Trading Thoughts Sunday 17th August   (Crocodile)

The highlights for a quiet week ahead are ..

MondayMichael Page interim results on Monday should provide a useful insight into the health of the recruitment and executive placement market. In June, the recruitment consultant said market conditions continued to be difficult. But despite the tough business environment, the professional headhunter said it was on track to meet expectations for the full year.Headlam Group could also provide some useful insight into the health of the housing market. Headlam is one of the UK's biggest suppliers of floor coverings to independent retailers and contractors. In May, Headlam said like-for-like sales in the first 20 weeks of 2003 grew 5.1%. It added that sales of residential and commercial floorcoverings had both risenTuesday Britain's biggest biotech company Celltech should reassure investors when it releases first-half results on Tuesday, after it said in May it was performing well and was comfortable with full-year expectations. They have ticked up during the past few weeks, presumably excited by the prospect of more consolidation in the biotechnology sector. Celltech has itself been a part of that merger craze, via its 101m purchase of Oxford GlycoSciences earlier this year. Of more interest, though, will be the company's progress report on CDP870, which is being co-developed with PfizerThe Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors' House Price Report on Tuesday should make for some interesting reading. Recent reports from the likes of the Halifax have suggested that the housing market remains firm. This was supported by Countrywide Assured which reckoned that house hunters have merely been delaying house purchases rather than putting off house buying completely.WednesdayMinutes from the latest Bank of England meeting are expected to show it was a unanimous decision to hold rates, but could say downside risks remain. ThursdayKeller Group construction reports interims on Thursday. Keller said in June that the start of the year had been slow. However, it reckoned that its half time figures would be in line with expectations. The company should also be providing an update on its order book and details as to when it is likely to start on the jobs that were delayed in first few months of the year.Friday Investors are braced for WPP first-half profits to fall due to the weak U.S. dollar and a drought of ad spending in the UK. But improving signals from North America, where WPP generates 40 percent of its revenue, have lifted hopes that Chief Executive Martin Sorrell might offer some signs of daylight in the long-suffering advertising market. The recent results from WPP's rivals Interpublic and Publicis have been very mixed. Interpublic, the world's number two advertising agency, produced a second-quarter loss and warned that the business climate remained challenging. Publicis, on the other hand, reported a 60% rise in revenues but also warned that the market and advertisers was still "reserved". In June, WPP said revenues in the first five months of the year had been flat and added that 2003 continues to be a tough year

Last week we guessed the FTSE would not move a great deal due to the low market volumes and that it would remain within the 3 year downtrend.  It did not move that much but the move was very significant with it closing above the 3 year downrtrend and also above the important 4200 level for the first time in a year. This week I have to go with the strength of the markets and look for a higher close next week.

Back to the Sunday afternoon gardening and a nice bottle of Rose to ease the pain.

Wishing you all the best for the week ahead and as ever looking forward to your thoughts!

David

David@FTSEDOW.COM  www.FTSEDOW.com    All the above comments are purely a personal opinion and no investment advice is intended.  Please do your own research.

All  Times GMT

United Kingdom

F)inals (I)nterim

United States

(Click Flag)

Europe & World

Mon 18th August

Reporting

Company Updates

Financial Data

18.00 August NAHB 63.0 exp.

Tue 19th

Brixton (I), Celtech (I),

Singer & Friedlander (I)

00.30 July RICS House Price Survey

Hewlett Packard (Q3), Home Depot (Q2)

13.30 July Housing Starts 1790k exp. 19.00 July Monthly Budget Statement -$53.0bn exp. 14.50 Aug Preliminary Michigan Sentiment 91.5 exp.

Wed 20th

Ex Dividend

Domnick Hunter (I)

09.30 Bank of England MPC Minutes 09.30 June Preliminary M4 y/y 8.1% exp. 09.30 July PSNCR -5.05bn exp. 09.30 July CML, BBA & BSA Mortgage Lending Figures

07.00 June German construction Orders (BBK) m/m

11.00 June Trade Balance

Thu 21st

Cattles (I), Weir Group (I), Keller (I)

09.30 July Retail Sales m/m 0.4% exp. 09.30 Q2 Business Investment q/q 11.00 July CBI Industrial Trends

Electronics Boutique (Q2)

13.30 Initial Jobless Claims (w/e 16/08) 395k exp. 15.00 July Leading Indicators 0.4% exp. 17.00 August Philly Fed 10.0 exp.

Fri 22nd