Limpsfield's Weekly Chart View

The recent downtrends continued last week and it would not be surprising to see more of the same this week.FTSE 100Intraday FTSE The sliding FTSE continued last week with the index trading down to around 4920 by Thursday. It is difficult to be bullish on this market in the sort term as for now any rallies quickly end up running out of steam. We need to see a break through at least 5,000 to shake off the one month slide and set up a push to 5,100. The major support levels to watch are at: 4765 (the lows for the year); 4897 (early February lows and also the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement of the rise from August). Dow Jones Intraday Dow Last week saw more Dow weakness, although on Friday the index did manage to stage an impressive turnaround by the close ending the day 3 points up after being almost 70 points down at one point. Last Fridays weakness did however manage to poke below the late February support which is not positive. The risk at the moment is that rallies will run out of steam with 10,680/10,700 the first barrier. Have a good week!Limpsfield Limpsfield is David Jones, the widely acclaimed charting expert at Shares Magazine who also hosts regular Charting courses for Global Markets Training (www.glomtc.com)

MARKETS

FTSE 100 4,923.3 up 1.2

FTSE 250 7,222.9

DJIA 10,629.67 up 4.32

Nasdaq Comp 2,007.79 down 8.63

S&P 500 1,189.64 down 0.58

Gold 438.25 usd (438.87 us)

Oil - Brent Apr 55.59 usd (55.06 usd)



BREAKING NEWS - WEEKEND

* Darren Shapland, the 38-year-old incoming finance director at J SAINSBURY, has been hired on a secret 6 mln stg pay-and-bonus deal - Sunday Times

* Bhs owner Philip Green forced to quash speculation that he might be

tempted to bid for J SAINSBURY - Saturday Independent

* Former Asda chief Allan Leighton reveals the family stake in J SAINSBURY would not stop his mounting a bid for the struggling grocer - Sunday Express

* BRITISH AIRWAYS hikes fares to fight fuel costs; 3 stg surcharge forced by record high oil price; Branson's Virgin Atlantic likely to follow suit - Observer

* BAA preparing to challenge key sections of the Bill to establish Crossrail, the 10 bln stg rail project linking east and west London; airport operator incensed by a little-noticed clause in the Bill giving Alistair Darling, the secretary of State for Transport, power to seize control of Heathrow Express, BAA's 750 mln stg rail link to Paddington - Independent on Sunday

* WILLIAM MORRISON's finance director, Martin Ackroyd, faces the chop; following its profits warning, results this week will send out mixed message on the success of its 3.35 bln stg Safeway purchase - Sunday Telegraph

* WILLIAM MORRISON faces investor revolt over Safeway - Observer

* The two non-executive directors at WILLIAM MORRISON, David Jones and Duncan Davidson, will this week demand big changes at the troubled supermaket chain to restore its credibility in the City - Sunday Times

* Safeway's highest-spending customers have deserted its supermarkets in

droves since their local stores have been converted into WILLIAM MORRISON

outlets, according to private research commissioned by one of its leading

shareholders; findings prompted investor, Scottish Widows Investment

Partnership, to sell most of its 4 pct stake - Saturday FT

* ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND faces a shareholder revolt over a 3.6 mln stg pay and perks package awarded to Larry Fish, head of the group's US operations - Observer

* Billionaire Weston family poised to tighten its grip on Britain's high streets with a 500 mln stg-plus bid for Littlewoods, the retailer controlled by the Barclay brothers - Sunday Times

* Board of GUS, the retail conglomerate that owns Argos and Homebase, considering plans to bring forward to this year the demerger of Experian, its financial-information group - Sunday Times

* One of Egypt's wealthiest families will this week combine with UBS and leading private-equity firms to make an estimated 8.7bln stg bid for Wind, the Italian telecoms group owned by Enel, the energy giant; Naguib Sawiris is the oldest of three brothers who run family companies that make up about 40 pct of the value of the Egyptian stock exchange - Sunday Times

* Leading investors in CREST NICHOLSON pushing for the property company to open its books to leading shareholder Heron International this week, provided it can top the informal bid it tabled last week - Sunday Express

* GUARDIAN MEDIA GROUP, the owner of the Guardian newspaper and Jazz FM, last week rejected a bid of more than 115 mln stg for its radio assets from CHRYSALIS - Sunday Telegraph

* Joseph Stglitz, the former chief economist of the World Bank and one of the world's most influential economic thinkers, launches a savage attack on US plans to appoint Paul Wolfowitz as the World Bank's new president - Sunday Telegraph

* Brown ousts Milburn as election supremo - The Business

* Blair in public pension retreat - PM seeks to avert damaging strike

action; fresh talks ordered with trade unions; Conservatives accuse

ministers of caving in - Saturday FT

* Poll shows French cooling on EU treaty - Saturday FT

* In a sign of growing appetite for risk among life assurers, PRUDENTIAL,

one of Britain's largest investors in corporate bonds, is starting to move

back into equities - Saturday FT

* TESCO broke conduct code, claims past supplier; John Smith, head of

Greyfriars, a Yorkshire-based mushroom packing company that recently lost a

contract with Tesco, accuses Britain's biggest retailer of imposing

unacceptable costs on suppliers to sell their goods - Saturday FT

* Crackdown on way for the store bullies; Blair to act as suppliers cry foul over trade - Mail on Sunday

* ITV boss Charles Allen rules out buying SMG's TV assets, saying he would rather inject money into ITV - Sunday Express

* ITV planning to launch a TV cannel that will appeal to readers of weekly 'lads' mags Nuts and Zoo - Observer

* Oil giant BP facing criminal prosecution despite paying a record 42 mln

stg to settle a civil lawsuit in which the company was accused of spewing

out toxic gases from a US refinery - Saturday Express

* Mortgage completions dropped from 63,000 in January to 59,000 last month,

the lowest since monthly records began in 1998 - Council of Mortgage Lenders

* WOOLWORTHS chairman Gerald Corbett poised to recommend that shareholders accept a revised 840 mln stg offer for the struggling retail group due to be tabled by Apax Partners - The Business

* Former BBC executive Rupert Gavin ready to buy WOOLWORTHS' highly-profitable DVD and video sales operation, 2 entertain, in a move that could boost venture capital firm Apax's hopes of winning its bid for the high street retailer - Mail on Sunday

* The three senior WOOLWORTHS bosses will share a payoff of about 2 mln stg if Apax proceeds with its approach at the indicative price of 58.2 pence - Observer

* WOOLWORTHS set to become the latest high-street chain to disappear from

the London Stock Exchange after the retailer agrees to open its books to

Apax Partners, which yesterday lifted its proposed cash offer price to 58.2

pence a share - Saturday FT

* PROVIDENT FINANCIAL confirms to Financial Mail on Sunday that it plans to mail 'several million' households over the next 12 months with the offer of a Vanquis credit card which charges an average interest of 49.9 pct on uncleared balances

* Record industry executive Roger Ames appointed as a senior adviser to the boss of EMI Music, prompting rumours of a merger deal between the company and Ames's former business Warner Music - Mail on Sunday

* HIT ENTERTAINMENT will tomorrow announce that it has agreed to be taken over by Apax for around 475 mln stg - Sunday Telegraph

* Apax Partners is the mystery bidder for Bob The Builder owner HIT ENTERTAINMENT - The Business

* Shares in HIT ENTERTAINMENT surge more than 17 pct following a takeover

bid valuing the children's television and merchandising group at almost 475

mln stg; an unnamed private equity group offers 300 pence a share for the

company - Saturday FT

* SCI ENTERTAINMENT, the computer games publisher, may be poised to make an eleventh-hour bid to buy EIDOS, the beleaguered creator of Lara Croft - Sunday Telegraph

* GAME, the computer games retailer, pulls out of talks to acquire the collapsed Gadget Shop chain because it fears being dragged into a legal dispute dividing shareholders - The Business

* Texas Pacific Group poised to make a firm bid for BRITISH VITA, the UK

chemicals group, within the next few days - Saturday FT

* REGUS chief raises 28.7 mln stg for a divorce settlement; Mark Dixon

lends 28.7 mln Regus shares to Bear Stearns, the US bank, which it has

subsequently sold - Saturday FT

* Lloyd's insurer CHAUCER in advanced talks to buy HIGHWAY, the niche motor

insurer, for about 88 mln stg

* LIBERTY INTERNATIONAL close to buying the lease for Allders' Leeds store

but seven other stores are shutting for good with the loss of 554 jobs -

Saturday Mail

* CANDOVER holding exclusive talks to buy a group of French newspapers; company thought to be paying at least 172 mln stg to take control of Socpresse - Sunday Times

* London comeback on cards for Thorn; parent planning flotation after lighting group's three-year turnaround - Mail on Sunday



SATURDAY PRESS COMMENT

FT

THE LEX COLUMN comments on small UK oil and gas exploration stocks

(investors focused on (currently) high oil prices and bold headlines risk

slipping up badly), Credit derivatives, City pay, Italian banks - Weekend

share watch: GAME GROUP (best to wait until after next year's games line-up

is made clear at the industry's E3 event in Los Angeles in May before taking

a punt on the shares), METAL BULLETIN (on a p/e of about 21 times numbers

for 2005, one of the highest ratings among mid-cap business-to-business

publishers; strength of MB's markets and the possibility of acquisitions

suggest the premium is justified), NORD ANGLIA (shares will remain in a

corner until it proves it can boost nursery occupancy without giving away

too much in yield) - ANALYST WATCH: Aggressive expansion plan suits tough

clothing market; analysts are predicting increased profits at NEXT despite

weak trading environment (some believe that it is time to sell when all the

analysts say buy; with so much support for the stock, perhaps that time has

come)



Times

ELECTROCOMPONENTS (concerns that Tuesday's trading statement may

disappoint) - TEMPUS: Carrot for property sector comes with a large stick

(most shares look fully valued and after a strong run last year, it remains

wise to lock in some profits; looking forward, the best performers are

likely to be companies with exposure to the recovering Central London

property market, such as LAND SECURITIES, BRITISH LAND and GREAT PORTLAND)



Independent

No Pain, No Gain: Derek Pain adds GOALS SOCCER CENTRES to the portfolio -

EASYJET (fears over trading update) - BAE SYSTEMS (vague rumours that yet

more corporate action could be on the cards) - TRAFFICMASTER (directors

sells 1.2 mln shares at 56 pence) - GAMING CORP (whispers it may be close to

a deal with Orange) - ENOLA RESOURCES (brokers predict it will have a strong

debut on Monday)



Guardian

GLAXOSMITHKLINE (fears of FDA fines) - DIXONS (rumours of a profits

warning) - BOWLEVEN (rumours of an update on plans to build a

gas-to-electricity project in Cameroon)



Express

SINGER & FRIEDLANDER (rehashed gossip about Icelandic predatory interest) -

MINORPLANET (fears about its financial position increase after it fails to

attract offers) - AIM RESOURCES (traders expect strong support for next

Monday's market debut)



Telegraph

QUESTOR COLUMN: WHITBREAD (a buy), T&F INFORMA (buy), MARSHALLS (avoid)



Mail

SCOTTISH RADIO (EMAP bid speculation) - CHRYSALIS (speculation that it is

in talks with GUARDIAN MEDIA about possibly merging their radio interests) -

BHP BILLITON (talk it could be acquiring a strategic stake in Australia's

Tethyan Copper) - MACLELLAN (word is that rival SPICE HOLDINGS was not

prepared to pay 100 pence a share)



SUNDAY PRESS COMMENT

The Business

BENCHAMARK: Grant Clelland comments on General Motors, Electricite de France - THE ALCHEMIST: Clem Chambers picks companies that have a solid, reliable record of share price growth: MUCKLOW, INTER LINK FOODS, MAJESTIC WINES and FORTH PORTS - THE BEST OF THE BROKERS: BARRATT DEVELOPMENTS (brokers remain fans despite slowdown fears), WILLIAM MORRISON SUPERMARKETS (no longer seems a solid performer), Hochtief (airport deal puts Hochtief back in favour) - GROWTH INVESTOR: WINCANTON (combination the group offers of market position, growth prospects and discount valuation provides an interesting protection for investors) - SMALL-CAP INVESTOR: TELEVISION CORPORATION (worth keeping an eye on) - AIM INVESTOR: COFFEEHEAVEN (speculative buy)



Sunday Telegraph

THE MAVERICK: Luke Johnson comments on AVIVA's acquisition of RAC (Aviva drives itself further up a cul-de-sac with its RAC acquisition) - Equity View - BLUE CHIP VALUES: PROVIDENT FINANCIAL (sell), ITV (the shares should have further to go); Look who's trading: AMLIN (directors have been selling; investors should lock in profits now); SMALL CAP COMMENT: SPECTRIS (keep buying), JAMES FISHER (shares should have further to go), ITE (buy), ADAMIND (worth a punt) - NUMBERS GAME: Tony Jackson comments on UNITED UTILITIES (its yield is more useful than a long French bond)



Sunday Times

REGAL PETROLEUM (chief executive expected next week to announce encouraging drilling results from a possible billion-barrel oilfield off the coast of Greece) - INSIDE THE CITY: John Waples comments on CENTER PARCS (if these shares fall to 50 pence they are probably worth tucking away, but until then, avoid them like the plague), BAT (ABN Amro raises pricre target to 1,065 pence); MARKET MOLE: RANK (Mike Felton bought 100,000 shares for the M&G Capital fund last month to take its holding to 0.1 pct) - JUDGMENT DAY: SHOULD YOU BUY SHARES IN EXEL? Andy Brough, fund manager at Schroders, says send the shares to someone else, while Tim Steer, fund manager at New Star, says hold -



Observer

THROG STREET: Richard Wachman comments on NEXT (as conditions go from bad to worse on the high street, Next Directory is the nice little earner which should provide support for Next's share price; and keep Wolfson out of harm's way), PRUDENTIAL (offers better value than AVIVA)



Independent on Sunday

Blizzards blow NEXT off course as retail's freezing February claims another victim; sales slump at fashion chain amid fears that tough conditions may continue for the rest of the year (BUSINESS p.3)



Mail on Sunday

COMPANIES AND MARKETS: AM2 (15 mln stg float), CREST NICHOLSON (Ronson to press bid for Crest); SECRET DEALINGS: DETICA (New Star's Jamie Allsop was secretly buying stock last month for his Hidden Value fund; it now owns nearly 40,000 shares, 0.17 pct; Allsopp's New Star colleague Tim Steer also added to his UK Alpha fund's stake at about the same time and now holds 625,000 shares) - MIDAS: XN CHECKOUT (buy); MIDAS UPDATE: ZYTRONIC (resist the obvious temptation to take profits), EUROPEAN NICKEL (hold)

Morning all.

Morning all.