Sad old git of Oxon and Chocolat:

Great stuff, I really enjoyed Chocolat's perspective on the general economic outlook. As for mortgages for the boys . . . have they no shame? No, they don't.

A bottle of Mumm Napa Demi-sec to accompany the Chocolat, methinks ;-)

MM

Nice work Martini
Like Ruth says ..an essential read

Nothing unusual.
God was a woman until she changed her mind.
mac

It's all right for you lot with your fancy French - I went to one of those French markets yesterday and came back with a whole load of brown paper bags full of greasy unknowns. Have spent most of today stuffing myself with them trying to figure out what they are, whether they're supposed to be eaten hot or cold, and whether the unusual mushroom fillings are going to make me ill. Have just finished something that looks like a Scotch egg, but isn't. Any ideas? Excuse me while I return to lurking. I may be gone some time...

Martini - Monday's company and economic data for UK, and economic data for USA, shown in the header, doesn't agree with Monday's info in post #2 - I suspect the latter is correct.

Martini and Chocolat many thanks for an excellant read ...........

Thanks Martini and chocolat, for great start to week...

SINGAPORE (AFX-ASIA) - Oil prices were firmer in Asian trade, dealers said.
At 12:30 pm (0430 GMT), the benchmark New York light, sweet crude contract
for September delivery was at 41.73 usd a barrel, up from 41.67 usd in New York
on Friday.

*EGG DOWNGRADED TO 'NEUTRAL' FROM 'BUY' BY MERRILL LYNCH

A very good morning to you all.

Morning all.

Thanks to Martini and Chocolat, great stuff.

10 day chart, 4300 to 4330 levels to watch...

VODAFONE CONTINUES STRONG PERFORMANCE IN CUSTOMER AND REVENUE GROWTH

Vodafone Group Plc ("Vodafone") announces today key performance indicators for
the quarter ended 30 June 2004. The main highlights are:

* 3.1 million organic net additions, and 2.7 million additions from
stake changes, increasing the proportionate customer base to 139.2 million;

* Blended annual ARPU up Euro1 to Euro362 in Italy, down Euro1 at Euro309 in Germany
and Y2,330 to Y78,365 in Japan, compared to March 2004. ARPU in the UK was up
#5 to #314, including a further #4 uplift from the acquisition of
Singlepoint;

* Total data revenues increased to 16.3% of controlled service revenues
for the year to June 2004 from 15.0% for the year to June 2003; controlled
data revenues for the quarter up 13% on an organic basis on the same quarter
last year;

* 9 million controlled Vodafone live!TM customers at the end of June
2004, with a further 1.3 million customers in non-controlled operations;

* Mobile Connect Card sales in controlled operations increased to over
300,000, including over 50,000 with 3G capability.

Talk of Santander bid being around 5.53p.. ANL closed on Friday at 5.80???

;-) d2k

LOL :-)) Beat ya!Also talk of counter bids from Citigroup/Lloy over weekend Boyse. Might be worth looking at lloy short based on that rumour. Santander price was down heavily on Friday??
Think were both just sad and get up too early.. :-))

LONDON (AFX) - Vodafone PLC reported strong Key Performance indicators for
the first quarter to June, and reiterated its full year guidance despite what it
called a "tougher competitive environment".
Vodafone reported 3.1 mln net new subscribers for the quarter from organic
growth, plus 2.7 mln additions from stake changes in associate companies. The
market had been expecting organic net new additions of 2.45 mln.
That boosted the proportionate customer base to 139.2 mln.
Average revenue per user (ARPU) rose 5 stg in the UK to 314 stg, including a
4 stg uplift from the acquisition of Singlepoint. The market had expected no
change.
ARPU rose 1 eur in Italy to 362; fell 1 eur in Germany to 309 and fell 2,330
yen to Y78,365 in Japan, compared to March.
Total data revenues increased to 16.3 pct of controlled service revenues for
the year to June from 15.0 pct a year earlier. Controlled data revenues for the
quarter were up 13 pct on an organic basis on the same quarter last year.
There were 9 mln controlled Vodafone live! customers at the end of June,
with a further 1.3 mlnn customers in non-controlled operations. Mobile Connect
Card sales in controlled operations increased to over 300,000, including over
50,000 with 3G capability.
Chief executive Arun Sarin said Vodafone had made a strong start to the
year.
"Our business is progressing well, despite a tougher competitive environment
in some markets," he said.
"These KPIs are in line with our expectations and we are therefore
reiterating our guidance for the year to March 2005."
email: newsdesk@afxnews.com
jm/

morning all

Santander releasing results 2 days early right now. ANL announcement should follow it , surely??? Its a paper bid by all accounts. Could be and interesting morning.
EDIT sorry its BBVA the "other" Spanish banks results coming out. Getting a little over excited!

ALSO
*PRUDENTIAL UPGRADED TO 'BUY' FROM 'NEUTRAL' BY UBS

*ROYAL & SUN ALLIANCE UPGRADED TO 'NEUTRAL' FROM 'REDUCE' BY UBS

*HHG DOWNGRADED TO 'NEUTRAL' FROM 'BUY' BY UBS

Morning All
These women will be moving the furniture around next
Well Done All
L

morning all - short barc short nxt