AFX UK at a glance share guide - weekend

LONDON (AFX) - MARKETS (30 Dec)
FTSE 100 5,618.8 down 19.5
FTSE 250 8,794.30 down 27.30
DJIA 10,717.50 down 67.32
Nasdaq Comp 2,205.32 down 12.84
S&P 500 1,248.29 down 6.13
Gold 512.55 usd (512.55 usd)
Oil - Brent Feb 58.98 usd (58.07 usd)

WEEKEND PRESS
* BRITISH AIRWAYS jets have suffered mid-air failures because of "systemic" problems with their maintenance, air accident investigators reveal - Sunday Times
* RANK preparing to return up to 300 mln stg to investors as part of a review of its capital structure in which its dividend will be cut by as much as 30 pct - Sunday Times
* Blackstone, the American buy-out firm, drawing up plans for a flotation of SOUTHERN CROSS, the 1.5 bln stg nursing-home group it has created through a string of acquisitions - Sunday Times
* Supermarkets will kill corner shops by 2015, MPs warn - Sunday Times
* MPs savage power of big four grocers; leaked Parliamentary report warns of 'food deserts' if supermarkets are allowed to expand unchecked - Sunday Telegraph
* Bosses predict year of pain; two-thirds expect 2006 to be most difficult 12 months since economic downturn in Nineties - Observer
* NTL ponders 10 pct lift in VIRGIN MOBILE offer; the cable-television company and its advisers at Goldman Sachs considering increasing the bid to about 360 pence a share - Sunday Times
* LSE: Are bidders 'fit and proper' Leading members of LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE make a desperate plea to Gordon Brown to intervene in the takeover bid by Australian investment bank Macquarie - Mail on Sunday
* Competition Commission to pave the way for a takeover bid for LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE by Euronext by removing the main impediment to a merger of the two companies; later this month, it will announce that it would allow Euronext to lower its 41 pct stake in LCH Clearnet over two years, rather than the typical grace period of six months, following a takeover of LSE - Sunday Telegraph
* The number of public sector workers will pass 6 mln in 2006 for the first time in 16 years, Centre for Economics and Business Research estimates - Sunday Telegraph
* Britain's construction industry recorded its first drop in output for 11 years in 2005, despite government promises of large-scale public investment, according to a report to be published this week; The Construction Products Association will reveal that construction output dropped unexpectedly by 1.3 pct last year, though it is expected to recover by a modest 0.9 pct this year, before picking up to 3.1 pct in 2007 - Sunday Times
* Former chief executive of BPB, Richard Cousins, approached to take the top job at COMPASS, the embattled contract caterer - Sunday Times
* Ferrari's Formula One team to mark its diamond anniversary in 2007 with a multi-million pound sponsorship deal with DE BEERS - Sunday Telegraph
* HENDERSON GLOBAL INVESTORS emerges as favourite to snap up rival fund manager GARTMORE for about 600 mln stg - Mail on Sunday
* Retailer HALFORDS criticised by the Department of Trade & Industry for delaying payments to suppliers by up to four months - Mail on Sunday
* Russia set to cut gas supplies; dispute with Ukraine worsens; Moscow insisting on five-fold price-rise; exports to western Europe could be threatened - Saturday FT
* Gordon Brown secures a 21 bln stg victory after the Office for National Statistics rules that the chancellor does not have to take the Network Rail bailout on his books - Saturday Times
* GLAXOSMITHKLINE wants rule change to fight pandemic; bird flu threat prompts pharmaceutical group to call for companies to be able to co-operate on vaccines - Saturday FT
* Retailers expect a busy holiday weekend after one of the most successful post-Christmas weeks for several years - Saturday FT
* National Association of Pension Funds joins other corporate governance groups in urging investors to vote against an incentive plan that could pay up to 10 mln stg to four directors of PERSIMMON - Saturday FT
* Fitch, the debt ratings agency, pours cold water on the bull run in MARKS & SPENCER shares, saying that its view of the outlook for the retailer remains negative - Saturday Times
* BERKELEY BERRY BIRCH, the struggling independent financial adviser network, says the Financial Services Authority has yet to agree that its capital-raising plans are adequate - Saturday FT
* WPP GROUP buys Bridge Worldwide, an Ohio-based marketing and interactive agency
* French clothing distributor Groupe Vivarte may take control of Kookai's British assets after the fashion retailer failed to renegotiate arrangements with FORMINSTER, its UK franchise partner - Saturday Mail
* GCAP MEDIA, the UK's largest commercial radio broadcaster, receives at least half a dozen offers for the nine local stations it has put up for sale - Saturday Guardian
* Telefonica looks likely to quit Europe's largest mobile phone alliance in order to secure regulatory clearance for its 17.7 bln stg acquisition of its British rival O2 in the new year - Saturday Guardian
* Grupo Santander, the Spanish owner of ABBEY, in talks to buy back Abbey's credit card operations, sold in 2001 to MBNA; analysts say it could pay more than 300 mln stg - Saturday Mail
* APPIAN TECHNOLOGY, a company that supplies automatic number-plate recognition systems for congestion charging and counter-terrorism, preparing to to float on AIM on Tuesday, valued at 5.6 mln stg - Saturday Express

SATURDAY PRESS COMMENT
FT
THE LEX COLUMN comments on UK economy (Brown can look back on his long boom with pride; but, like the best performances, it appears to be coming to a close), UK housing market (for ordinary mortals, the days of rampant house prices inflating away their massive mortgages are over), Reits (while the conversion charge could prove a one-off deterrent, longer-term concerns are restrictions on gearing levels and on single shareholder ownership) - Opportunities overseas and online see odds improve for the new LADBROKES; the prospects for the gaming company look bright following the 3.3 bln sale of the HILTON hotels business (p.17) - Cash-rich defence groups preparing for the flotation of government's QINETIQ; proposed float is controversial because private investors will make huge profits (p.17) - LONDON MARKET: GW PHARMACEUTICALS (talk it will imminently unveil a deal)

Mail
SHARE TIPS FOR YEAR AHEAD: NEXT, INTEC TELECOM SYSTEMS, EARTHPORT, FORTH PORTS, COMPASS, LLOYDS TSB, PARTYGAMING, WILLIAM MORRISON SUPERMARKETS; 2005 tips: BABCOCK INTERNATIONAL (+70 pct), GB GROUP (+35 pct), GLAXOSMITHKLINE (+20 pct), FORTH PORTS (+19 pct), WICHFORD (+6 pct), INCISIVE MEDIA (+4 pct), LLOYDS TSB (+3 pct), ARMOURGROUP (-54 pct), PHYTOPHARM (-77 pct) - MARKET REPORT: BRANDON HIRE (hopes for agreed bid terms soon from a management team led by chief executive Charles Skinner and finance director Chris Sims)

Express
MARKET REPORT: SAREUM HOLDINGS (hopes that good news is on the way about a couple of major contracts), ABCAM (rumours that a licensing deal might be round the corner)

Times
Directors' dealing: SURFCONTROL (non-executive chairman buys stock for 51,200 stg) - Rumour of the day: 3DM WORLDWIDE (word that JM Finn, its stockbroker, has been sounding out investors on a deeply discounted share placing) - STOCK MARKETS - LARGE CAPS: INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS GROUP (talk it could become a target for Starwood of the US) - TEMPUS: CHRYSALIS (investors wanting to bet on a fast recovery could go for Chrysalis), DAILY MAIL & GENERAL TRUST, TRINITY MIRROR, JOHNSTON PRESS (of the three, DMGT looks the most attractive, because it is investing in new media, while trying to sell out of the regional press), SMG (there must come a point when somebody will try to force change - a break-up - where it is badly needed)

Guardian
Market forces: IQ LUDORUM (dotcom-esque share price rise seems to have been fuelled by the recent appointment of Mike Muscato as chairman), BRANDON HIRE (suggestions that chairman will not sell his 24 pct shareholding for anything less than 200 pence a share)

Independent
MARKET REPORT: PLUSNET (hopes it will be swallowed by a bigger player), HAVELOCK EUROPA (talk of strong trading)

Telegraph
QUESTOR COLUMN - Small cap, big yield; our choices for 2006: LAMBERT HOWARTH, GAMES WORKSHOP, BRAEMAR SEASCOPE, ABACUS, BRITISH POLYTHENE INDUSTRIES, WAGON; how last year's seven performed: ATRIUM UNDERWRITING (total shareholder return 5.7 pct, BPI (72.7 pct), DAWSON HOLDINGS (9.6 pct), KELLER (86.7 pct), LOOKERS (60 pct), MORGAN SINDALL (101 pct), SAVILLS (151 pct) - Financial forecasts: Paul Feeney, Gartmore Investment Management: FTSE 100 6,000, top share WPP, top sector Banking, top country Japan; Gavin Oldham, The Share Centre: 6,200, COSTAIN, Construction, Japan; Mike Warburton, Grant Thornton: 6,100, PROVIDENT FINANCIAL, International Traders with large overseas earnings, Japan; Justin Urquhart Stewart, Seven Investment Management: 5,800, TALARIUS, Pharmaceuticals, Taiwan; Paul Llott, Bates Investment: 5,850, LEGG MASON JAPAN EQUITY, Technology, Japan; Alan Steel, Alan Steel Asset Management: 6,600, NEW STAR FINANCIAL FUND, Financials, America; Julian Chillingworth, Rathbone Unit Trust Management: 4,900, ALLIANCE UNICHEM, Aerospace and Defence, Japan; Jeremy Tique, Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust: 5,850, VODAFONE, Pharmaceuticals, Japan; Patrick Evershed, New Star Select Opportunities: 5,500, CLEARSPEED, Technology, China; Mark Harris, Savills Private Finance: 5,800, PRUDENTIAL, Life Assurance, Japan; Trevor Williams, Lloyds TSB: 6,000, DRAGON OIL, Commercial Property, Japan; Hilary Cook, Barclays Stockbrokers: 6,050, PRUDENTIAL, Information Technology, Germany; Edward Bonham Carter, Jupiter Asset Management: 5,850, KINGFISHER, Other Financials, Turkey; Clive Scott-Hopkins, Towry Law: 5,900, NEWTON ORIENTAL, Asia, China; Mark Dampier, Hargreaves Lansdown: 6,000, BT, Leisure, particularly gambling, Russia

SUNDAY PRESS COMMENT
Sunday Times
Sunday Times portfolio for 2006: John Waples (UNITED BUSINESS MEDIA), Dominic O'Connell (EASYJET), Richard Fletcher (ITV), Paul Durman (VECTURA), Louise Armitstead (CENTRICA), Mark Kleinman (CARPHONE WAREHOUSE), Matthew Goodman (888 Holdings), Peter Koenig (BARCLAYS) - HOW OUR SHARE TIPS FOR 2005 FARED: John Waples (HIGHWAY INSURANCE +99 pct), Paul Durman (VANCO +87 pct), Dominic O'Connell (ROLLS-ROYCE) +73 pct), Matthew Goodman (HOMESERVE +68 pct), Dan Box (PREMIER OIL +54 pct), Peter Koenig (UBS +31 pct), Louise Armistead (MYTRAVEL +29 pct), Mark Kleinman (REED ELSEVIER +14 pct), William Lewis (WATERFORD WEDGWOOD -17 pct), Richard Fletcher (AUGEAN -26 pct), Sunday Times average + 41 pct; Sunday Times Judges: Andy Brough (NATIONAL EXPRESS +4 pct), Tim Steer (ARMOUR GROUP -54 pct) - Dogs of the Footsie: the five to buy this year are BOOTS, ALLIANCE & LEICESTER, DSG INTERNATIONAL, COMPASS, SEVERN TRENT - STOCKS FOR A JANUARY BOUNCE: JARVIS, INVENSYS, EUROTUNNEL, NESTOR HEALTHCARE, SVB HOLDINGS, UNIQ, GCAP MEDIA, ACAL, AEA TECHNOLOGY, COMPASS GROUP - INSIDE THE CITY: Richard Fletcher comments on UNILEVER (fudging the restructuring of its archaic structure has angered a number of shareholders and will raise fears that Unilever is still resisting significant change), AIM (brokers expect to see a wave of American companies float on AIM in 2006), HMV (fear is that WH SMITH could step in (for Ottakar's); if HMV chief executive Alan Giles loses out to his former employer, 2006 could turn out to be even worse than 2005)

Mail on Sunday
TAKING STOCK: Simon Watkins says leisure is setting the pace for deals in 2006 (RANK, LADBROKES, WHITBREAD) - COMPANIES AND MARKETS: LADBROKES (in new casinos deal with HILTON hotel chain), NEXT (will deliver the first snapshot of Christmas trading to a nervous stock market on Wednesday), DSG INTERNATIONAL (considering a move into the residential phone market), LOOKERS (will launch its takeover bid for rival REG VARDY within two weeks, sparking a bidding war in the car dealership sector) - MIDAS'S TIPS FOR 2006 - Cautious tips: VODAFONE, LEGAL & GENERAL, GONDOLA HOLDINGS, ANGLO AMERICAN; Courageous Tips: CAMBRIDGE ANTIBODY TECHNOLOGY, POLYFUEL, NORTHERN PETROLEUM

Independent on Sunday
Predictions for 2006: COMPASS, ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND, WHITBREAD, ROMAG, TAYLOR NELSON SOFRES, COMPEL

Observer
How our tipsters fared: John Hatherly (FIRST CHOICE +59 pct), Karen Robertson (MARKS & SPENCER +43 pct), Max Ward (REDROW +31 pct), Richard Burns (WESTBURY +25 pct), Robert Talbut (BPP +18 pct), Jim Wood-Smith (ITV +7 pct), Colin McLean (STAGECOACH -3 pct), FTSE ALL SHARE (+16 pct) - What our panel tips for a profitable year in 2006: Colin McLean, SVM Asset Management: COOKSON GROUP, Richard Burns, Baillie Gifford: ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND, Jim Wood, Christows: ENTERTAINMENT RIGHTS, Wesley McCoy, Standard Life Investments: MYTRAVEL, David Jane, M&G: ITV, Robert Talbut, Royal London Asset Management: WILLIAM MORRISON SUPERMARKETS, Max Ward, The Independent Investment Trust: LAND OF LEATHER