Hello Traders!

My thanks to Mighty Micro for his thoughts this week!

Best news of the week for me was to hear that Mr Euro was back home after his recent scary hospital visit. If you need to get your life in perspective, take a look at his reprise of what happened to him. (Get well soon Mr Euro) I hope we will soon be blessed again with his sharp wit and words. ;-)

Ready for another week of mayhem?

On the face of it, there is not too much going on by way of corporate news on Monday but I expect that a few weekend press stories will cause a ripple or two. Sainsbury and Manchester United will doubtless get a few headlines.

Apart from Sainsbury on Tuesday, Reuters will be providing a traing update which might be fun.

Thursday sees interims from AZN and Morrison Supermarkets which will be revealing in their different ways. Final results from Allied Domecq could also ruffle a few feathers.

Marks & Spencer have an AGM on Friday. Would be good to be a fly-on-the-wall there.

Mighty Micro, LOL about your market manipulation of the indices!

MARKETS

FTSE 100 4,622.7, down 6.7

FTSE 250 6,273.8, up 19.7

DJIA 9,933.38, down 61.07

Nasdaq Comp 1,911.50, up 8.48

S&P 500 1,108.20, up 4.91

Tokyo:

Hang Seng:

Gold 419.62 usd (417.42 usd)

Oil - Brent Nov 49.93 usd (50.09 usd)



BREAKING NEWS - WEEKEND

* 3i GROUP is poised to buy Hobbs, the retailer, for about 110 mln stg. The FTSE 100 venture capital firm yesterday entered exclusive discussions in a deal that will provide Barclays Private Equity, the fashion chain's existing owner, with a profit of nearly 80 mln stg on its investment - The Times

* Justin King, the chief executive of J SAINSBURY, will on Tuesday unveil plans to cut at least one in five jobs at the ailing grocer's head office - The Times

* A judge has ruled that three former NatWest investment bankers can be extradited to the US to face charges of conspiring in an Enron-related fraud - The Telegraph

* Justin King, chief executive of J Sainsbury, will cut about 700 jobs from head office to help pay for extra staff in stores - The Weekend FT

* Tim Waterstone may try to bid for WH Smith after Christmas if its valuation drops - The Weekend FT

* BSKYB was put on notice yesterday that it faces a potentially damaging shareholder revolt at next month's annual meeting over plans to buy back its own shares - The Guardian

* One of Russia's biggest brewers, EFES, is about to join the LSE after raising 119 mln usd through a placing - The Express

* The consortium hoping to acquire CHELSFIELD is expected to launch a formal 21 bln stg bid early next week after a succesful meeting with the property company's last night - The Times

* DIAGEO shareholders are being urged not to back a change in pay policy at the drinks group which could see executives win rewards worth nearly four times their salary - The Telegraph

* The German industrial giant Linde is poised to approach its British rival BOC with an offer that could lead to an 8 bln stg cross-border merger - The Sunday Times

* Philip Green has paid back the entire 808 mln stg that he borrowed two years ago to buy Arcadia, the Top Shop-to-Burton retail group - The Sunday Times

* SCOTTISH & NEWCASTLE, which makes Fosters and Kronenbourg lagers, is to become the first major brewer in the world to put general health warnings on beer bottles - The Sunday Telegraph

* An electricity engineer from Birmingham is set to shatter the monopolistic control of the big water companies over the distribution of water after a 10-year campaign - The Sunday Telegraph

* JARVIS, the troubled civil engineering, construction and outsourcing company, is close to agreeing the sale of its stake in Tube Lines for up to 150 mln stg - The Indepedent on Sunday

* J SAINSBURY will be forced into a full-year loss after chief executive Justin King unveils a writedown of up to 500 mln stg to cover mistakes made by his predecessor, Sir Peter Davis - The Indepedent on Sunday

* Iraq has issued an open invitation to the world's largest oil companies to exploit its vast reserves - The Independent on Sunday

* Lehman Brothers, the US bank which recently lost the battle to take over blue-blooded stockbroker Cazenove, is planning an aggressive expansion in fund management in Europe - The Indepedent on Sunday

* SAINSBURY'S, the beleaguered supermarket chain, is to go back to basics in its bid to halt the drastic decline that has seen it plunge down the food retailing rankings - The Observer

* The Serious Fraud Office has officially cleared Malcolm Walker, founder and former boss of ICELAND Group, of insider dealing - The Observer

* Supermarket chains SOMERFIELD and WM MORRISON are haggling over the fine points of a 250 mln stg deal for up to 120 stores - The Observer

* J SAINSBURY is to create 3,000 new jobs in its stores to improve the service to customers and increase the availability of stock on its shelves - The Sunday Telegraph

* Cubic Expression's objection to the Glazer family's 300p-per-share bid for its 29 per cent stake in MANCHESTER UNITED was that the bid was not unconditional - The Sunday Telegraph

* Airbus, the European aerospace giant, is looking for a US partner to bid for a multi-billion dollar contract to supply the US Air Force with refuelling tankers - The Sunday Telegraph

* ITV has been thwarted in its attempt to buy Disney's stake in GMTV and own the morning television company outright - The Sunday Express

* WM MORRISON is in advanced talks to sell 120 stores to Somerfield in a deal worth up to 200 mln stg - The Sunday Express

* EMBLAZE is shortly expected to float two more businesses on Aim after the listing of its software division Orca two weeks ago - The Sunday Express

* Malcolm Glazer is seeking his second meeting with Manchester United's largest shareholders to revive his attempt to take over the club - The Sunday Express

* ROYAL MAIL chairman Allan Leighton is on course for a showdown with the government over his plans for partial privatisation of the business - The Mail on Sunday

* MARCHPOLE is in talks to buy the Louis Feraud fashion brand - The Mail on Sunday

* WM MORRISON is expected to announce this week that it will sell 120 small Safeway stores to SOMERFIELD - The Mail on Sunday

* The future of David Howell, the finance director of LASTMINUTE.COM, is in doubt after the online holiday company warned that underlying earnings for the third quarter would be at the bottom end of expectations - The Mail on Sunday

* Australian bank Macquarie looks set to buy the 80 mln stg renewable energy business put up for sale by UNITED UTILITIES - The Mail on Sunday

* VODAFONE'S chief executive Arun Sarin has given the clearest signal yet that the mobile phone giant will announce a big increase in its dividend next month - The Sunday Times

* The chief executive of DIAGEO, Paul Walsh, is expected to tell investors this week that up to half of the 1.2 bln stg proceeds raised by the drinks giant from the sale of shares in General Mills will be used to finance a buyback - The Sunday Times

* The 1.5 bln stg battle for Warner Chilcott is set to shift up a gear next week when Goldman Sachs is expected to table an offer for the Northern Ireland-based pharmaceuticals group - The Sunday Times

* European pilot groups are expected to announce tomorrow the formation of a new union for RYANAIR flight crew - The Sunday Times

* Bumper results from US search engine GOOGLE this week are expected to give a boost to other internet stocks - The Business

* EUROTUNNEL is on a collision course with French trade unions over its three year survival plan which is likely to call for significant job cuts - The Business

* The BBC is considering scaling back its 1pm news bulletin and cutting swathes of jobs on its online news operation as part of a drive to cut costs - The Business

* Justin King will this week admit that SAINSBURY is failing to differentiate in the marketplace - The Business

* BT is to announce a video-on-demand service in the latest round of its battle with France Telecom - The Business

* CHRYSALIS RADIO is considering making a bid for Virgin Radio as speculation mounts that SMG is preparing to sell the station - The Business



SATURDAY PRESS COMMENT

Weekend FT

THE LEX COLUMN comments on Eliot Spitzer's investigation into the UK insurance sector (What does seem clear is that the stock market reaction seems entirely reasonable), EUROPEAN INSURANCE (the risk remains that the next set of results could produce nasty surprises - even before the Spitzer typhoon), YUKOS (There may be further outrages still to come), ITV (Speculation about a private equity bid could lend some support. A bid is not inconceivable, but is unlikely until the regulatory position is clear) - Weekend share watch: ALLIED DOMECQ (these are good times for the distiller), DART GROUP (things are looking up and Mr Meeson's modest approach has allowed the group to expand without attracting unwanted attention from bigger companies), SEVERFIELD-ROWEN (is one of the great survivors of the UK's structural steel fabrication industry)

The Independent

ORCA INTERACTIVE (talk that the recently floated group has secured a partnership to bring set-top boxes into the UK) - TELEPHONE MAINTENANCE (rumours that it is close to signing two major contracts in the UK)

The Guardian

BAE SYSTEMS (talk that the government is finally about to announce a deal to buy a second tranche of Eurofighter jets), MAN GROUP (vague rumours that Merrill Lynch had been instructed to buy back stock. If true, it is very unlikely that Man has received a takeover approach)

The Daily Telegraph

MAN GROUP (concerns that the group's commodity fund had been hit by the recent drop in metal prices) - QUESTOR COLUMN: MARKS & SPENCER (Sit tight), IP2IPO (If you've doubled your money you might consider booking a little profit, rather than get greedy. Otherwise hold on), SCI ENTERTAINMENTS (Put your gaming finger on the trigger and buy)

The Times

WOOD GROUP (concerns that investors are taking an overly optimistic view of recovery prospects in the oil services group), CIVICA (talk that Monday's pre-close statement will be upbeat) - Tempus: There is no cure in sight for sickly drug stocks - Invest with extreme caution

The Mail

MARKS & SPENCER (rumours that Philip Green intends to wreak havoc in the forthcoming tender offer and raise his stake), MOSS BROSS (speculation that Kevin Stanford, one of the founders of Karen Millen and owner of 28 pct, is planning to launch a full-scale bid), ENTERPRISE INNS (rumours of a pending bullish circular) - INVESTMENT EXTRA: (The investment extra tips have increased by an average of 46 pct over the past year)

The Express

WHO'S DEALING: NEXT FIFTEEN COMMUNICATIONS (Chairman Will Whitehorn bought 100,000 shares at 52-1/2 pence) - SHARE WHISPER: CABLE & WIRELESS (traders say the hurricanes in the Carribean are likely to hit C&W's profits by up to 20 mln stg and rolling out broadband with new acquisition Bulldog will also hit this year's profits) - BROKER'S VIEW (Shore Capital say Nokia's strong sales of network equipment on Thursday is bad news for LogicaCMG which makes rival picture message systems)



SUNDAY PRESS COMMENT

The Business

MID-CAP INVESTOR: CHLORIDE (Good value) - AIM INVESTOR: EMPRESARIA (The move to Aim should help to build interest. Buy - INCOME INVESTOR: UNILEVER (may yet require a further kick start to get its top line motoring again) - BENCHMARK: Grant Clelland comments on Europe's car industry, European retailers in Japan and Nokia)

The Sunday Times

The Andrew Davidson Interview: STANDARD CHARTERED (The chairman of Standard Chartered charmed the world's heads of state when he was at BP and they are still beating a path to his door) - JUDGMENT DAY: SHOULD YOU BUY SHARES IN JD WETHERSPOON Andy Brough, fund manager at Schroders, says get them in, Tim Steer, fund manager at New Star, says 'Leave for now'

- INSIDE THE CITY: John Waples comments on REXAM (It is a global company and its ability to generate cash is underated, NUMIS (This is a niche sector with only a handful of independent players)

- MARKET MOLE: HHG (Old Mutual star Ashton Bradbury is building a stake) - DIRECTORS' DEALS, P&O Lord Sterling, the group's veteran chairman recently sold a big tranche of his share options, taking up and selling 195,000 shares at 270 pence per share.

Observer

THROG STREET: WHITBREAD (is a collection of leisure, hotel and restaurant businesses. But does it hang together? Stand By), BT GROUP (BT has had decades to reform itself, but has ducked and dived at every turn. It doesn't deserve another chance to mend its ways), GALLAHER (So a bid is not coming this week or next. But that doesn't mean one won't come at some point. Japan Tobacco boss Katsuhiko Honda has made it clear: 'We are looking at Europe... we believe there will be future consolidation.' )

Sunday Telegraph

BLUE CHIP VALUES: IMI (Buy), ANGLO AMERICAN (take profits) - Look who's trading:P&O (follow the lead of Lord Stirling and director of PR Peter Smith who both recently sold stock) - SMALL CAP COMMENT: ARICOM (hang on in there), GREAT PORTLAND (Buy), WOLFSON MICROELECTRONICS (Buy), C&C GROUP (Buy) - TAKING STOCK: Edmond Jackson talks about WOLFSON MICROELECTRONICS (it is possible - but I wouldn't say probable - that fears are already priced in), DANA PETROLEUM (I shall continue to hold Dana because of its sound exploration and production balance)

Independent on Sunday

Expert View: Why global growth could be Bush-whacked by election. The implications of another term for George Bush could include big deficits and high oil prices

Mail on Sunday

MIDAS - CHLORIDE GROUP (The UPS market is forecast to show good growth and Chloride, with its global reach should benefit, Buy) MIDAS UPDATE: Money where your mouth is portfolio (Director shareholdings are a factor to consider, but on this evidence should never be your sole investment criterion) - COMPANIES AND MARKETS: MONEYBOX has rejected an offer from rival CARDPOINT, but the move has upset many institutional investors), COUNTRYSIDE PROPERTIES (is expected to receive a bid from chairman and founder Alan Cherry within the next ten days of about 280 pence per share) - TAKING STOCK ( Talks about Eliot Spitzer's legal action against insurance companies and expects a bid for Singer and Freidlander within days or weeks)

morning all

The Glazer Family confirms that it has today purchased 15,390,736 shares in
Manchester United at 285 pence per share. In aggregate, the Glazer Family now
owns 66,381,265 shares, representing approximately 25.3% of the issued share
capital of Manchester United.

morning all,could be good news for eidos holders!

Up early, fall out of bed Dave?

Morning all.

Morning all.

!

:-)

Morning all

Morning all. Interesting reading Mighty Micro!