rose 20.34, or 0.80 percent, to 2,578.79, after
reaching a six-year high of 2,587.87.

---------------------

Good night and good luck for tomorrow

Good joke, Master :o)

Goodnight to you, too!