1 Day 2 Day 5 Day - UK News

FTSE 250

FTSE Small Cap

FTSE TechMark

1 Day 2 Day 5 Day  Futures  US News

Nasdaq 100

S&P 500

S&P Futures

DAX / CAC    Euro News

Nikkei +302   Hang Seng +134  Asia News

10 Year Bond

Manchester United A mystery buyer has snapped up a chunk of shares in a deal brokered by Germany's Commerzbank, reigniting takeover talk. Also MNU said it had won a new sponsorship deal from Vodafone worth 36 million pounds over four years.

Alfred McAlpine construction and support services said it was in talks with the UK's Ministry of Defence to become a preferred bidder for contract worth over 100 million pounds to the firm. A successful outcome of the talks would lead to a seven-year contract for capital and maintenance works on 120 Ministry of Defence properties in the south-west

Wolseley the world's largest supplier of plumbing and heating materials, said on Monday it had bought Swiss-based air conditioning and heating wholesaler Tobler for 52 million pounds.

Communisis <warning> direct marketing firm said it was trading below its expectations because of pricing pressures in its non-contractual personalised products and document services businesses.BTG technology development firm said its biggest new drug hope, Varisolve for varicose veins, faced a "significant delay" in the United States as it posted a slightly narrower first-half loss. The firm, whose shares plunged last month when it said U.S. regulators had suspended a Phase II clinical trial for Varisolve, said it expected to have to conduct additional clinical and preclinical studies in the United States. They posted a loss before tax of 13.4 million pounds in the six months to September 30, compared with a loss of 13.6 million in the same period of 2002.

Qantas Airways Australia's biggest airline and a key Boeing customer, said it would buy 23 new Airbus EADS.PA EAD.DE planes worth about $1.15 billion for its new low-cost carrier, Jetstar. The deal gives Airbus a firmer foothold in a fleet dominated by Boeing Co BA.N and strengthens its presence in the fast-growing and profitable Asian market, where Singapore Airlines, China Airlines and Malaysian Airlines use its aircraft.

 Acal (I), Belhaven Group (I), BSS Group (I), BTG (I), Christian Salvesen (I), Dawson Holdings (F), Helphire Group (I), iSoft (I), Lawrence (I), MyTravel (F), Richmond Foods (F), VP Plc (I)

09.30 Oct Final M4 Money Supply y/y 7.4% exp. 09.30 Oct Net Consumer Credit 1.6bm exp. 09.30 Nov Preliminary M0 Money Supply y/y 7.8% exp. 09.30 Nov CIPS manufacturing PMI 54.5 exp.

McData

15.00 Oct Construction Spending m/m 0.6% exp. 15.00 Nov ISM Manufacturing 58.0 exp.

08.55 Nov German BME PMI 52.3 exp.09.00 Nov BME PMI 52.5 exp.

Croc@SnappyTrader.com  WWW.SnappyTrader.com

 Acal (I), Belhaven Group (I), BSS Group (I), BTG (I), Christian Salvesen (I), Dawson Holdings (F), Helphire Group (I), iSoft (I), Lawrence (I), MyTravel (F), Richmond Foods (F), VP Plc (I)

09.30 Oct Final M4 Money Supply y/y 7.4% exp. 09.30 Oct Net Consumer Credit 1.6bm exp. 09.30 Nov Preliminary M0 Money Supply y/y 7.8% exp. 09.30 Nov CIPS manufacturing PMI 54.5 exp.

McData

15.00 Oct Construction Spending m/m 0.6% exp. 15.00 Nov ISM Manufacturing 58.0 exp.

08.55 Nov German BME PMI 52.3 exp.09.00 Nov BME PMI 52.5 exp.

Compass Group (F) 657.7m exp. WS Atkins (I) Scottish & Newcastle (I) PBT 315m exp. Aberdeen Asset Management (F), Alba (I), Goldshield (I), Merant (Q2), Patientline (I), Protherics (I), Robert Wiseman Dairies (I), Sage Group (F), Shaftsbury (F), Synstar (F), Ultaframe (F), Warner Estate Holdings (I),

Barclays Trading Statement Rentokil Trading Statement Mitchells & Butlers Return of Capital. Terms are 68p a share Mitchells & Butlers Consolidation Ex Date. Terms are 12 New Shares for 7

09.30 Nov CIPS Construction Industry PMI 10.30 EEF Quarterly Trends Survey

Chico's

13.30 Total Vehicle Sales 16.3m exp.

Vivendi Universal (Q3), TFI

07.00 Oct German Retail Sales m/m 0.5% exp.

11.00 Oct PPI m/m flat exp. 11.00 Oct Unemployment Rate 8.8% exp.

De Vere Group (F) PBT 38.7m exp. United Utilities (I) PBT 168m exp. Wolverhampton & Dudley (F) PBT 72.5m exp, Upholstery (F), Wagon (I) Expro International (I), Mentmore (I), Reliance Security (I), RPC Group (I), ScS GlaxSmithKline research and development day

British Airways Nov Traffic Figures

08.30 Chancellor Brown Addresses European Finance Convention

09.30 Nov CIPS Services PMI 59.0 exp.

11.00 Nov CBI Distributive Trades 26.0 exp.

Mandalay, QwCommunication (Q)

13.30 3rd Quarter Final Non-Farm Productivity 9.2% exp. 13.30 3rd Quarter Final Unit Labour Costs 5.6% exp. 15.00 Nov Non-Manufacturing ISM 64.0 exp.

Europe: KLM (Traffic)

08.55 Nov German BME Services PMI 54.5 exp. 09.00 Nov BME Services PMI 56.5 exp.

11.00 3rd Quarter GDP Estimate q/q 0.4% exp.

11.00 Commission Publishes 4th & 1st Quarter GDP Forecast

Ex Dividend: 3i Group (5.1), Anglo Irish Bank (EUR 0.1393), Bank Of Ireland (EUR 0.148), Big Food Group (1.1), Body Shop International (1.9), Bodycote International (2.25), Caledonia Investments (8.4), Cranswick (4.4), Croda International (4.02), Daily Mail & General (6.85), Diploma (10), Greencore Group (EUR 0.0758), Helical Bar (6.6), Hill & Smith Holdings (2.15), Johnson Matthey (8.2), Land Securities Group (9.9), London Merchant Securities (2), London Stock Exchange (1.4), Majestic Wine (4.5), Merchant Retail Group (0.75), Pilkington (1.75), SABMiller (US$ 0.075), South Staffordshire (6.1), TBI (0.7), Tate & Lyle (5.6), Town Centre Securities (3.85), United Drug (EUR 0.0297)

AWG (I) PBT 34.1m exp, Holidaybreak (F) PBT 28.2m exp. Mitchells & Butlers (F) PBT 195m exp,

Premier Farnell (Q3) PBT 15.9m exp, Securicor (F) PBT 64m exp. AEA Technology (I), Avon Rubber (F), Dyson Group (I), Findel (I),

Kelda Group (I), Xansa (I)Debenhams (DEB) Offer by Baroness Retail Ex Date. Terms are 470p per share

Cadbury Schweppes Trading Statement

12.00 BOE Rate Announcement

00.01 Nov BRC Shop Price Index Europe: 10.30 NTC, Deloitte & REC Report on Jobs

Dollar General Corp. (DG)

13.30 Initial Jobless Claims (w/e 29/11) 355k exp.

Porsche (F), ThyssenKrup AG (F)

11.00 Oct Preliminary BBK Factory Orders m/m 0.7% exp. 11.00 September Retail Trade m/m

Arla Foods (I),  Berkeley Group (I), Bristol Water Holdings (I)

Associated British Foods (AGM),

P&O Trading Statement, EasyJet Nov Traffic Figures

French Connection Split Expected Ex Date. Terms are 5 shares for 1 RegUS Rights Issues. Terms are 1 share for every 3 @ 28p

13.30 Nov Non-Farm Payrolls 150k exp. 15.00 Oct Factory Orders 2.2% exp. 20.00 Oct Consumer Credit $5.0bn exp.

11.00 Oct German Preliminary Industrial Production m/m 1.3% exp.

Carclo (I), Faupel (I),

Heath (Samuel) & Sons (I) Mitie Group (I),

I-Documentsystems (F), Medisys (F) SCI Entertainment (F), Treatt (F)AGMs Edin.Drgn.Trust (AGM) Estates & Agency Holdings (AGM) JP Morgan Fleming Smaller Cos IT (AGM) Scottish Value Trust (AGM)EAs BRC Nov. retail sales report NIESR monthly GDP report Nov producer price report Oct. Industry/manufacture output

ComputerLand (I), Greene King (I) Halma (I), PHS Group (I), Severn Trent (I) Grainger Trust (F), ITE Group (F) Phytopharm (F) Tadpole Technology (F), Victrex (F)Antisoma (AGM) Interior Services (AGM) Old Mutual South Africa (AGM) RingProp (AGM)Oct trade data (09:30)

Oasis Healthcare (I),

Stagecoach Group (I) Vega Group (I), Henlys Group (F), Sperati (F)Jupiter Financial&Inc Tst (AGM)

Ex Dividend:

European Diamonds (AGM) Narborough Plant (AGM)

Anite (I)Danka Business (AGM)  

Next week catering and pubs dominate the corporate results arena this week when Compass and Scottish & Newcastle, Wolverhampton & Dudley and Mitchells & Butlers issue updates. MondayEuropean PMI will give indications that growth is keeping up with the US

US Expectations are high for healthy November ISM manufacturing and services indexesTuesday

Barclays the UK's third-biggest bank issues a trading update Compass are expected to post a 3% rise in full-year pre-tax profits to 675m with turnover growth of 6% next year boosted by strong performances in education and healthcare Sage are expected to report a 12% increase in full-year pre-tax profits to 151m but this will mainly coming from cost savings and not from growth. So the market will be more interested in the forecast for the next 12 months to see if growth can be renewed in the US & UK and also the possible threat of competition.Scottish & Newcastle now have a new CEO and also disposed of its retail operations to focus on brewing. The group is also changing its year-end from December, so its full-year results on Tuesday will reflect only eight months of trading. The group is set to report profits of 315m compared with 310m last year with most hope for better figures in the next 12 months coming from cost savings rather than growth as worries persist about potential growth in UK and French beer businesses.

Wednesday

Glaxo Smithkline research and development day is likely to be the standout feature in a week and as a market leading stock could give the FTSE direction. GSK could rocket if they release positive news on the developments of cancer and heart disease drugsDe Vere hotels group full-year results on Wednesday are set to show a 3% rise in pre-tax profits to 39m, spurred by growth in its leisure clubs and an improvement in trading in the second half of the year at its hotels and it is expected to improve its profits over the next few years. Wolverhampton & Dudley full year results will show profits cut due to recent disposals by 4% to 71m, although trading has been good because of the summer heatwave. Debt levels are expected to recede. Water group United Utilities is expected to post a profits rise of 5% to 169. Attention will be on information regarding the regulatory price review for 2005-2010, which will not be completed until the end of next year. It has requested to Ofwat for a 12% increase in annual revenues

European services PMI will give confirmation of the economic revival.

Again expectations are high for a healthy US November manufacturing and services figures.Thursday

Cadbury Schweppes issues a trading update, I do have some worries here...Mitchells & Butlers interims should have soared due to the high summer temperatures but competition at its high street portfolio, which includes All-Bar-One, will see pre-tax profits fall by about 7% to 190m. The European Central Bank rate-setting meeting on Thursday is expected to leave rates untouched at 2.0 percent.

12.00 Bank Of England Rate Announcement, no change expected.

Friday

The US November's unemployment figure on Friday are expected, to remain at six percent, and non-farm payrolls to rise by 135,000. But there are some worries here with employment growth lagging in an otherwise rosy economic picture.

Thoughts

Last week I noted the crucial point of the FTSE with its 1 year uptrend meeting its 5 year downtrend. This can be seen in the top left hand corner chart which shows the wedge defining the battle between the Bulls & Bears. These wedges can lead to shorterm volatility as happened last week when a 100 point gain was wiped out by the Friday close. I expected the volatility to be towards the downside and I still hold this view for the week ahead. However we are starting the December trading period so I thought it might be interesting to see how the FTSE has performed over the last 5 years.

It appears that overall December is a very positive Month with 4 out of 5 years showing a gain despite the general downtrend during that period. Leading into Christmas last year there was certainly plenty of pessimism around so a rise was unlikely.  What I find more interesting is that December is far from being a quiet month with it having an average of some 7% Volatility! It might be worth placing a bet that this 5% plus move will happen again this year.

Wishing you all the best for the week & month ahead and as always I really look forward to your thoughts and comments.

David (Crocodile) David@SnappyTrader.com  www.SnappyTrader.com

All the above comments are purely a personal opinion and no investment advice is intended.  Please do your own research.

Sunday News Headlines 30th November

Harrods owner Mohamed al Fayed is preparing a bid for the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, according to the Observer

Stockbroker Collins Stewart has won the bidding battle to buy holiday company Center Parcs UK for about 300 million pounds

The interest rate appears to be having an effect on the housing market, the Nationwide Building Society has said. House prices rose by an average ?1,400 during November, an increase of 1.2% over October. Airline Swiss Chief Executive Andre Dose says a merger with British Airways is a long-term option but not a strategic goal and the immediate focus of the national carrier is on its turnaround plan. In its first major outright bank nationalisation in five years, the Japanese government has said it will take control of big regional lender Ashikaga Bank after inspections showed it was insolvent. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov says there is no chance beleaguered oil major YUKOS might be nationalised. Stansted Airport is likely to get the go-ahead to build a new runway after pollution concerns ruled out expansion of Heathrow in the near future, the Financial Times reports. Wall Street largely unmoved as US holiday runs into weekend - The Scotsman - Sat 29 Nov, 03:00 AM STERLING broke through $1.72 yesterday for the first time in five years - its third record fresh high in three consecutive days.

SUNDAY TIMES

Premiership: Charlton 0 Leeds 1: Milner cashes in for Leeds WH Smith staff face pension hike BAE clinches key accord on Joint Strike Fighter with US Austin Reed Spend! Spend! Spend! but not this Christmas Ryanair pledges cash to punters Capital Radio recruits board talent International Power price could scupper Drax offer MyTravel to axe seventh director William Morrison Winchester Entertainment Scotia Holdings drug pays out first dividend Business digest Manchester United Loan deal lifeline may pull Leeds from brink

Ian Pickering's working day, Manganese Bronze Sharewatch: Persimmon Stanley Leisure gambles on a change in the odds Boots, Next, M&S Are retail stocks a good buy? Dixons, GUS, HOF Are retail stocks a good buy? Carphone Warehouse, WH Smith Are retail stocks a good buy? Andrew Davidson: Taxi maker rides back from exilem Manganese Bronze Working Space, Manganese Bronze Eircom mobile entry to steer clear of Meteor Schroders, Stanley gambles on a change in the odds Belhaven Group Sharewatch: Drink to success Comment: Jill Kerby: Vodafones largesse is really rather small

EMI may step in if BMG talks fade out

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH BNFL to keep US arm Collins Stewart to win Center Parcs Jarvis Norris company faces bankruptcy questions BSkyB Football clubs face financial cataclysm, warns Greg Dyke Diageo put to proof in whisky wars

Pearson Kann's plot to KO the FT

Marks & Spencer Retailers feel the cold as customers bunker down Carlton, Granada, Allen's screen test Vodafone, Orange Attack of the phones Marks & Spencer Hidden costs of cheaper goods BSkyB Regrets, he has a few  

OBSERVER

Granada, Carlton ITV faces a little local difficulty Center Parcs holiday villages go to Collins Stewart for 300m Steel unions put forward rescue plan for ailing Corus Newcastle United Geordie goes to Hollywood

Icap chief Spencer rides storm GKN Baroness of the boardrooms

Sainsbury, Tesco and Asda grow fat at rivals' expense Barclays faces new onslaught over Barrett  

SUNDAY MAIL

Silence that riled Corus's biggest gun Barclays Bank counts the cost of Leeds slump  

BT Group 1,300 jobs go as email phones flop Punch Taverns Pubs 'n' Bars mops up failed Balaclava London Stock Exchange faces bill for millions

C

INDEPENDENT 

WH Smith Newspaper industry facing losses of 100m a year in distribution shake-up

The Week Ahead: Scottish and Newcastle

The Week Ahead: GlaxoSmithKline The Week Ahead: Wolverhampton and Dudley

SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY 

Royal Bank of Scotland linked with 60m bid for Indian bank Robert Wiseman set to bring some festive cheer SMG Wiseman Regions groomed for starring role Scottish and Newcastle set to bring some festive cheer HBOS IF founder on brink of tele-banking return

Inveresk bosses cash in on 135m Nasdaq windfall GlaxoSmithKline looks only moderately healthy

European probe launched into Diageo dispute Apathy forces HBOS to axe its 'banks of the future' BT Group Broadband goal to net more profit British Airways FTSE100 set to welcome back resurgent BA

The Business Fuller Smith & Turner brewer and pub operator is selling more beer despite the shrinking market for ales. It has a solid record which looks set to continue, with the stock - at 592 1/2p - viewed as a good long-term investment. Connaught maintenance services group has just reported a fifth year of growth with turnover up 47% at 159 million. With activities in fragmented markets and the bulk for the government, there is room for more growth. Buy at 356 1/2p.

INVESTORS CHRONICLE  This Year's Portfolio of Top Ten Winners: Danka Business Systems (DNK) - Ashtead Group (AHT) - Pendragon (PDG) - Kier (KIE) - John Menzies (MNZS) - British Polythene (BPI) - European Motor (EMH) - Costain (COST) - Alliance Unichem (AUN) - House of Fraser (HOF).Tips: Buy easyJet (EZJ) at 263p - TT Electronics (TTG) at 112p - Hardman Resources (HNR) at 32p - Cape (CIU) at 63p - Codascisys (CSY) at 273p, Sell Northern Foods (NFDS) at 140p. Updates: Sell Xstrata (XTA) and Invensys (ISYS). Keep buying GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Hold Braemar Seascape (BMS), Get Group (GTG) is good value. Company Results: Buy Workspace (WKP) - Enterprise Inns (ETI) - GUS (GUS), Sell Kingston Communications (KCOM).

SHARES MAGAZINE Plays of the Week Buy Kensington Group (KGN) at 311p - Gympie Gold (GYM) at 24p - Lupus Capital (LUP) at 7.37p - AEA Technology (AAT) at 255p - Ultimate Leisure (ULG) at 255p.Updates: Buy BioProgress (BPRG) and UBC Media (UBC). Hold Intec Telecom (ITL) and Abbeycrest (ACR).Further news: Keep an eye on Henderson Morley (HML).

Croc@SnappyTrader.com  WWW.SnappyTrader.com