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News Headlines:    US:  Stocks ended lower Monday despite cheer from better home sales, Volume was light and the profit taking was partly triggered after reports that bombings in India's financial capital, Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, killed at least 46 people and injured more than 100.

UK: The euro's strength this year has allowed the French economy to sneak past Britain's in relative size for the first time in four years. Official data out on Friday showed the British economy was worth 270.97 billion pounds in the second quarter of the year. But figures out earlier this week showed the French economy was worth 386.13 billion euros in the second quarter. Taking the average exchange rate of 70.2 pence to the euro, that equates to 271.10 billion pounds. The euro has gained nearly 10 percent against the pound this year.

Reckitt Benckiser the world's biggest household goods firm, said it would start buying back shares and hiking its dividend, as it posted higher second-quarter profit and raised its full-year targets. The maker of Finish/Calgonit dishwasher products, which has been tipped to buy SSL International said it made a net profit of 117 million pounds in the three months in line with the market forecast

Bunzl, food packaging manufacturers reported a one percent fall in first-half profits at the top end of forecasts, and said it was confident about the future. Pre-tax profits fell to 100.8 million pounds for the half year to end-June from a restated 102.1 million last year. Analysts' forecasts ranged between 98.2 and 100.5 million pounds.

Persimmon Britain's largest housebuilder said profits in the first half of the year surged 29 percent to 151.7 million pounds The firm "performed very strongly in the first half,. with sound market conditions broader geographic spread and good landbank gives us great confidence that we can continue to achieve excellent growth," the firm said The average house price increased from 135,000 to 155,000 over the last 12 months.

Canary Wharf: The Canadian chairman of the British property group is planning to enter a takeover battle for the company, the Sunday Telegraph reported, without citing sources. GUS The retail and financial information firm is in negotiations to buy part or all of PowerHouseRBOS: The bank is reconsidering a 4.5 billion pound for the United States' Sovereign Bancorp

Calendar All GMT	United Kingdom (F)inals (I)nterim	United States (Click Flag)	Europe & World
Tue 26th Aug	Bunzl (I) PBT 99.5m exp. Persimmon (I) PBT 140m exp.Reckitt Benckiser (I) PBT 267m exp. Metal Bulletin (I), Systems Union (I) Regus (Q2)	H&R Block US Q1, Hewlett-Packard US Q3 13.30 July Durable Goods Orders 1.0% exp. 15.00 August Consumer Confidence 79.9 exp. 15.00 July New home Sales 1140k exp.	Air France (Q1) AWD Holding H1 Hochtief H1 Stada Arzneimittel Q2 09.00 August German IFO Expectations 101.3 exp.
Good Trading!   David@FTSEDOW.com    www.FTSEDOW.com            Pivot Calculator

Trading Thoughts Sunday 24th August   (Crocodile)

Cyclical firms such as Hilton and BHP Billiton, will be watched for continuing good news in the coming week for confirmation a recovery is under way.

TuesdayPersimmon's housebuilder limited exposure to the London property market, coupled with its investment into growth areas of the UK, should have worked to its advantage during the first half of its financial year. Fund manager* Gerrard is expecting a dividend rise from 4.75p a share to 5.2p and pre-tax profits to rise from 117.2m to 140m. Earlier the company said it had a land bank equivalent to a 4.5 years supply of housing. It has continued to grow by expanding its Charles Church brand into new regional markets. Reckitt Benckiser home products including Finish/Calgonit, Air Wick, Dettol,  Harpic and Lemsip is expected expected to report sparkling second-quarter results and to say whether it will use excess cash for acquisitions or share buybacks. Growth for the last half year was stronger than expected at 6.5% compared with its own target at the start of the year of between 5% and 6%. The weak US dollar will hurt the performance, although profits are expected to rise to 267m from 237m

They could unveil plans to increase its dividend and start a rolling share buyback programme while still looking for acquisitions such as SSL .Bunzl, supplier of food packaging and cigarette filters, is expected to report a drop in first-half profits to between 98.2 and 100.5 million pounds from 104.2 million pounds Profits hit by the weak U.S. dollar and the loss of contribution from the paper distribution business, which they sold last year.WednesdayAggreko's troubled US arm was given an unexpected boost earlier this month when the power cut in north-east America caused a surge in demand for its products. That came too late to save half-year results, which the company has warned will be weaker than hoped. Fund manager Gerrard predicted a drop in profits to 17m from 25.6m last time. Thursday:Hilton hotels & Leisure group will show contrasting results for the 2 sides of their business. The city will be looking for signs that for signs that the demand at its hotels has recovered from effects of the war in Iraq, SARS and the global economic downturn as business travellers stay at home. On the other hand Ladbrokes is likely to have enjoyed a strong performance with growth in telephone and internet gambling, and a good start from the fixed odds betting terminals introduced in the past year. Fund manager Gerrard is forecasting pre-tax profits of 110m compared with 130m in 2002. Rexam drink cans & plastic packaging firm publishes first-half figures on Thursday. They are expected to show a slowdown due to bad weather in the north eastern US which meant fewer consumers bought canned soft drinks & the US dollar's decline . Barclays Private Clients forecasts a fall in pre-tax profits to 125m from 134m.Rentokil Initial which has already pointed to an improved performance for the first four months of the year are expected it to unveil first half pre-tax profits of 196m on from 186.6m Margins are the main interest along with news on possible acquisitions for the security and hygiene units.

Tomkins: automotive products, industrial power systems again is likely to have been hit as a result of a weak U.S. dollar. Expectations are for first-half operating profits between 133-143 million pounds, down from 160 million a year ago. The consensus forecast stands at 137 million pounds.

Scottish & Newcastle trading update should reflect the surge in demand for beer during the recent heatwave.

Yell telephone directories publisher brings out maiden results

Last week the FTSE had a small drop but again there were small gains for the Dow which rose 0.29 percent, the Nasdaq climbed 3.72 percent and the S&P 500 advanced 0.24 percent, Further progress for the FTSE will depend on data which shows evidence of improving economic conditions with increasing revenues, not just meeting forecasts by cutting costs.

Downside sentiment could come from Iraq where the continued loss of U.S & U.K lives combined with the shortage of oil following the attacks could have a negative effect on the markets.

Looking at the chart we can see the FTSE continues to show strength and break out  from the 3 year downtrend. With continued good results and company upgrades I can see no reason to go against the positive trend for the week ahead.

I am currently running arbitrages / pairs trades  (Long Lloyds & Short Barclays) &  (Long HBOS & Short HSBC) due to them both showing an unusual 10% gap. Apart from being an interesting play it also has the advantage of hedging the long positions against a possible major market fall such as September 11th.

Hope you all have a good  holiday weekend and as ever look forward to reading your market 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 25th Aug

Reporting

Tue 26th Aug

Company Updates

Financial Data

Bunzl (I) PBT 99.5m exp.

Persimmon (I) PBT 140m exp.Reckitt Benckiser (I) PBT 267m exp. Metal Bulletin (I), Systems Union (I) Regus (Q2)

H&R Block US Q1, Hewlett-Packard US Q3

13.30 July Durable Goods Orders 1.0% exp. 15.00 August Consumer Confidence 79.9 exp. 15.00 July New home Sales 1140k exp.

Air France (Q1)

AWD Holding H1 Hochtief H1 Stada Arzneimittel Q2

09.00 August German IFO Expectations 101.3 exp.

Wed 27th Aug

Ex Dividend

Aggreko (I) PBT 17m exp.

Hammerson (I) PBT 42.6m exp. Johnston Press (I) PBT 119m exp.

Bell Group (I), Bodycote International (I),

Domestic & General (F),

James Fisher (I), Wilson Bowden (I)

Thu 28th Aug

BHP Billiton (F) Net Income US$2.07bn exp.

Hilton Group (I) PBT 110m exp.Rexam (I) PBT 107m exp.

Slough Estates (I) PBT 78m exp.

Yell Group (Q1), Rentokil Initial (I), Tomkins (Q2) Operating Profit 69m exp. Amec (I), Marconi (Q1), Merant (Q1), 

Wellington Underwriting (I), WH Smith Trading Statement,

Scottish & Newcastle Trading Statement & (AGM),

10.30 August Gfk Consumer Confidence flat exp.

Dollar General Q2

13.30 Q2 Preliminary GDP q/q 2.9% exp. 13.30 Q2 Preliminary Personal Investment 3.6% exp. 13.30 Initial Jobless Claims (w/e 23/08) 391k exp.

Chain Deflator-Prel. Q2 Help-Wanted Index Jul

Acrelor (I), Carrefour (I), Munich Re (Q2), Tiscali (I)

Mchener Rkversicherung H1 Nordex Q3  TUI Q2

09.00 EMU June M3 3m ma 8.3% exp

Fri 29th Aug

London & Boston (F), Morse (F), NSB Retail Systems (I), Stagecoach (AGM), Westbury (I)

Greene King (AGM),

06.00 August Nationwide House Price Survey m/m

Abbot Group (I), Avis Europe (I), John Laing (I)The Global Group - IPO trading date. United Kingdom CIPS/Reuters UK PMI August

Sunday News 24th August        

City stockbroker Collins Stewart faces devastating allegations this weekend of insider dealing and pumping up share prices.  Daily Mail

Sainsbury, says it is no longer seeking regulatory approval to buy 171 Somerfield stores, should they come up for sale

Canary Wharf Group Canadian chairman Paul Reichmann was thought to have told the board he would submit a bid if other offers came under a certain level, expected to be around 310 pence per share.

GUS The Sunday Telegraph said it was in talks with Deloitte & Touche, the receiver seeking a buyer for 130 PowerHouse stricken electrical retail chain.stores. Royal Bank of Scotland  is reconsidering a 4.5 billion pound bid for the United States' Sovereign Bancorp, according to a Reuters report. Pizza Express has put a slice of its struggling restaurants up for sale

Sunday Times:

A Share in the Boardroom: IFX Group Sharewatch: Hilton Group Sharewatch: Generating power Aggreko Share of the Week: British Airways Sharewatch: Avis Europe Enodis Directors' Deals: Kitchen equipment boss cooks up a dea

Anglo Irish employees reap 54,000 windfall Royal Bank of Scotland accused of offering dangerous leverage

Sunday Telegraph

BAE's spoiler The Granada/Carlton soap is a long way off its denouement Market miscellany: Vocali

Shareholders stage revolt at Lavendon

British Airways 'I've had a lot of luck ... all of it bad' Rexam Unfashionable with youth, perhaps, but packaging is what turns this Swede on

British Airways is on a roll with Swiss

Scotland on Sunday

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