A Brief Look At The Week Ahead

The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee takes centre stage this week with analysts favouing a quarter point reduction in borrowing rates, although a growing number anticipate the bank may go further. On Thursday this week it is the turn of British Land to reveal the extent of write-downs in its commercial property portfolio, with press reports indicating a figure of 1.3bn. may be forthcoming. The mining sector should continue to see action as M&A chatter builds in volume. Reports of a Chinese battle chest set up to thwart BHP Billiton's advances take on additional credibility following the revelation of stake-building last week. A few others to look out for this week will be Sage (Monday), BP and Regent Inns (Tuesday), Aviva (Wednesday) and Rolls-Royce, Smith & Nephew, Glaxo and Unilever (Thursday). Enough there to keep us all busy! Greystone Thanks, as always to Supermum, Kyoto and Digger for their invaluable input to The Traders Thread. (Greystone is Alan English, City Editor at MoneyAM.)

Morning all. Friday's market reports:

Telegraph
The Times
The Times (Need to know)
FT
The Independent
The Guardian
This is Money

Saturday

Chinese state-owned company Chinalco has stunned the market with a daring raid on Rio Tinto, disrupting a potential takeover of Rio by BHP Billiton and risking the wrath of Australia's political establishment.
Rio Tinto rocked by Chinese investment

Chinalco's sudden and dramatic dawn raid on Rio's share register has created a blizzard of questions and speculation. It's obvious that both the Chinese and America's Alcoa, in a Sino-US pact, want a seat at the table when it comes to deciding Rio Tinto's fate.
China's Rio declaration sends a clear message

In not much more than two decades, globalisation has changed China from basket case to economic power, but has left its present-day leaders with two glaring needs.
Globalised China has two glaring needs

The deal to take a 12 per cent stake in the British mining giant went to the top of the Chinese Government.
Move on Rio signals China's iron determination

Fears that the US economy is heading into a recession were compounded by the first fall in employment in almost four-and-a-half years. US employers cut so-called "non-farm" jobs by 17,000 in January, the first job losses since August 2003.
America's job losses 'is a nail in the coffin'

Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays have joined forces with six other banks to work on a $15 billion (7.6 billion) rescue plan for the struggling mortgage bond insurance industry. The consortium will focus on Ambac, Americas second-biggest insurer, before addressing concerns at other insurance firms.
RBS and Barclays join banks in $15bn bond insurer bailout plan

Sunday

The concerns over the monoline bond insurers could rock the capital markets still further.
Monoline concerns could rock capital markets

Banks across the City of London have launched urgent reviews of their security procedures in the wake of the SociGale scandal.
'If I were to say it couldn't happen here, well, that's bullshit'

THE Bank of England is set to cut interest rates from 5.5% to 5.25% this week, but economists warn that the decision could be closer than has been assumed in financial markets.
Bank of England facing biggest rate cut dilemma

City economists predict that the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will be cautious when it meets on Thursday, opting for a quarter-point cut in the cost of borrowing to 5.25 per cent.
Bank to hedge bets with quarter-point cut

Bradford & Bingley is expected to make big write-downs against the value of some of its holdings of SIVs (structured investment vehicles) and other sophisticated financial instruments when it announces results on 13 February.
B&B set for large write-downs

Royal Bank of Scotland would consider offloading assets including part of its minority stake in Bank of China in the event that a deepening crisis in the banking system requires it to raise fresh capital, The Sunday Telegraph has learned.
RBS bids to reassure investors

Prospective buyers from Asia, Europe and South America, including one of China's biggest state-controlled banks, have all made secret approaches to buy Glencore's 14bn stake in Xstrata, the London-listed mining group.
Chinese dig deep for 15bn Xstrata stake

China flexes its economic muscle with Rio Tinto stake.
China marches onwards

Friday's deal led by Chinalco may be the largest Chinese investment in an overseas company, but it is not the first. China has been scouring the world for resources assets, and is now ploughing money into financial services.
China's increasingly bold investments abroad

Why are the SWFs, based mainly in Asia and the Middle East, suddenly in the spotlight? How significant are they? And how should the West react?
Let's not be dummies over sovereign wealth funds

There are increasing fears that Iceland's boom could lead to a heavy bump as a Rock style crisis threatens its banking system.
Is Iceland headed for meltdown?

Global IPO activity hit a 50-month low last month while the number of takeover bids fell to its lowest level since November 2004 as companies shunned the capital markets amid fears of an economic slowdown.
Global IPO's hit 50 month low

Monday

Are we staring into a recessionary abyss? Or are we facing an inflationary blow off?
The Fed cuts rates while the ECB frets over inflation. Which one has it right?

It is one of the givens of economics that currencies fall when interest rates are cut so analysts are wondering what is happening to the dollar. Despite the Fed cutting US rates by 1.25 percentage points over the past two weeks, the dollar has weakened only slightly. Typically, a dramatic fall in interest rates would make returns from Treasury bonds less attractive.
Dollar defies Fed's rate cut

More than 100,000 jobs will be slashed in the retail sector over the next two years as the economic slowdown beings to take its toll.
Fears of 100,000 job losses in retail sector

UK corporate fraud may hit a record high this year as economic growth slows sharply, accountancy firm KPMG has warned.
UK corporate fraud may hit a record high

Money from Russia's newly-created sovereign wealth funds could be diverted to help local banks survive the global credit crunch - suggesting that such funds may be less of a force in global finance than claimed.
Russia should use sovereign wealth to help local banks

Moscow is the most expensive city in the world, like Tokyo before the Nikkei bubble burst. A taxi from Domodedovo airport to the Kremlin costs $170 (86). Property in Ostozhenka trumps Chelsea. Space fetches $30,000 a square metre.
Russian economy succumbs to the oil curse

NIKKEI	AUSTRALIA	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Nikkei was recently up 263.63 points at 13,760.79, while the
Hang Seng ended the morning session up 752.88 points at 24,876.46.

New York's main oil contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, was 3 cents lower at $88.93 a barrel.

Happy trading!

G.

NIKKEI CLOSES UP 362.54 POINTS AT 13,859.70

OUTLOOK - UK companies results for 2 weeks to Feb 15Australian shares close higher as battle for Rio Tinto offsets US concerns

TFN economic and business calendar to Friday Feb 15

TFN UK calendar and forecasts for today

Tokyo shares close sharply higher on Wall Street lead

Thomson Financial UK at a glance share guide - weekend

Australian shares close up as battle for Rio Tinto offsets US concerns - UPDATE

BROKERWATCH Kingfisher upgraded to 'buy' from 'hold' at Deutsche Bank

The Monday Press RoundupLondon shares outlook - up, after NY surge Friday; BoE rate decision in focus

BROKERWATCH BT upgraded to 'neutral' vs 'underweight' by JP MorganThomson Financial UK at a glance share guide

BROKERWATCH Cairn Energy upgraded to 'overweight' at Morgan Stanley

Tokyo shares close sharply higher on Wall Street lead - UPDATE

It's deadline day for Norther Rock (NRK). Sage (SGE) say they are trading in-line with their own expectations, but organic growth is 'moderating'. Mitchells & Butlers (MAB have confirmed that they have received an approach from Punch Taverns (PUB). Wolfson Microelectronics (WLF) is claiming strong revenue growth despite challenging market conditions. Ryanair (RYA) traffic is up 21% and profits are down 27%, its first decline in seven quarters. Travis Perkins (TPK) say they are spending

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It's deadline day for Norther Rock (NRK). Sage (SGE) say they are trading in-line with their own expectations, but organic growth is 'moderating'. Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) have confirmed that they have received an approach from Punch Taverns (PUB). Wolfson Microelectronics (WLF) is claiming strong revenue growth despite challenging market conditions. Ryanair (RYA) traffic is up 21% and profits are down 27%, its first decline in seven quarters. Travis Perkins (TPK) say they are spending 20m to add 24m of revenue as they outgrow the market 'on a like-for-like basis'. Soco International (SIA) are selling their Yemen operation.

Cairn Energy (CNE) has been upgraded to overweight from equal-weight by Morgan Stanley. Kingfisher (KGF) has been upgraded to buy from hold by Deutsche Bank with a 185 target. BT (BT.A) has been upgraded to neutral from underweight with a reduced target of 280 from 285 by JP Morgan.

Among the small caps, Chinese handset manufacturer ZTC say they've won a big order but their ability to fulfill it is dependent on their ability to obtain sufficient working capital. Makers of does it/doesn't it work wireless networking equipment xG Technology (XGT) say they were profitable in January. Profitable gold recoverer and producer Goldplat (GDP) are forming a new South African venture.

The FTSE is currently being called up 30 at 6,059 by CMC. Dow futures are currently being called up 15 at 12,758.

UK smallcap opening - NetPlay TV up on move into profit