Hello traders!

Many thanks to Supermum for setting her thoughts into words for us. A really good read. I wish her well in all her endeavours! :-)

Having some problems sourcing the news today but I'll update that section as soon as possible.

Hope you are all enjoying a great weekend and avoiding the foul weather.

Happy trading!

G.

News section now updated. Apologies for the delay. G.

Greystone

thanks as always

Supermum

a great read and a nice insight. i will quite happily confirm your charting skills as well as your willingness to help those of us who thinks they are just lines on a page (i.e me - or at least me a year ago)

Afternoon all,could be a good week ahead me thinks theres a few that i own that have something to say,,,,could be quids in.
Come on ,,mtn,sbry,pic .
Lets hope the bottom falls out of wlw,sorry you holders but i cant see there being many of you left..

daves dazzlers - This smidgeon of news might give WLW a boost....

Tesco and Asda have bought seven out-of-town Big W stores from Woolworths in a deal thought to be worth hundreds of millions of pounds. The stores, the only ones in the 21-strong Big W chain with planning permission for food retailing, are being split between the two supermarkets after a hotly contested auction. Asda is believed to have paid up to 50m for one site.

Greystone,i can only go by my local branch,and thats had a very rough time..
Willing to buy wlw again,but at what price 36 or under me thinks..

DD

evening mate - how u doing

Wife went to matalan today for the first time - said the shop was full of cr*p but that the queue at the tills was 30 yds long with 6 tills open! Considering she said there was nothing worth buying she still managed to spend 60!!!

Evening fundy,full of crap!!!!i think your getting it mixed up with m&s.
All matalan merchandise is top quality compared to last year,,cough/cough!!Did have a tip today from joe,,over the water in ireland first race,,missed it went out with the tinlids,,it won i bet,,,marcel de builes of something like that it was called .

Supermum - Good luck with your dream - an interesting read and hope 2005 is especially kind to you!

Fundy it won 12/1,same jockey.

Thanks supermum. Not a fan of charts but a good post.

MARKETS
FTSE 100 4,854.1 up 29.8
FTSE 250 6,964.0 up 43.1
DJIA 10,603.96 down 18.92
Nasdaq Comp 2,088.61 down 1.39
S&P 500 1,186.19 down 1.7
Gold 418.45 usd (422.37 usd)
Oil - Brent Feb 43.38 usd (42.85 usd)

BREAKING NEWS - WEEKEND
* BARCLAYS has held merger talks with US rival Wells Fargo that could lead to the creation of a global banking giant worth almost 100 bln stg; the high-level discussions, which took place in October and November, involved "mutual exchanges" and "due diligence" between the two banks, according to a source close to both - Sunday Express
* TESCO trounces all of its rivals; the UK's largest supermarket is expected to report sales up by between 5-10 pct - even though last year was also good with increases of 7.5 pct - Mail on Sunday
* J SAINSBURY will admit on Thursday that it has failed to increase sales in the crucial three-month period to Christmas, casting a further pall over the future of what was once the UK's largest grocer; a senior industry source with links to the supermarket group says the company will report a fall in sales of up to 3 pct, excluding petrol, when compared with the same period in 2003 - Independent on Sunday
* TESCO and Asda have bought seven out-of-town Big W stores from WOOLWORTHS, in a deal thought to be worth hundreds of millions of pounds - Sunday Telegraph
* British Retail Consortium is expected tomorrow to reveal that overall December sales were 1 pct down on the previous year - Independent on Sunday
* EADS beats Boeing to a 1 bln usd (530 mln stg) contract to supply air-to-air refuelling tankers to Australia, a win that signals the European aerospace company is making inroads into another market previously dominated by its American arch-rival - The Business
* The EU this weekend was condemned by charities for increasing tariffs on imports from Thailand, only days after parts of the country were devastated by the tsunami - The Business
* BSKYB is believed to have added up to 170,000 new subscribers in the three months to the end of December - Mail on Sunday
* It's official: the BBC is a turn-off; industry body Barb will tomorrow report that the BBC's overall share of viewers dropped from 38.3 pct in 2003 to 36.62 pct in 2004, a fall of just under 4.5 pct - Observer
* Rolly Crawford, head of investment trusts at COLLINS STEWART, emerges as one of the key figures still under investigation by the Financial Services Authority for his alleged role in the split capital trusts scandal - Mail on Sunday
* Saatchi rebel holds key to LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE deal; David Herro, head of investment at Chicago-based Harris Associates, controls almost 10 pct of Euronext and 3.4 pct of Deutsche Borse, both of which are are vying for control of the LSE - Mail on Sunday
* LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE working to a timetable of announcing a preferred takeover offer from either Deutsche Borse or its rival Euronext by the end of this month - Sunday Telegraph
* RATHBONE BROTHERS, the listed private client stockbroker and fund manager, hires Hawkpoint to look at a possible sale of the business - Sunday Telegraph
* GOLD FIELDS, the South African mining group that is subject to a 3.2 bln stg hostile bid from rival HARMONY, will this week set out terms for a friendly deal - Sunday Telegraph
* Aer Lingus plots low-cost rival to RYANAIR - The Business
* Call of the wi-fi: mobile phone calls at a fraction of the price; UK research firm Analysys says the move to voice over internet and away from standard land lines could cost European fixed line telecos as much as 4.5 bln stg in lost revenue through 2008; now, voice over internet is starting to harass mobile operators, too - The Business
* Post Office will this week go head to head with BT in the phones market; Post Office's new service, HomePhone, is designed to offer subscribers 20 pct savings compared with an average BT residential customer - Mail on Sunday
* Telecoms watchdog Ofcom to launch a major crackdown on the abuse of expensive call centre numbers - Mail on Sunday
* UK government to launch preliminary talks with US engineering giants Bechtel and Lockheed Martin this week on the potential sale of British Nuclear Group, the clean-up arm of state-run UK nuclear company BNFL - The Business
* HSBC pulls out of 1.7 bln stg bidding for Korean First Bank, leaving the field open for STANDARD CHARTERED - The Business
* ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND will develop Formula One branded credit cards and bank accounts after signing a 30 mln stg sponsorship deal with the Williams F1 team last week - Sunday Express
* BP's Russian arm gearing up for a row with disgruntled minority shareholders in its 600 or so subsidiary companies when it unveils how many shares in TNK-BP they will be offered for their holdings on Friday - The Business
* MARKS & SPENCER confirms City's fears as dismal Christmas trade sparks profits warning - Saturday FT
* Stuart Rose, chief executive of MARKS & SPENCER, pledges to return the retailer's share price to more than 400 pence - or admit failure - Sunday Times
* Peace hopes hit as police blame IRA for bank job; Northern Ireland political divide widens; estimate of haul raised to 26.5 mln stg - Saturday FT
* JO Hambro, the venture-capital group, is the secret bidder behind last month's approach to the ports company SIMON GROUP - Sunday Times
* NEW LOOK boss Phil Wrigley hints the fashion chain could be floated this time next year - Sunday Express
* Apax Partners understood to be the bidder for FLOORS 2 GO, the flooring retailer - Sunday Times
* LA TASCA, the fast-growing tapas chain, is to become the first significant restaurant group to float for several years after appointing advisers for a 50 mln stg AIM listing - Sunday Times
* Angry shareholders in EUROTUNNEL plotting a new revolt against the group's creditors - Sunday Express
* India sets in train two big energy deals with Iran and Russia, underlying its rivalry with China in the race to secure the oil and gas to fuel rapid economic growth - Saturday FT
* Senior partners of Cazenove set to share a pay-out of almost 34 mln stg after the stockbroker's decision to join forces with JP Morgan - Saturday FT
* Troubled pub company REGENT INNS axes a quarter of the staff at its head office - Mail on Sunday
* Daily Star cuts its weekday cover price almost 60 pct to 15 pence in a move that could trigger a price war with rival titles - Saturday FT
* Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders statistics show that 2004 failed to beat the previous year's record of 2.57 mln cars by just 11,000 units
* Housing market continues its unsteady course as Halifax reports house prices increased by 1.1 pct in December following two months of falls in October and November
* SHELL finally parts company with Judy Boynton, the first woman to become one of its managing directors; she leaves with a 522,000 stg payoff and total entitlements of about 1.7 mln stg - Saturday Mail
* Digital market helps boost music industry; number of albums sold rose 2.6 pct to 163.4 mln last year - British Phonographic Industry
* Pirc attacks remuneration policies at BOC
* Absa's rising share price is complicating efforts by BARCLAYS to acquire a majority stake in the South African bank for more than 2 bln stg - Saturday FT
* Future of Swan Hunter, Tyneside's last shipbuilder, cast into fresh doubt with the revelation it has been frozen out of key discussions on the industry's future; five other UK companies involved in building ships and submarines for the Ministry of Defence have discussed forming two joint ventures - Sunday Express
* South Africa's government ignored the advice of its air force chiefs and bought 24 Hawk jets from BAE SYSTEMS, Britain's biggest defence company, costing twice as much as a competing aircraft from Italy - Saturday Telegraph
* LOGICACMG concludes a deal to buy a 60 pct controlling interest in Edinfor, the Portuguese IT services company, for 57 mln stg
* ADAMIND, the mobile messaging technology company jointly owned by EMBLAZE and Philips, set for AIM float with 35 mln stg tag - Saturday FT
* Andrew Procter, one of the Financial Services Authority's top investigators, lured away by Deutsche Bank, one of the companies he is responsible for regulating - Saturday Independent

SATURDAY PRESS COMMENT
FT
THE LEX COLUMN comments on MARKS & SPENCER (a (Philip Green) bid above the current share price would require either a larger equity component or even higher leverage; in a much less favourable trading environment, that seems a great deal to ask), Credit downgrades, US payrolls (for now, rather than requiring an excuse for raising interest rates, the Fed would need a strong reason not to keep inching them higher), Constellation Brands - Weekend share watch: BARCLAYS (investors banking on a strong performance; on a forward p/e of 10.9 - higher than ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND on 10.5), BRITISH LAND (now trading above triple net asset value - in effect the break-up value of the company - of 844 pence a share; investors should note it is more vulnerable to any future falls in the price of commercial property), DANKA BUSINESS SYSTEMS (remains risky)

Mail
ISOFT (growing speculation of a possible bid) - MYTRAVEL (sell from hold - Deutsche Bank) - INVESTMENT EXTRA: ITM POWER (a high-risk share; buyers should set a 'stop loss' at 50 pence); ALTIUS MINERALS CORPORATION (worth watching)

Guardian
WILLIAM HILL (speculation its upcoming trading statement will disappoint) - ISOFT (rumour it has attracted predatory interest from a US rival, said to be GE Medical) - FLOORS 2 GO (talk it is set to recommend a cash offer) - EIDOS (quashes speculation that it will be acquired at a premium to yesterday's closing price)

Telegraph
ISOFT (talk it could be snapped up by EDS, IBM or GE Medical) - PIPEX COMMUNICATIONS (speculation it will announce a tie-up with EASYNET) - QUESTOR COLUMN: Questor's selections for 2005 are BSKYB, ICAP, FKI, PREMIER FARNELL, PENDRAGON, BUSINESS POST (Goldman Sachs is again creating a covered certificate to track the portfolio)

Independent
Private Investor: Sean O'Grady tops up his holding in SPORTINGBET - No Pain, No Gain: Derek Pain comments on MERRYDOWN (on balance, I think it best to hang on), AVON RUBBER (respirator potential still considerable), WYATT (acquisition of a drug-testing business could be near and new shares are being created for takeover ammunition)

Express
IMAGINATION TECHNOLOGIES (rumours of a US licensing deal worth nearly 12 mln stg) - CAPE (suggestions annual profits will be boosted by lower head office costs and improved margins) - LONDON SCOTTISH BANK (revived takeover rumours) - GLADSTONE (suggestions of robust trading over the past quarter)

Times
GALLAHER (suggestions that rumoured predator Japan Tobacco may instead turn its attention to Turkey's Tekel) - TEMPUS: The old rule applies: small is a better long-term bet; a trawl of the Hemscott database suggests that EMI, LOGICACMG, MORSE, DIPLOMA, UMECO and YELL are worth a look; buy them

SUNDAY PRESS COMMENT
The Business
THE ALCHEMIST: ARC INTERNATIONAL (Arc's cash pile obscures a very lowly valuation for the business, which gives the shares a solid upside potential) - SMALL-CAP INVESTOR: ARC INTERNATIONAL (speculative buy) - AIM INVESTOR: PRINTING.COM (business model looks sound, and the rate of growth in both earnings and turnover is very impressive, if a little daunting) - BENCHMARK: Grant Clelland comments on merger and acquisition activity in France (off to a running start), NEXT (is the recent announcement just a reflection of bad luck, or the sign of a deeper malaise Shareholders, who have enjoyed a good ride over the past few years, will be hoping it is the former), CNOOC/Unocal (Unocal investors would be wise to see the colour of CNOOC's money before agreeing to any offer)

Mail on Sunday
MIDAS selects three interesting chart situations in the Footsie: ROYAL & SUN ALLIANCE (worth a punt ahead of March's final results), GLAXOSMITHKLINE (chartists detect a breakthrough for GSK's shares above a resistance line at 1,200 pence), CAIRN ENERGY (for traders only) - COMPANIES AND MARKETS: NORTHERN FOODS (to issue a profits downgrade next week, according to insiders), KBC HOLDINGS (Kwik-Fit founder Sir Tom Farmer set to return to the stock market this week when his managed-office company KBC is taken over by listed shell company TECC-IS), MANCHESTER UNITED (rules out giving US tycoon Malcolm Glazer access to its books as a way of resolving the protracted takeover saga at the world's richest football club)

Sunday Times
JUDGMENT DAY: SHOULD YOU BUY SHARES IN BURBERRY Andy Brough, fund manager at Schroders, says sell, but Tim Steer, fund manager at New Star, says buy - INSIDE THE CITY: John Waples comments on SPIRIT (some time this year, Karen Jones, chief executive of managed pubs group Spirit, will bring her 2,000 pub estate to the market, and it will attract a lot of attention), LAURA ASHLEY (if Malaysian tycoon Dr Khoo Peng believes he can save the company he should take it private; while it remains public the only benefit it is providing is for our amusement); MARKET MOLE: RATHBONE BROTHERS (Roger Whiteoak picks up 100,000 shares for the Framlington UK Smaller Companies unit trust and 80,000 shares for the Throgmorton investment trust, which now holds 0.5 pct of the 342 mln stg Liverpool-based stockbroker) - DIRECTORS' DEALS: ARRIVA (managing director sells nearly 67,000 shares at 533 pence)

Observer
Frank Cane's investment recommendation for 2005 is CRESTON - THROG STREET: Heather Connon comments on commercial property (it would be optimistic to expect a repeat of the past decade of generous returns), ABERDEEN ASSET MANAGEMENT (investors should use any temporary weakness as an opportunity to top up), UBC MEDIA (remains a speculative punt, but Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein's Richard Menzies-Gow argues that the downloading business alone could easily account for current market capitalisation in time). 'Even without an aggressive assumption for downloading, the shares look relatively cheap')

Independent on Sunday
CABLE & WIRELESS (rumours C&W is considering selling its business in the ex-Portuguese colony of Macau appear wide of the mark; well-placed sources say C&W is keen to hold on to its profitable operations in Macau)

Sunday Telegraph
Penguin loses the plot; a state-of-the-art warehouse was designed to improve efficiency in the PEARSON empire but it created chaos and delivery delays (BUSINESS p.5) - Is Wolfson storing up trouble The biggest concern on NEXT is that its underlying sales momentum is slowing yet it is continuing to pile on new space (BUSINESS p.6) - EQUITY VIEW - BLUE CHIP VALUES: ENTERPRISE INNS (bank some gains), GKN (even without a bid, the shares are a long-term bet); Look who's trading: MEARS GROUP (director sells 195,000 shares at 206 pence; shares should have further to go; but they are trading on a p/e of 26, well above rivals CONNAUGHT and ENTERPRISE, which suggests there is better value elsewhere); SMALL CAP COMMENT: TT ELECTRONICS (now would be a good time to lock in those profits), STANLEY LEISURE (we are sellers at least down to 350 pence), CONNAUGHT (still decent value), ITOUCH (look good value, but are a risky punt) - breaking views: LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE (European egos put a grin on Furse's face), TESCO (trades on around 17 times estimated earnings, which is cheap when you consider its record of beating market forecasts) - TAKING STOCK: Edmond Jackson comments on MAJESTIC WINE, MANAGEMENT CONSULTING GROUP (so long as the international economy stays firm, shares in this group should rise), SANCTUARY (ought to be rated better)

Sunday Express
David Parsley comments on MARKS & SPENCER (don't bank on Green move for M&S yet), MANCHESTER UNITED (US tycoon Malcolm Glazer is carefully plotting his next move; I hear he has even received a promise of funding from his former backers at JP Morgan - but only if he succeeds with a friendly approach) - Tune in to sound of radio consolidation; City believes a bid by EMAP for the 72 pct of SCOTTISH RADIO HOLDINGS it does not own is the most likely next deal (FINANCIAL p.6)

JOHNSON MATTHEY UPGRADED TO 'BUY' AT MERRILL LYNCH

CRODA CUT TO 'NEUTRAL' VS 'BUY' AT MERRILL LYNCH

morning all

MARKETS
Tokyo: Nikkei closed
Hang Seng (midday) 13,563.17 down 11.69

BREAKING NEWS - MONDAY
* Blair and Brown try to paper over cracks; no sign that arguments over election have been settled - FT
* STANDARD CHARTERED enters into an agreement to buy Korea First Bank for about 3.3 bln usd in cash
* STANDARD CHARTERED preparing a share placing to raise around 1 bln stg after the UK-listed emerging markets bank last night looked set to win the auction for Korea First Bank with a bid that values South Korea's eighth-largest bank at about 1.78 bln stg - FT
* GLAXOSMITHKLINE launching a 3.5 mln stg Italian marketing campaign for anti-smoking products as pharmaceutical groups gear up to cash in where their rivals in the tobacco sector are losing out - FT
* Canary Wharf's owners may sell more than 1 bln stg of property in the next few months to take advantage of strong market conditions - FT
* UNITED CARPETS, the UK's third-largest retail flooring group, preparing to float on AIM early next month with a valuation of about 20 mln stg, bucking the trend for retailers to go private - FT
* New rules spark higher premiums fear; Norwich chief warns FSA insurance regime will ad pages of paperwork and cost customers 2.80 stg per policy - Telegraph
* NATIONAL GRID TRANSCO threatened with na fine of as much as 12 mln stg a year if there are other major power cuts like the ones experienced in London and Birmingham last year - Telegraph

MONDAY PRESS COMMENT
FT
THE LEX COLUMN comments on Oil acquisitions, US Treasuries, IPO auctions
Independent
Small Talk: Stephen Foley comments on UNITED CARPETS (planning stock market flotation), BELGRAVIUM TECHNOLOGIES (wins its biggest ever single order, worth in the region of 750,000 stg), SECTORGUARD (watch out for news of a maiden dividend), MATRIX COMMUNICATIONS (full-year results today), ONETV (starts broadcasting next Monday), Tips from Dresdner: T CLARKE, NSB RETAIL, ABACUS, BRAMMER, UBC MEDIA

Morning all.

Shares in Allied Domecq PLC and Pernod Ricard SA have been downgraded to 'hold' from 'buy' at Deutsche Bank, dealers said.

In a note to clients on the beverages sector, the German broker said that for the first time since 1999, it was turning more cautious on the spirits sector after a significant re-rating of the industry, hence the downgrade on Allied and Pernod.

Deutsche Bank reduced its estimates for the spirits industry by 2-4 pct to account for recent US dollar weakness and cut its stance on the sector to 'neutral'.

In contrast, Deutsche Bank argued that the brewing sector 'offers investors the scope to participate in buoyant economic conditions in many emerging markets this year'.

It said it recommends an 'overweight' position in the sub-sector and remains positive on InBev and Scottish & Newcastle PLC, as the likelihood of earnings upgrades in 2005 'should ensure their continued outperformance'.

At 8.15 am, shares in Allied Domecq lost 2 pence to 501 and Pernod Ricard dropped 0.7 eur to 113.5, while shares in InBev were up 0.08 eur at 28.98 eur, and Scottish & Newcastle was unchanged at 433 pence.

Shares in Diageo PLC fell in early trade after Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein downgraded its rating on the stock to 'hold' from 'add' after a strong run, dealers said.

STOCKWATCH RWE, Centrica upgraded, Scottish & Southern downgraded by WestLB