A Brief Look At The Week Ahead

This shortened week's diary looks pretty sparse as far as company results go, with most of the corporate action due on Wednesday and Thursday. On the economic front, the underlying strength of the housing market is expected to be underscored by official figures showing that mortgage lending in July was 9.2bn, a two-year high. Alongside home loans data, consumer credit figures should show a relatively modest rise of around 0.8bn as higher interest rates start to bite. Much is expected from Corus, which reports interim figures on Wednesday. The company will come under pressure to say whether there have been any bid approaches, with rumours rife that Evraz, Russia's largest steel producer is a possible suitor. (Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea football club, has a 41% stake in Evraz.) Corus is expected to reveal an increase in profits, from 334m to 350m. Also on Wednesday, Signet, another company with bidders hovering, is expected to publish half-year results showing sales up by at least 5.2%, driven by a strong performance in the US where the group operates more than 1,200 stores. At home, where it has just under 600 stores, trading has been more mixed. Takeover interest has been fired by reports of a 2bn-plus bid from venture capitalists Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Apax, although a report in the Sunday Telegraph suggests the bid plan has now been ditched. Drinks group Diageo is expected to produce full-year profits of around 2.1bn, up from 1.9bn on Thursday. It is anticipated that premium brands such as Johnnie Walker and Smirnoff have done well, while lower-priced drinks, particularly in mainland Europe and Ireland, have not performed so strongly. The future of the Hard Rock Cafe chain will be a focus when Rank Group reports first-half results on Friday. Rank intends to concentrate on its gaming assets, bingo and provincial casinos, and hopes to raise around 570m from the sale of Hard Rock and Delux, which provides services to the film industry. Rank's first-half profits are expected to be around 44m against 42m last year. The modest rise is largely due to bingo taking a hit from the smoking ban and the World Cup, and the heatwave denting casino takings. Amongst others in the spotlight this week are :- Bunzl on Tuesday; Johnston Press and LogicaCMG on Wednesday; Amec and Serco on Thursday; and Rightmove on Friday. I'm sure there is enough there to create some interesting opportunities for traders to profit. Good hunting! Greystone (Greystone is Alan English, City Editor at MoneyAM.) PS - Supermum is taking a break this weekend........

Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Hang Seng closed the morning up 141.34 points at 17,063.63, while the Nikkei was recently up 104.98 points at 15,867.57.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, was down 19 cents at $70.42 a barrel from its close of $70.61 in the US, where it had dropped $1.90.

Happy trading!

G.

Morning all.

Good morning all

"UPS" (Added by Master RSI on Tue 29 Aug 09:36 am)

AHT - Mid 131.675p
Reason on the new uptrend, after the long drop once the Right Isue was announced at 100p, now due to be taken up by tomorrow, a good take up should continue the bounce

Another "UPS" for today

CSH - 14.50 / 15.50p
Reason - The second face of the UPTREND on the chart is now taking place, as buyers are coming back at this lower prices

Midday Market Roundup

       LUNCH TIME FUN

End-of-day Market Roundup

        JOKE OF THE DAY

woman to woman
One day in the Garden of Eden, Eve calls out to God.
"Lord, I have a problem!"

"What's the problem, Eve?"
"Lord, I know you created me and provided this beautiful garden
and all of these wonderful animals and that hilarious comedic snake,
but I'm just not happy."

"Why is that, Eve?" came the reply from above.

"Lord, I am lonely, and I'm sick to death of apples."

"Well Eve, in that case, I have a solution.
I shall create a man for you."

"What's a man, Lord?"

"This man will be a flawed creature, with many bad traits.
He'll lie, cheat, and be vainglorious; all in all, he'll
give you a hard time. But... he'll be bigger, faster,
and will like to hunt and kill things.
He will look silly when he's aroused, but since you've been
complaining, I'll create him in such a way that
he will satisfy your physical needs.
He will be witless and will revel in childish things
like fighting and kicking a ball about.
He won't be too smart, so he'll also need your advice to think properly."

"Sounds great." says Eve, with an ironically raised eyebrow.
What's the catch, Lord?"

"Well... you can have him on one condition."

"What's that, Lord?"

"As I said, he'll be proud, arrogant, and self-admiring...
So you'll have to let him believe that I created him first.
Just remember, it's our little secret...
You know, woman to woman."