What the Sunday Newpapers say

SUNDAY TIMES - Some of Marks & Spencer's biggest shareholders back Philip Green's demand to be given details of the true size of its pension fund black hole. - William Morrison stands by family after 9.8 million share sell-off - Clive Cowdery, the insurance entrepreneur, is in a race against time to raise 500 million from wealthy individuals in order to clinch the 928 million acquisition of the closed UK life business put up for sale by Royal & Sun Alliance - Quinlan consortium of Ireland one of eight bidders that have approached Chelsfield to acquire Wentworth - Luke Johnson has bought a chain of Mayfair bingo clubs in a bid to take advantage of the shake-up of Britain's gambling laws - Cable & Wireless to unveil a new voice-over internet telephone service that could save Britain's companies a combined 800 million a year - ECI Ventures, the group behind Cafe Rouge and Bella Italia, has completed a refinancing to raise an extra 13.5 million of debt from Barclays to pay for 20 new restaurants - The private-equity arm of Legal & General has raised 180 million for its fourth fund since Adrian Johnson joined as chief executive. - The upmarket womenswear chain Hobbs could be heading for a 100 million sale or flotation after appointing Hawkpoint to examine its options for the future - Allianz emerges as a late frontrunner to buy Four Seasons Care chain for 775 million Inside the City: - Brian Gilbertson's presence on the board of Vedanta Resources can be enough to win confidence for investors - Jim Slater believes there is more value in Cairn Energy. Citywire Market Mole: - Strong recent results from Findel have enticed a handful of investors to buy the shares. Judgment Day: - Should you buy shares in Photo-Me International? Yes. Other comment: - Interview Tom Alexander of Virgin Mobile.

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH- Fate of Marks & Spencer hangs on pension fund. - Philip Green approached Sainsbury a year ago with a 6.4 billion offer - Virgin Mobile to trump Vodafone on dividends to bolster 1 billion float - Thales of France close to securing a contract to supply the UK's next generation of unmanned reconnaissance planes. - Rail chiefs puzzled by Jarvis's 26 million write-off - US vulture funds have been buying up debt in Eurotunnel Equity Review: - Take profits at Cable & Wireless - Sell Regal Petroleum at 412.5p - Keep buying GlaxoSmithKline at 11.15 - Buy Homeserve at 671.5p - Buy Unity Group at 195.5p - Buy Babcock International at 126.5p - Buy Hays at 123.25p (Look Who's Trading) Taking Stock with Edmond Jackson: - Use bricks and mortar to build up your net worth (George Wimpey) - Planestation should delist to AIM - Honeygrove could still offer potential Other comment: - Mobile operator 3 set to break into the black in the UK and Europe - FKI signs up Gordon Page of Cobham as its new chairman - Interview Ed Balls, who is leaving his job as economic adviser to the Treasury - Profile David Coulthard - Business Focus on Centrica - Interview Justin King of Sainsbury

OBSERVER  - New chairman of BAE Systems Dick Olver has ordered a root-and-branch review of the group that could pave the way for a significant restructuring - Marks & Spencer chief Stuart Rose to offer shareholders a 750 million sweetener when he unveils his rescue plans next week. - Government preparing to appoint a City bank to carry out a valuation of Channel 4 prior to a possible 1 billion sell-off - Sainsbury faces a 10 billion takeover bid by American private equity groups if new management cannot lift the firm's fortunes within three months Throg Street: - Taylor Woodrow's trading statement this week is keenly await for signs that chief executive Ian Napier is buying less land and building fewer houses - Hitting the high notes at Abbey National - Muddling through at Matalan - Gossip that Cable & Wireless is planning an Initial Public Offering of its international operations.

MAIL ON SUNDAY - Marks & Spencer pensions hole threatens Philip Green's bid - WPP Group is targeting Grey Global amid indications that Procter & Gamble would not object to WPP's link with rival Unilever - iTouch signs licensing agreement for Shrek - Victoria to submit a planning application for a potentially highly lucrative change of use for surplus land in Kidderminster - Citywire Secret Dealings: Patrick Evershed of New Start Select Opportunities has built up a secret stake in Floors-2-Go. Midas Column: - Wolverhampton & Dudley a good growth story. Portfolio update: - Disaster at Henlys pummels portfolio; best showing in portfolio so far is Diploma with Premier Farnell up, but ITV down. Other comment - BSkyB bosses in clash over lost bonuses - Investors should keep an eye on Earthport.

THE BUSINESS - New BBC director-general Mark Thompson is actively considering selling the whole of the Corporation's commercial arm BBC Worldwide - WPP Group and Publicis believed to have signed non-disclosure agreements in their hunt for Grey Global, which is expected to attract bids of up to 660 million Benchmark: - Euro Disney wins a stay of execution but the future is cloudy - National Grid Transco is developing a taste for bold and surprising strategic moves - Sainsbury investors who hope Sir Peter Davis's departure will mark the end of the bad times should think twice before sinking ant money back into the business Inside the Market: - Tech investor: can Virgin Mobile be worth between 1.3 billion and 700 million? - Small Cap Investor: United Drug a good long-term investment - AIM Investor: Buy Cardpoint Other comment: - Sainsbury's revolt grows as Sir Peter Davis clings to pay-off.

SUNDAY EXPRESS - Easyjet found Stelios Haji-Ioannou is working on a 650 million plan to take the airline private - Collins Stewart will tomorrow confirm it has bought PD Ports, worth 550 million, through an accelerated initial public offering it has pioneered - Tesco close to signing a deal to open stores in China - Legal & General Ventures, Blackstone and Craigmoor expected to acquire the Four Seasons Health Care Group within days - iSoft signs up Shrek in global licensing deal - Royal Mail links up with Cable & Wireless to offer a landline phone service aiming for 5% of the market within five years - Roger Mathews, finance director at Sainsbury, expected to be next in the firing line - Interview Muir Lockhead of FirstGroup

INDEPENDENT - Philip Green to raise offer to 8.8 billion in third strike at Marks & Spencer. - Kingston Communications must recapture the hearts and minds of Hull. - Shareholders are planning to urge J Sainsbury's new chairman, - Harrods has broken ranks with the rest of the retail sector by hitting out at the "limited competition" in the store card market. - The future of Jarvis, the construction group, was thrown into doubt yesterday after the company admitted it had breached its banking covenants after massive write-downs and a ballooning of debt. - Legal & General, the UK's fourth biggest insurer, issued a bullish trading statement yesterday, announcing a 20 per cent increase in second quarter new business volumes and heralding the return of consumer confidence to the financial services market.

INVESTORS CHRONICLETips:Buy Boots (BOOT.L) at 683p - Tops Estates (TOPS.L) at 314p - Tandem (TND.L) at 20p - Firestone Diamonds (FDI.L) at 51p - Stadium (SDM.L) at 71p.Tip Updates:Buy National Grid Transco (NGT.L) and RMC Group (RMC.L).Company Results:Buy Computerland UK (CPU.L) - David S Smith (SMDS.L) - Xansa (XAN.L) - Parkdean Holidays (PDH.L).

SHARES MAGAZINE Plays of the Week:Buy: Patientline (PTL) at 129p - Trafficmaster (TFC) at 87p and Interregnum (ITR) (long-term) at 6.25p.

Many thanks to MG for being this weeks Thoughter.

Monday should be quiet with the US Markets closed for the day.

I am off to watch the Tennis weather permitting.

Good Hunting
Love all of Oxon

Good stuff guys. Comments later. Doing some fairly thorough research today - well, as thorough as I get! lol

As usual I scrolled first to the Deddington News Letter. Looks like Martini has bought the pub and should be able to stock the shelves after a quick raid on the Co-op. ;-)) And the tips section should be very useful once the PO is converted.

Afternoon

Current positions for me as follows:
Long AQP, BRW, FIB, MRS, PLR, ROK, VAN
Short MGCR, WHT

Got a feeling I acquired an early trigger finger on a couple of them (AQP, BRW, VAN and MGCR) so any adverse move and they're gone.

Been running through a few daily charts trying to find a few suspects to enter and came up with the following:
Longs - ABG, BSLA, CFN, CNR, HOF, HTG, HTL, LFS, LWB, MER, MTC, SBT, TOPS, UKC, WNER, WHM
Shorts - ALU, BBC, BHY, BRJK, CAY(?), CTO, COX, DEI, EIN, ESY, HWY, ITU, JPF, JII, JMF, LIO, MRX, NSR, PHI, PLM, PRV, RSG, SUS, SDU, UTF, VER

Some are much better prospects than others and that is a first pass, but there's one or two to shoot at. Many of the shorts are investment trusts and haven't really traded those much so we'll see. I've also got to run them by a couple of other charts and check for news, which may well cut them down further. Finally, once I look into the spreads and liquidity, some may well prove not worth the punt as risk may be higher than I want.

Have a good week punteros!

Al

Martin, thanks as usual for the hard work, also MG for this weeks thoughts

Big Al, CSR looks interesting and IMHO has a good chart. I am long....

Mike

capt - very nice chart. I usually wait for a pullback, but it doesn't seem to do that!

Evening all. Lots of interesting reading here - thanks. Let's hope its a good week!

ESI, now that was a while ago..
I remember those big buttons...

morning campers.

Morning peeps.

No new positions, but have been watching JRVS. The market is a powerful thing. ;-))

Morning all.

Thought it would be quiet today with US holiday. Seems it is also an Edinburgh holiday! Consolidated portfolio last week as it was becoming too unwieldy but nice to see WMS and IDOX up today. Now looking for some good short term positions.

morning all.
MG special thanks to you for stepping in the breech and give your kind thoughts with a few home truths.

I went to Tom Hougaards seminare at Oulton Hall, Leeds on Saturday and must say thorouhly enjoyed the full day with him.I would recommend it to anyone either novice or advanced traders as he caters for all.

rgds
zarif

Afternoon.

Bit quiet on here. Have neglected this thread today as it's been a bit hectic round my way. Also been visiting with ADVFN FBB BPRG thread. Absolute hoot! As is normal in such situations, there is so much ostrich-like comments. I'd quite forgotten what this type of thread was like. However, I do feel very sorry for some who have been dragged in by promises of this, that and the next thing when plainly the price movement and overall sentiment is so negative. It's day may come again, but the company as a whole has that feel of '99/'00 all over again.

Anyway, lobbed ROK trading position for +5. Not sure if that was wise or not - only time will tell, but it's not a stock I trust when it begins to move the opposite way to my trade. Quick and far is the norm!! ;-))

Hope you're all having a goo 'un, if a bit slow.

Al

Afternoon Big Al ( and the lurkers). The BBs are very quiet today and for me as the Ym is closed today am calling it a holiday myself by not trading and reading through all the material that Tom H gave at the Seminar.
have a fun day as its nice and sunny today -the skirts get shorter and shorter ....... ( wow what was i thinking about!!!!!)

rgds
zarif

Zariff, Reading your remarks about Tom Hougaards seminare in Leeds, do you know if he has anymore seminares coming up as I to wouild like to go along. Does he have a web site I could log on to. Would be grateful for your help. Regards. Paul

Paul - would definitely recommend seeing/listening to Tom H. I'm not an index trader, but he's brilliant entertainment if nothing else.

Hello all.

Closed HNR this morning, may buy in again later once the excitement dies down.

Closed TTH this afternoon, made what I would have got in divi plus profit, so may buy in again later.

Holding SEY much longer yet.

Also BARC, PLR, fancy keeping hold of PLR for long term.

Watching JKX to see how far that will go down with a view to climbing back on board the bus.

Also watching WLW and hoping it will drift after all this bad news with Sainsbury and Morrisons. If the MKS bid fails, I have no idea which way WLW will go as it is always seen as a bid target. Mr Green will still have loads of money to spend.

BFP bought on last Fridays low, has some work to do there.

Ol'Green wont want Woolies - I wouldn't have thought anyway or MTN
unofortunately as he's come from discount retailing and headed slowly
but surely more up-market - it would be great but just can't see it...

SB

Fair point

Lobbed ROK +5, VAN -7 and MGCR +2.5 today. Nice and blue overall, especially with WHT ticking down. Love it when that happens - nice slow burner.

sw - will also look for a JKX re-entry at some point.