Morning all. Up here in sunny Manchester(well its actually still dark at the moment) gearing up for todays Traders' Day. Look forward to seeing many of you later!

LONDON (AFX) - Leading shares are expected to open higher this morning, following strong gains on Wall Street and in Asia overnight, boosted by a five-month low in the price of crude oil futures, dealers said.
Spread bettors IG Index expect the FTSE 100 index to open around 42 points higher having yesterday closed down 16.3 points at 5,423.5.

MARKETS
FTSE 100 5,423.5 down 16.3
FTSE 250 8,005.0 up 15.8
DJIA 10,640.10 up 93.89
Nasdaq Comp 2,196.68 up 20.87
S&P 500 1,230.96 up 10.31
Tokyo: Nikkei 14,155.06 up 74.18
Hang Seng midday 14,755.32 up 121.99
Gold 467.00 usd (464.0 usd)
Oil - Brent Dec 55.68 usd (56.88 usd)

TODAY'S PRESS
* LLOYDS TSB in talks to merge Scottish Widows fund arm with FORTIS -
Independent
* MAN GROUP wins auction for Refco's futures business with bid of 323 mln usd
including debt - FT
* US buy-out firm Carlyle is behind the takeover approach to KINGSTON COMMUNICATIONS which could value the firm ay over 400 mln stg - FT
* COMPASS GROUP prepares travel concessions unit for 1 bln stg auction - FT
* Sweden's SAS keen to rid itself of 20 pct stake in BMI - FT
* AEGIS vows to keep Vincent Bollore off its board - Guardian
* 3i GROUP 'ready to give back more cash' - Telegraph
* BRITISH AIRWAYS accused of betrayal by architects of London Eye after
agreeing its third share in the attraction to Tussards Group - FT
* ALLIANZ preparing to la-off up to 11,000 staff, most of them in Germany - FT
* Gerald Ronson's Heron in 67 mln stg Club Med hotels deal - Times
* OFT launches price-fixing investigation into milk producers and leading
supermarkets over efforts to increase the price of diary products - FT
* Buy-out groups cautioned by ratings firm Fitch - FT

PRESS COMMENT
FT
The Lex Column: Refco (The legal complexities may cause some delays, but the
risk is probably worth it for MAN GROUP which, having won the auction, is
likely to walk away with a bargain); E.ON/SCOTTISH POWER (With little pressure
to return cash to shareholders, SCOTTISH POWER -- at the right price -- will
do for now for E.ON. But a long engagement is in order); UK interest rates
(debt will remain a huge disincentive to spend. Against this backdrop. a
happy Christmas seems unlikely. A rate cut in the New Year, however, does
not); AEGIS (Unless Vincent Bollore has grander designs increasing his stake
in AEGIS beyond 20 pct is difficult to explain. One possible explanation could
be a bid for AEGIS by HAVAS, a deal with strategic merit - the problem is
HAVAS's ability to finance it); ING (Claims there has been a step-change in
ING's fundamental profitability is starting to look credible. If so, there is
room for the group's valuation to catch up); LIBERTY MEDIA (Given the
unsatisfactory structure of tracker stocks, and the hotch-potch of assets that
would sit in the structure, LIBERTY MEDIA's is likely to trade at a discount
to its true value) -- Markets: SAINSBURY (rumours Brandes was increasing its
holding yesterday); PD PORTS (talk Hastings Fund Management of Australia ready
to walk away from takeover talks); BUSINESS POST (takeover talk continues;
FEDEX and DEUTSCHE POST mentioned)

Investors Chronicle
Tips: SCOTTISH & NEWCASTLE (buy); ALIZYME (buy); GREYSTAR RESOURCES (buy);
ARMOUR (buy); DMATEK (buy)

Daily Telegraph
Questor: INVENSYS (clear sell); DAIRY CREST (worth holding); AVEVA (buy)

Times
Rumour of the day: LLOYDS TSB (in talk with FORTIS about asset management
business merger) -- Tempus: BT GROUP (sell); PUNCH TAVERNS (buy); INVENSYS
(hold)

Independent
Investment Column: ROYAL & SUN ALLIANCE (moves from a hold to a buy); CAIRN ENERGY (worth holdings); SABMIller (avoid)

Daily Mail
Market Report: NANOSCIENCE (Herald Investment Trust acquires 4.8 pct stake);
WM. MORRISON (rumours Philips Green could agree a deal)

Daily Express
Market Report: OAKDENE HOMES (talk close to announcing a land purchase)

Good morning all and have a great Traders Day Greystone and all who attend.