Weekend Press

Good morning traders!

A generally positive mood on Asian bourses with the Hang Seng ending the morning session up 44.15 points at 15,082.76 and the Nikkei lately trading up 142.64 points at 12,434.37.

A few early broker notes about this morning.....

DIAGEO UPGRADED TO 'OVERWEIGHT' VS 'NEUTRAL' AT JP MORGAN

JOHNSON MATTHEY UPGRADED TO 'OVERWEIGHT' VS 'NEUTRAL' AT JP MORGAN

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

PEARSON CUT TO 'NEUTRAL' VS 'OUTPERFORM' AT CSFB

LEGAL & GENERAL UPGRADED TO 'NEUTRAL' VS 'UNDERWEIGHT' AT JP MORGAN

Off to see what else I find.....

Happy trading!

G.

AFX UK at a glance share guide

LONDON (AFX) - Leading shares are tipped to start the session lower, with little in the way of corporate news to shake off an uninspiring end to the week on Wall Street and as oil prices remain stubbornly high, dealers said.
CMC Group is indicating the FTSE 100 will open 6 points down at around 5,307, after closing 43.3 points firmer at 5,312.6 on Friday.

MARKETS
Tokyo: Nikkei midday 12,390.66 up 98.93
Hang Seng midday midday 15,082.76 up 44.15



TODAY'S PRESS
* One of Britain's most widely prescribed antidepressants, GLAXOSMITHKLINE's Seroxat, linked to a seven-fold increase in suicide attempts - Times
* Growing alarm over EU market legislation; new plans attacked by banks and investment firms - FT
* Merck's courtroom defeat over Vioxx will deter drug companies from contesting a growing wave of product liability lawsuits, corporate lawyers warn - FT
* MAN GROUP says that "no decision has been taken to separate the Man Financial business from the remainder of the group" following speculation that it is considering selling its brokerage arm - FT
* German tourism and shipping group Tui plans to buy CP Ships its Anglo-Canadian rival, for 1.15 bln stg in a deal that will move its container shipping business into the world top five - FT
* Shareholders in SOMERFIELD urging management to walk away from any bid rather than accept a cut-price offer - FT
* Google sell-off looms as tax penalty falls away - Times
* CELLCAST, a digital entertainment operator, joins AIM in September - Mail

PRESS COMMENT
FT
THE LEX COLUMN comments on JP Morgan Chase (assuming the bank can scotch fears of an underlying problem in investment banking, then the stock, on a 2005 p/e of under 12, does not seem to be factoring in the full kicker to earnings from all those cost savings; true, the high dividend yield of some 4 pct provides some comfort but it is hard to imagine president Jamie Dimon taking great pleasure in such "value stock" connotations), Latin American telecoms (buying Brazil's independent operators now looks like a decent bet), Japanese innovation (Japan will likely have many most dust-gathering gadgets before it turns innovation back into a money-spinner)
Times
SMALLER STOCK TO WATCH: ARDANA (big shareholders expected to dump shares when dealing restrictions are lifted next month)
Independent
Small Talk: Stephen Foley comments on CUSTOMVIS (has two months to persuade investors to save the company; without fresh cash, it will have to stop trading in October), CONSOLIDATED COMMUNICATIONS CORP (3C) (another company facing a cash crunch), CELLCAST (raising 4.5 mln stg in a flotation on AIM next month)

Good Morning all

Good morning and thanks for all the great information above.

Much thanks as always to Greystone & Digger and to SuperMum for her
thoughts. Have a lucky day all
:>)

shares moving today

IQE - on a new UPTREND since last June, results on Wednesday and at the last AGM directors were very bullish.



SER - Small oil and gas company, testing results expected shortly, with plenty of volume today, last trade 2.9M

End of day market wrap