What the Sunday Newpapers say

SUNDAY TIMES The Glazers, a reclusive Florida family, plotting to take control of MANCHESTER UNITED; in the past four weeks, they have been talking to investment bankers about raising millions of dollars to launch a stunning takeover attack. BRITISH ENERGY bondholders warn shareholders: block the restructuring and you will get nothing. Resolution buys ROYAL & SUN ALLIANCE's life assurance funds for 850 mln stg Switzerland's biggest insurer, Swiss Life, to add to the huge shake-up in the closed insurance business with its decision to appoint an investment bank to sell its risk-policies operation for up to 250 mln stg. SCOTTISH & SOUTHERN ENERGY buys two of the country's largest coal-fired power stations from AEP of the US in a deal; worth 250 mln stg INTERNATIONAL POWER agrees a 5.4 bln usd deal to buy the overseas assets of Edison International, the US energy group BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO raising 391 mln stg after agreeing to sell the distribution business of its Italian subsidiary to a unit of Altadis, the Franco-Spanish tobacco company WOLSELEY agrees to buy Brooks Group, the Irish timber and builders' merchant, from UPM-Kymmene, the Finnish paper company, for an estimated 121 mln stg cash METAL BULLETIN to buy Avalon Research, an equity research and execution-only broker based in Boca Raton, Florida, for up to 11.4 mln stg KENMARE RESOURCES, a Dublin mining company listed on the London Stock Exchange, raises almost 200 mln stg in debt and equity to fund construction of a titanium mine in Mozambique. JUDGMENT DAY: SHOULD YOU BUY SHARES IN SIG? Andy Brough, fund manager at Schroders, and Tim Steer, fund manager at New Star, say buy INSIDE THE CITY: John Waples comments on RENTOKIL INITIAL (day of reckoning for (Brian McGowan) MARKET MOLE: PSION (AAA-rated fund manager Andrew Green of GAM believes there is value; his fund now holds 12.7 mln shares in the company) - DIRECTORS' DEALS: MAN GROUP (two directors buy stock)

SUNDAY TELEGRAPHHBOS, the UK's leading mortgage provider, preparing a possible 9 bln stg counterbid for ABBEY NATIONAL, the financial services group that has agreed to be taken over by Spain's Banco Santander; disclosure will stun the City, which misinterpreted comments made last week by James Crosby, HBOS's chief executive, as ruling out a takeover attempt. Ernst & Young brought to account over Equitable Life failings Polygon, the secretive hedge fund which is fighting for a better deal for BRITISH ENERGY shareholders under the company's proposed financial restructuring, will invoke European human rights legislation if the energy giant does not reconsider its plans. Ofwat, the water regulator, set to disappoint the industry and provide welcome cheer to consumers by refusing to allow leading utility companies to increase prices by 22 bln stg over the next five years. Terra Firma among leading bidders for UNITED UTILITIES' 80 mln stg renewables business. Philip Green, the retail billionaire, helping Bill Kenwright rescue Everton, having talked the theatre impresario out of resigning as chairman of the troubled football club on Friday night. BLUE CHIP VALUES: UNILEVER (buy), RENTOKIL INITIAL (buy) SMALL CAP COMMENT: JARDINE LLOYD THOMPSON (a buy for investors willing to gamble on bid speculation), AUTONOMY (strictly for the brave investor, but worth a punt), PREMIER FARNELL (buy), REGENT INNS (may not be too late to enjoy the bounce) - Look who's trading: GUS (directors buy stock; shares should have further to go) - TAKING STOCK : Edmond Jackson comments on ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY (learn the bitter lessons of ATL's downward spiral)

The Deddington News Letter - Forward Diary note. Red Lion grand opening due Wesdnesday after major refurishment. Spot price of Hooky set to be battleground for local loyalties. - A Brewery spokesman attempts to calm panic drinking We will release supplies from the Strategic Reserve to meet any surge in demand. - Local bobby vows that a zero tolerance approach will be taken to lunchtime binge drinkers. "Anyone found consuming more than 2 pints of Hooky for lunch will be subject to an exclusion order from the village square"

OBSERVER  BIG FOOD GROUP is back on the menu; as rumours of a buyout surface once more, should shareholders sell or sit tight? (BUSINESS p.4) THROG STREET: Richard Wachman comments on VODAFONE (board should consider a one-off 100 pct rise as a prelude to much higher dividends in the future), BSKYB (Murdoch Junior still on probation), MAN GROUP/RAB CAPITAL (hedge funds hold dangers for us all) Britain's biggest bank, HSBC, being pressed to act as a white knight by ABBEY shareholders unhappy at the 8 bln stg takeover by Banco Santander Central Hispano. JP Morgan thought to be close to clinching a 1.4 bln stg deal to acquire internet bank EGG from PRUDENTIAL. WEIR GROUP faces blacklisting for 'Saddam payments'; ban by exports agency looms after engineering firm's possible 2.4 mln stg 'kickback to Iraq'. Goldman bosses are top US political donors; for the first time, the Wall Street firm has become the US's top corporate political funder, contributing a total of nearly 4 mln usd to both George W Bush's and John Kerry's campaigns. ARSENAL set to cash in on the Premiership's booming worldwide popularity by launching their own overseas television service.

MAIL ON SUNDAY - Accountancy giant Ernst & Young set to be hauled before the profession's disciplinary body over its involvement in the near-collapse of mutual insurer Equitable Life. - Hotels group INTERCONTINENTAL understood to be considering a 1 bln stg sale of its UK assets following the success of its disposal programme in America. - MARKS & SPENCER ditches David Beckham as part of chief executive Stuart Rose's - overhaul of the High Street retailer; the 10 mln stg contract for Beckham's DB07 boys' range will not be extended when it comes up for renewal next month. - Animal rights fanatics threatening to target MARKS & SPENCER this week in their campaign against drugs-testing firm Huntingdon Life Sciences. - Cost of building the new Wembley Stadium likely to soar after a row between contractors; with other problems, it is claimed that overall costs could rise by up to 100 mln stg. MIDAS MFI (should be bought); MIDAS UPDATE: ASOS (take your profits), DOMINO'S PIZZA (we would continue to hold), UMECO (should be bought) COMPANIES AND MARKETS BRITISH ENERGY (board faces a dressing down from angry investors at a stormy annual meeting in Edinburgh this Thursday), HILL STATION (a husband and wife team who gave up careers as City investment bankers to set up luxury ice cream brand Hill Station plan to float the company on AIM), MOSS BROS (Shami Ahmed made up to 10 mln stg from selling his 23 pct stake), PLANESTATION (state-owned airlines in eastern Europe vying to use Kent International Airport, according to Martin May, the new chief executive of airport owner Planestation) SECRET DEALINGS OTTAKAR'S (signs up some enthusiastic fund managers)

THE BUSINESS Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the jailed Russian oligarch behind Yukos, turned down a Kremlin peace deal that would have brought the legal assault currently threatening Russia's largest oil company with bankruptcy to a halt. BAA, in dispute with RYANAIR over airport landing charges, on a collision course with more of its airline customers over fears they will be made to pay the lion's share of funding a new runway at Stansted while it enjoys healthy profits; Britannia, Thomas Cook, FIRST CHOICE, MYTRAVEL and Monarch Airlines have written to the Department for Transport and regulator the Civil Aviation Authority objecting to any proposals that would force them to pay higher fees at London Gatwick and Heathrow in order to fund the construction of a second runway at Stansted. BAE SYSTEMS close to sale of ship building arm. Trevor Hemmings, the leisure tycoon and one of the UK's richest businessmen, believed to be behind the mystery offshore company building a significant stake in CHRISTIAN SALVESEN; Eva Hemmings, thought to be Hemmings' wife, is sole shareholder in Northern Finance, an Isle of Man registered company which has bought three large chunks of shares in the Edinburgh-based transport group in the past 10 weeks. VALUE INVESTOR: SOMERFIELD (M&S has a huge brand, Somerfield has a small one and where M&S has completely to revolutionise itself to make much progress, Somerfield has to increase its operating margin by 1 pct and a smidgen to double its profits; if Somerfield rose 50 pct it would still be over a 50 pct discount to Tesco and a massive fourfold to M&S) - SMALL-CAP INVESTOR: NEXT FIFTEEN COMMUNICATIONS (the shares give investors exposure to the recovering advertising and marketing spending) - AIM INVESTOR: CELTIC RESOURCES (remains a speculative buy due to the risks of a gold price fall bringing down all gold shares; yet it is one of the better punts to choose from on the gold-laden Aim list) - BENCHMARK: Grant Clelland comments on Banco Santander Central Hispano's takeover bid for ABBEY NATIONAL (all credit to 'Lucky' Luqman for Santander deal), DaimlerChrysler, UK insurers, Google IPO

SUNDAY EXPRESS Embattled tour operator MYTRAVEL nearing agreement with creditors over the restructuring of its 1.3 bln stg debt mountain. RWE Thames Water, the German-owned company which is Britain's biggest water supplier, close to agreeing a sale of its international water businesses for up to 1 bln stg.

INDEPENDENT STANDARD CHARTERED exploring the opportunity to take a strategic stake in South Africa's Standard Bank. Polygon calls in the lawyers to halt BRITISH ENERGY restructuring.

Saturday FTABBEY NATIONAL received at least two informal approaches in the past 12 months before agreeing the offer from Santander Central Hispano this week; one of the approaches to buy the UK's sixth largest bank is believed to have come from Citigroup, the world's largest bank, which has been eager to establish a larger footprint in the UK. John Kerry and George W Bush race to the must-win states of industrial America, as new data point to a slowing economy and a fierce election battle over jobs and the anxieties of middle-class voters; the 3 pct growth rate recorded in the second quarter was well short of Wall Street forecasts of 3.7 pct; consumer spending, which grew at a 1 pct rate, was the weakest in three years, as petrol price rises crimped purchasing power. The 40,000 members of the Turner & Newall pension scheme dealt a fresh blow after creditors to its insolvent US parent company rebuff a request to top up the scheme; this increases the odds that the scheme will be wound up by the end of the year with a deficit of more than 800 mln stg. JARVIS reveals losses of 250 mln stg; banks supply lifeline but could take equity; auditors expected to qualify accounts; assets worth 150 mln stg set to go under the hammer. HSBC poised to become the biggest foreign participant in China's fast-growing banking market, with the purchase of a 20 pct stake in Bank of Communications, the country's fifth largest, for about 1.7 bln usd. UFJ and MTFG reject a surprise attempt by a rival to muscle in on the merger plan agreed by the Japanese banks two weeks ago; SMFG, Japan's second largest bank by assets, says it is interested in a full merger with UFJ, its fourth largest bank.

INVESTORS CHRONICLEShares the City missed (10 stocks going cheap): McCarthy & Stone (MCTY) - Persimmon (PSN) - Clinton Cards (CC.) - European Motor Holdings (EMH) - Biocompatibles (BII) - Amlin (AML) - Chaucer Underwriting (CHU) - HBOS (HBOS) - Gibbs & Dandy (GDYO) and Merchant Retail (MRT).Tips:Buy - RPS (RPS) - Liontrust Asset Management (LIO) - Tellings Golden Miller (TGM) - Broker Network (BNH) and Deltron Electronics (DET).Sell - Paladin (PLR).Tip Updates: Bisichi (BISI) (buy) - Bellway (BWY) (good value) - Peter Hambro (POG) (buy) - AB Foods (ABF) (buy) and AG Barr (BAG) (sell).

SHARES MAGAZINEPlays of the Week: Buy - Venture Production (VPC) at 203.5p - Countrywide (CWD) at 322p. Tip Updates:Buy - Vantis (VTS) and iTouch (ITU).Sell - Abbey National (ANL).

Many thanks to Spacemen for being this weeks Thoughter

When he agreed he would do it I commented, You can not be serious! and I was right.

But many a true word spoken in jest and it lightened my weekend up.

Good Hunting
Lightweight of Oxon

Thanks Spaceman for brightening up my day.

Many thanks Martini as always for all the work that goes into this. Have been out of touch for a few days, so your work even more appreciated that usual!

Evening all,
Thanks to Martini and Spaceman.

I see the range held last week, but stuff still looks a little Bearish
to me.
We are still making lower lows and lower highs.
All Indices swing charts are still pointing down.
We are below the 200Ma with a dead cross on the SMA Ma's but not the EMA Ma's.
We've left 2 gap open highers behind us which stretch back to circa 4325.
We've had 3 days of higher highs and higher lows, so swing traders are now
waiting for a day with a lower high and lower low to open Index shorts.
Volumes are still low which may point to that there is still no institutional
interest and the recent bounce may just have been Bear covering and profit
taking prior to the weekend.

Still can't see what's to the right of the above chart, the future, but theory
says I should be looking for a lower swing high to open Indices shorts.
We'll see what the future brings, won't we.
Must remember that the swing charts have been giving false signals at the range
extremities for this past 7 months range trading, and the range held and is
still holding until it breaks one way or the other.
So nothing's a done deal. So I'll stick to my intraday/overnight scalps
until the market makes its mind up and points the way.

Good luck next week, and stay loose.

Melnibone

thanks for a great start to the week!!!!

long ARM BLND CS DAX S&P UK OIL/GAS SECTOR INDEX US OIL/GAS SECTOR INDEX :-)

hope you all had a crackin weekend,c u all in the morning...

Mega...


NY & WASHINGTON ON HIGH TERROR ALERT !!!!!!!!!!

Evening all,

Thanks Spaceman & Martini

Melnibone
Hope the floor is going well I have been doing the reverse and ripping one up and knocking a wall out. Buggers the old knees eh what?
Still got you on my list for a "Thoughter" slot and will not let you off the hook young man.
Regards
M :)

Morning all,

a quick reminder that you only have 25 min to get your entries in for the August FTSE competition.

Have a good trading day.

LW :-)

Morning.

OIL - remains high in Far East. BP boss expects it to stay above 40$ short term.
http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=406909

BCS - interims very nice.
http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200408020700024457B.html

HVN - not had the best of recent runs, but pre-close states results will be substantially ahead.
http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200408020700024576B.html

MXC - acquiring!
http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/20040802070000P135C.html

PDL - drilling update might fire it up once more.
http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200408020700044658B.html

ULE - got a bit to do in the 2nd half to make forecasts?
http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200408020700054717B.html

SOG - sfotware minnow seems bullish for the 2nd half.
http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200408020700074727B.html

GRM - a new restaurant!
http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200408020700084750B.html

ARX - more good news hot on the heels of last week's?
http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200408020700104781B.html

MLT - flogging stuff to SDY.
http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200408020700104783B.html

LWB - breaking into China. Might inspire the next leg up?
http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200408020700104790B.html

INCH - looking good at halfway!
http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200408020700124797B.html

VTI - quarterly cash flow report.
http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200408020700134834B.html

SMWH - disposal leads to return of cash to shareholders.
http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200408020700194865B.html

UBC - a couple of new shows on Radio 2 - for those who listen to it! ;-)
http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200408020700194866B.html

SBT - trading update nice. Was long these, but got bored.
http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200408020700194867B.html

FTC - putting some gloss on a pretty poor performance. The finance section makes interesting reading. "The trading conditions prevailing in the
latter part of the financial year and the appreciation of sterling against the
dollar have led to certain breaches of the financial covenants associated with
the term loan. The group's lending banks have confirmed their continuing
support, including the waiving of the covenant breaches, whilst reserving their
rights". Heftier startup costs in WI.
We'll see what the market thinks.
http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200408020700154845B.html

Currently long AQP, ASC, DVO, HTG, MNA, MRS, short FTC, OKR, PLM.

Have a good day.

Morning All.

Thanks Big Al. Interesting reading. My son in US and he says an awful lot of serious concern around so hope markets not hit even harder.

mornin all

Many thanks to all involved.
regards

Covered FTC short +24ish and OKR short -5.5.

PRM still in the doghouse.

morning all

Young man, Martini?
Thank you, that made me feel better. :-)

Bad knees? Tell me about it. When I started this project I was 54
but felt and looked like 40. Now I'm 54 and look and feel like 64. :-(

Swing traders now have their lower low, but what will the high be?
A lower high or a big white candle higher high?
We'll find out when the US opens and does its thing.

WLW still in a nice short-term downtrend. May get a good buy price on this if
the markets do a nice, big, fat dip.

MRW still flirting with 180p.

AVZ? Phooey. I rest my case on this one.

Back to the flooring. :-(

May catch you later.

Melnibone.

Thanks Martini and Spaceman!
See we are painting the town red in general this morning - oh lovely
and such a change from recent days...I wish!!

My thanks (not)to HBOS for the idea of buying ANL - which has sent the
shares into reverse having started to look positive last week!!!

Melnibone - sorry about the knees....Well done for carrying on, if
some flooring had given me the grief that stuff has given you, I would
have had a bonfire in the garden with it by now!! ;>)

Big A....a bucket of whiskey is on stand-by just in case you need it later...

Well, not exactly a rout today. Was it?

Managed to find time from my labours to do a scalp on MRW.
Don't know what the US is likely to do this evening, so I won't
bother trying for an overnight scalp on a UK stock.

Will have a look after dinner, and see if there's a trend I can
catch on the NDX or the S&P.

Melnibone.

Only the 2 trades today.

Pretty slow really, but had a fair amount to do anyway.

No need for the bucket stockbunny. ;-))

OK if you're sure Big Al - I'll cling-film it and leave it under the table
for you...just in case it's needed tomorrow

I might be back later for it! ;-))

Cheers hunnybunny. lol