AFX UK at a glance share guide - weekend

MARKETS
FTSE 100 5,228.1 down 27.6
FTSE 250 7,700.50 up 21.4
DJIA 10,397.29 down 53.34
Nasdaq Comp 2,120.77 down 13.6
S&P 500 1,205.10 down 7.27
Gold 438.90 usd (439.05 usd)
Oil - Brent Oct 64.87 usd (66.27 usd)

WEEKEND PRESS
* Gaz de France eyeing a multi-billion-pound merger with CENTRICA; the two companies are already involved with a joint venture to acquire Belgian power generator SPE; together, the two companies would have a market value of 27 bln stg - Observer
* BT to challenge BSKYB by bidding for the rights to televise Premier League football when the current contract expires in 2007 - Observer
* Robin Saunders gears up for 1.5 bln usd Formula 1 bid; controversial financier holds talks with Bernie Ecclestone over buyout of the sport - Sunday Telegraph
* BSKYB in talks with a consortium bidding to buy Bernie Ecclestone's 3.5 bln usd Formula One motor racing business - The Business
* ITV will record the worst-ever audience share for its main channel this month, piling on the misery of a run of damaging falls in viewer figures - Mail on Sunday
* Merck may pull back from Vioxx fight and settle some cases - Sunday Telegraph
* Merck considering settling some of 5,000 outstanding lawsuits over deaths allegedly linked to its Vioxx painkiller - Saturday Mail
* BAE SYSTEMS is to hold on to its 2.6 bln stg stake in European planemaker Airbus until the end of the year at least, The Business has learned
* Richard Desmond, owner of the Daily and Sunday Express, close to announcing the launch of his free London newspaper - Independent on Sunday
* Parker Hannifin will this week launch an improved offer of more than 242 mln stg for DOMNICK HUNTER, the UK filtration and purification group - Sunday Telegraph
* BP faces UK probe after Texas blast - Observer
* DIAGEO expected to announce plans to extend its share buyback programme by as much as 300 mln stg to 1 bln this week, despite a slide in full-year profits - The Business
* Owners of Coral Eurobet, Britain's third-largest bookmaker, set to cash in on the craze for gambling stocks by bringing forward its market flotation; launch could land private equity firm Charterhouse more than 1 bln stg - Sunday Express
* CARPHONE WAREHOUSE leading a series of companies interested in carving up Caudwell Group, owner of Phones4U - Sunday Telegraph
* Saint-Gobain will this week formally launch its long-awaited 3.68 bln stg offer for BPB - Sunday Telegraph
* Government's spending watchdog to investigate the way that e-commerce companies, such as offshore gambling sites, lessen their UK tax bills; retailers, including TESCO, WOOLWORTHS and Amazon, which can avoid VAT by selling products to online customers via subsidiaries in Jersey or Guernsey, also likely to find their methods scrutinised by the National Audit Office - Observer
* Five of the six top gas suppliers (Npower, PowerGen, EDF, SCOTTISH POWER and SCOTTISH & SOUTHERN ENERGY) estimated to be losing 200-500 mln a year between them on their domestic customers, with losses rising - Observer
* The Fleming family set to buy the family investment vehicle of Wafic Said, the Syrian-born arms dealer and philanthropist - Sunday Times
* Gerry Robinson, the former ALLIED DOMECQ chairman who wants to take charge of RENTOKIL INITIAL, will appoint an American investment bank to help him to persuade institutional investors to back his bid - Sunday Times
* Sir Gerry Robinson vows to give up his TV career if his bid to gain control of RENTOKIL INITIAL succeeds - Independent on Sunday
* BRITISH AIRWAYS considering a fallback plan to launch a multi-million pound lawsuit against Gate Gourmet, its troubled catering supplier, if talks fail and the company enters administration - Sunday Express
* BRITISH AIRWAYS promises to foot Gourmet's redundancy bill - Sunday Times
* GLAXOSMITHKLINE boosting production of its Relenza flu treatment to combat a potential human outbreak in Europe of the deadly Asian bird flu - Mail on Sunday
* Heinz launches 1 bln stg sale of major brands; bankers hired to trigger auction at European division - Sunday Express
* Takeover Panel launches an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the purchase by Wilbur Ross, the American billionaire, of a stake of just under 4 pct in UK COAL - Sunday Telegraph
* Media giant GCAP may start pushing for the sale of radio stations in a matter of weeks, pending the result of a strategic review by the company - Sunday Express
* SHANKS, the UK's largest independent waste group, considering a 680 mln stg bid for Dutch waste giant AVR, a move that could transform the company into a big European player - The Business
* Hometrack survey of the national housing market during August will reveal a fall of 0.1 pct, following last month's drop of 0.2 pct - Sunday Express
* KPMG, the accounting firm under investigation for selling questionable tax shelters, strikes deal with US prosecutors that will see it pay 456 mln usd (253 mln stg) and accept an outside monitor of its operations - The Business
* Alan Greenspan, Federal Reserve chairman, warns that movements of stocks, bonds and house prices are having a far greater impact on US and global growth than in the past - Saturday FT
* Wal-Mart calls for probe into dominant TESCO - Sunday Times
* Asda and TESCO will trade blows this week when Asda unveils a further 130 mln stg of price cuts and Tesco hits back by insisting it is the cheapest food store - Mail on Sunday
* J SAINSBURY will today unveil a multi-million-pound shake-up of its organic range, the latest thrust in attempts by its chief executive, Justin King, to turn the supermarket chain around - Independent on Sunday
* Asda insists it is still the cheapest supermarket chain in the UK as it plays down a survey from Goldman Sachs, the investment bank, which reveals that TESCO edged past - Saturday FT
* TESCO looking at expanding into selling bulky items such as garden furniture in some of its stores, fuelling speculation that the UK's largest supermarket chain is planning a big shift into the home furniture market - Saturday FT
* Goldman Sachs wins a highly coveted mandate to advise Bank of China on its 1.7-2.2 bln stg overseas listing in spite of strong pressure from Merrill Lynch, which last week agreed to invest about 700 mln usd in China's third-biggest lender - Saturday FT
* REED ELSEVIER is acquiring a 50 pct stake in the China Pharmaceutical Exhibition Corporation, a division of the state-owned pharmaceutical group Sinopharm - Sunday Times
* A shareholder revolt is looming at GREENE KING over a bonus scheme that will reward directors even if they fail to hit City forecasts - Mail on Sunday
* Walthamstow Stadium on course to be acquired by the housebuilder GEORGE WIMPEY for about 35 mln stg; if the deal goes ahead, the 11-acre site will be transformed into a housing estate - Sunday Times
* Alan Lovell and Alasdair Marnoch, chief executive and finance director brought in to turn round JARVIS, indicate they will quit within nine months - Saturday FT
* Pension Regulator demands that bidders circling SOMERFIELD provide "ongoing security" for the group's debt-laden pension scheme - Sunday Times
* MISYS facing a fully-fledged shareholder revolt as National Association of Pension Funds urges its members to vote against a controversial executive bonus plan - Saturday Times
* British insurers face a huge bill from the US government after the Congressional Budget Office announces that a proposed asbestos compensation fund would cost as much as 77 bln stg - Saturday Times
* The Post Office is setting itself up as an arch-rival to WH SMITH with a new look that will turn more than 500 of its outlets into copycat versions of the high street stalwart - Saturday Independent
* Goldman Sachs emerges as the mystery suitor for PEACOCK GROUP, the discount retailer for which it made an indicative offer of up to 400 mln stg - Saturday Times
* Chinese car maker Nanjing Auto understood to have missed a deadline to pay a multi-million pound bill to MG Rover's administrator for the assets of the business - Saturday Telegraph
* ARSENAL predicts that its move to its new Emirates Stadium in 2006 will add up to 30 mln stg to its profits each year, making it the most profitable football club in the country - Sunday Telegraph

SATURDAY PRESS
FT
THE LEX COLUMN comments on WPP (not cheap as chips, but there is little reason for investors to lose appetite), Pharmaceuticals (the industry spends an estimated 25 pct of revenues on sales and marketing - half as much again as on research and development; this costly, inefficient model may be about to change, reckons Lehman Brothers), Alan Greenspan (sharp rise in household wealth relative to income - and the associated debt required to finance purchases - will make asset prices an increasingly important factor for the Fed to watch), Japan (risks remain, but the end of deflation looks within sight) - ANTOFAGASTA stresses continuity with the Luksic family still exercising its control (MONEY & BUSINESS p.4) - Weekend share watch: FIRST CHOICE HOLIDAYS (cautious investors may be wise to capitalise on the recent rally), VITEC (on a forward multiple of about 14 times, slightly ahead of the sector on 13.5 times), TERRACE HILL (analysts at Seymour Pierce suggest that a premium of "at least 23 pct" would be justified on the basis that some peers are trading at big premiums to NAV because of their growth potential) - LONDON MARKET: IMPERIAL TOBACCO (Japan Tobacco bid speculation), EARTHPORT (talk that trading is ahead of expectations and that several big investors are building stakes in the company) - ANALYST WATCH: CAPITA GROUP (behind-the-scenes business is booming; the UK back-office behemoth has a bright future if it can deal with more competition and avoid costly errors) - MY PORTFOLIO: Nick Louth buys KENMARE RESOURCES

Independent
PROFESSIONAL INVESTOR: Chou Chong, head of pan-European equities at Aberdeen Asset Management, says two companies that sum up the opportunities for long-term investors in the UK market are MOTHERCARE and HMV - NO PAIN, NO GAIN: Derek Pain says watch out for the takeover bids (SCOTTISH & NEWCASTLE, RENTOKIL INITIAL, PREZZO, MACLELLAN) - MARKET REPORT: BAE SYSTEMS (Merrill Lynch argues that early sale of Airbus stake certainly not imminent), GALLAHER and IMPERIAL TOBACCO (Japan Tobacco bid speculation), EMI (rumours of possible merger with Warner Music return), BTG (talk that a series of brokers will soon issue positive research)

Mail
MARKET REPORT: HAYS (FTSE 100 demotion threat), CAIRN ENERGY (could force its way back (into the Footsie); pressure then could be on EMAP)

Guardian
Market forces: LOGICACMG (is the company planning a rights issue, asks CSFB), AEGIS (talk that French corporate raider Vincent Bollore will try to raise his 6 pct stake with further purchases in the market next week)

Times
STOCK MARKETS: Japan Tobacco (president refuses to rule out moves on either GALLAHER, IMPERIAL TOBACCO or Altadis), BELHAVEN (hopes of a counterbid) - TEMPUS: Pensions store up trouble for stock market giants - THE VULNERABLE SEVEN: BAE SYSTEMS, BRITISH AIRWAYS, BT, CORUS, EXEL, ROLLS-ROYCE, ROYAL & SUN ALLIANCE

Telegraph
THE MARKET: COMPUTACENTER (major seller cleared out), BTG (hopes that good news is in the pipeline), BOW LEVEN (update expected shortly) - QUESTOR: PARTYGAMING (long term, it still looks to have a strong hand); SMALL CAP VALUES: HIGHBURY HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS (the bid in prospect makes it attractive), ULTRASIS (it may gather momentum but don't expect it to set the world alight), ROXBORO (one to keep a dramatic eye on)

Express
MARKET REPORT: HILTON GROUP (talk of a tourist recovery and a gambling boom), EXEL (talk of a takeover bid from Deutsche Post)

SUNDAY PRESS
The Business
THE ALCHEMIST: Clem Chambers tips HUNTING (for those who won't unbalance their portfolio by doing it, doubling up seems like an option worth considering) - INSIDE THE MARKET - FUND OF THE MONTH: ADM TRUST; SMALL-CAP INVESTOR: OFFICE2OFFICE (still relatively modestly rated); AIM INVESTOR: TELEPHONE MAINTENANCE GROUP (on a forward price earnings multiple of 5) - BENCHMARK: STANDARD LIFE (policyholders' long memories a problem for Standard Life), Japan (volumes and value on acquisitions are still tiny by US and European levels but the figures indicate an interesting trend nevertheless), HUNTINGDON LIFE SCIENCES (activities of so-called animal lovers are more akin to that of terrorists and it's time the police treated them as such)

Mail on Sunday
COMPANIES AND MARKETS: TELEWEST (hopes receding that the sale of Flextech could raise as much as 1 bln stg), PINEWOOD SHEPPERTON (expected to report downbeat interim results), ZI MEDICAL (Sir Stanley Kalms's VOLVERE group to meet the potential bidder (ZI Medical) for safe syringe maker NMT, where his value investment group has built a stake), TRIAD GROUP (under pressure to reveal accounts) - MIDAS: CAIRN ENERGY, GLAXOSMITHKLINE, ROYAL & SUN ALLIANCE (now seems as good a time as any to bag handsome profits and close the portfolio)

Sunday Times
INSIDE THE CITY: Dominic O'Connell comments on CORUS (buy), INCHCAPE (expect new chief executive Andre Lacroix to unveil his strategy for the group early next year after touring its far-flung interests; until then, hold the shares), BPB (sit tight; likely to be more cash on the table before the final whistle) - DIRECTORS' DEALS: INCHCAPE (finance director sells 34,000 shares at prices of 2,057 pence and 2,060 a share)

Observer
THROG STREET: Heather Connon comments on CASSAVA ENTERPRISES (size of the profits from the PARTYGAMING float is likely to tempt enough punters to take a bet on the Cassava float; but the regulatory and other risks mean that long-term investors might be better off sticking their money on the roulette wheel), GREENE KING's acquisition of BELHAVEN (Greene King should be given credit for pulling off a deal that will bolster its market clout, and perhaps one day make it attractive as a merger candidate for another regional player - WOLVERHAMPTON & DUDLEY comes to mind)

Sunday Telegraph
HMV's big noise; the UK's largest music retailer is aiming to take a bite out of Apple in the battle to control digital music (BUSINESS p.3) - THE MAVERICK: Luke Johnson comments on buyouts of OTTAKAR'S and THORNTONS (in both situations, management are trying to take advantage of temporarily slowing markets to buy perfectly decent public companies near the bottom of the cycle; the same applies to the mooted buyout of PEACOCK) - Equity View - BLUE CHIP VALUES: KINGFISHER (sell), O2 (keep buying); Look who's trading: UNITED CLEARING (directors sell stock; United is close to another major contract so - given the strong growth prospects - investors should hold on); SMALL CAP COMMENT: WH SMITH (a tentative buy), BRIT INSURANCE (buy), DEBT FREE DIRECT (should have further to go), AFREN (a risky buy)

Hiya traders!

Hope you have all had a good weekend break. Now back to the grind of turning a buck.... ;-)

US stocks rallied to a sharply higher close tonight as investors focussed on economic fundamentals and dismissed the stormy news.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 65.76 points at 10,463.05, the S&P500 up 7.18 points at 1,212.28 and the Nasdaq Composite up 16.88 points at 2,137.65.

Not too much in the UK corporate list for tomorrow but a whole weekend of news and gossip to catch up with. Should be fun! :-)

See you then............

G.

Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Hang Seng ended the morning up 36.14 points at 14,873, whilst the Nikkei was recently ahead 135.57 points at 12,445.40.

Oil prices remained within striking distance of $70 a barrel in electronic trading on worries that Hurricane Katrina may have heavily damaged US crude production facilities. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, was at $68.45 a barrel, up $1.25 from its close of $67.20 in the US overnight.

Off to find some UK news......

Happy trading!

G.

OUTLOOK - UK company results for 2 weeks to Sept 9

LONDON (AFX) - The following is a compilation of UK company results due out in the 2 weeks to Sept 9.

TUESDAY AUG 30
Bunzl PLC. Williams de Broe forecasts six months to June pretax profit before exceptionals and goodwill 110.5 mln stg vs 98.8 mln; interim dividend 4.5 pence, up 8 pct.

CRH PLC six months to June pretax profit before exceptionals under IFSR 378 mln eur; interim dividend 11.0 cents vs 9.6.

CRC Group PLC. Charles Stanley forecasts six months to June pretax profit 3.3 mln stg vs 1.9 mln; interim dividend 2.5 pence, unchanged.

Filtrona PLC. Williams de Broe forecasts pro forma six months to June pretax profit 24.5 mln stg; interim dividend 2.0 pence.

Mears Group PLC. Arbuthnot Securities forecasts six months to June pretax profit 4.3 mln stg vs 3.2 mln; interim dividend 0.7 pence vs 0.5.

WEDNESDAY AUG 31
Ark Therapeutics Group PLC. Baird Equities forecasts six months to June pretax profit 10.7 mln stg vs 6.4 mln.

LogicaCMG PLC six months to June pretax profit under IFRS 29.0 mln stg vs pre-exceptional pre-goodwill 39.2 mln.

Serco Group PLC six months to June pretax profit before 39.0 mln stg, up 13 pct.

THURSDAY SEPT 1
Diageo PLC year to June pretax profit before exceptionals 1.95-2.0 bln stg vs 2.07 bln; total dividend 29.0 pence vs from 27.6.

March Networks Corporation. Evolution Securities forecasts three months to July pretax profit 2.35 mln cad vs loss 300,000.

Rathbone Brothers PLC six months to June pretax pretax profit under IFRS 15.6 mln stg vs 10.2 mln.

FRIDAY SEPT 2
Rank Group PLC. Williams de Broe forecasts six months to June pretax profit before exceptionals and goodwill 62.8 mln stg vs 63.9 mln; interim dividend 5.0 pence, up 5 pct.

JD Wetherspoon PLC. Arbuthnot Securities forecasts year to July pretax profit 42.5 mln stg vs 54.1; total dividend 4.3 pence vs 3.9.

MONDAY SEPT 5
William Hill PLC. Williams de Broe forecasts six months to June pretax profit before exceptionals and goodwill 91.4 mln stg vs 95.1 mln; interim dividend 7.3 pence, up 32 pct.

Ideal Shopping Direct PLC. Evolution Securities forecasts six months to June pretax profit 3.7 mln stg vs 700,000; interim dividend 1.45 pence vs 1.25.

IMI PLC. Williams de Broe forecasts six months to June pretax profit before exceptionals and goodwill 80.0 mln stg vs 74.4 mln; interim dividend 6.6 pence, up 5 pct.

Intertek Group PLC. Baird Equities forecasts six months to June pretax profit 40.0 mln stg vs 37.9 mln; interim dividend 3.7 pence, up 10 pct.

Travis Perkins PLC. Williams de Broe forecasts six months to June pretax profit before exceptionals and goodwill 110.0 mln stg vs 103.8 mln; interim dividend 10.5 pence, up 11 pct.

Robert Walters PLC. Baird Equities forecasts six months to June pretax profit 4.0 mln stg vs 3.4 mln; interim dividend 1.05 pence, unchanged.

TUESDAY SEPT 6
Hays PLC. Williams de Broe forecasts year to June pretax profit before exceptionals and goodwill 178.0 mln stg vs 181.0 mln; final dividend 2.26 pence, up 13 pct.

PartyGaming PLC. Williams de Broe forecasts six months to June pretax profit before exceptionals and goodwill 214.0 mln stg vs N/A; interim dividend nil.

Taylor Woodrow PLC. Williams de Broe forecasts six months to June pretax profit before exceptionals and goodwill 175.0 mln stg vs 187.0 mln; interim dividend 3.3 pence, up 10 pct.

George Wimpey PLC six months to June pretax profit before exceptionals and goodwill 115-133.0 mln stg vs 159.0 mln; interim dividend 6.0 pence, up 15 pct.

WEDNESDAY SEPT 7
BAE Systems PLC six months to June pretax profit before exceptionals and goodwill 400-430.0 mln stg vs 392.0 mln; interim dividend 3.85 pence, up 4 pct.

Gallaher PLC. Williams de Broe forecasts six months to June pretax profit before exceptionals and goodwill 260.0 mln stg vs 250.0 mln; interim dividend 10.5 pence, up 5 pct.

Wilson Bowden PLC. Williams de Broe forecasts six months to June pretax profit before exceptionals and goodwill 100.0 mln stg vs 118.0 mln; interim dividend 11.5 pence, up 21 pct.

InterContinental Hotels PLC. Williams de Broe forecasts six months to June pretax profit before exceptionals and goodwill 151.0 mln stg vs 143.0 mln; interim dividend 4.5 pence, up 5 pct.

UK Coal PLC. Williams de Broe forecasts six months to June pretax loss 30.0 mln stg vs loss 51.6 mln; interim dividend 6.0 pence.

AFX UK at a glance share guide - Bank Holiday

BANK HOLIDAY PRESS
* B&Q, owned by DIY retailing group KINGFISHER, is being hit harder than its arch rival Homebase, now owned by GUS, in the worst trading year for the industry; hit by the slowdown in the housing market, DIY and gardening spending expected to fall by 1.6 pct to 16.4 bln stg in 2005, after five years of impressive growth, according to research published by Verdict - Telegraph
* ITV safe from a multi-billion-pound takeover bid from US media companies such as Time Warner because an acquisition would not make financial sense, according to Anthony Fry, head of UK investment banking at Lehman Brothers; Fry says a US company could buy the entire UK independent production community for 6.6 bln stg, which would make a more sensible investment; a move into new media is also more likely - Guardian
* BSKYB approached by private equity groups trying to put together a bid for Formula One; but the broadcaster has no plans to join any bid, say people close to the company - FT
* Robin Saunders, a friend of Bernie Ecclestone, distancing herself from suggestions that she is working on a leveraged buyout (for the Formula One motor-racing business) through her new vehicle, Clearbrook Capital Partners - Mail
* Mandelson urges textile quota truce; EU trade chief backs formula to free Chinese goods held at customs; backlash feared from European producers; Beijing intent on driving hard bargain - FT
* CABLE & WIRELESS postpones a multi-million-pound TV marketing campaign for its broadband operator Bulldog under threat of an investigation into the quality of its customer service - Express
* Conservatives write to the government expressing concern over the possible 650 mln stg sale of MARCONI to the Chinese company Huawei - Telegraph
* OLD MUTUAL may tie-up a deal to take over Sweden's Skandia this week after months of haggling, according to Swedish reports - Mail
* Fears on oil price as Hurricane Katrina threatens New Orleans - FT
* The two consortiums vying to purchase SOMERFIELD could launch formal bids for the supermarket group within weeks, after reaching agreement with the Pensions Regulator on providing security for the food retailer's pension scheme - FT
* High price of oil encouraging increased investment in the North Sea, helping to slow the decline in oil and gas output from the UK continental shelf - FT
* India's biggest private company, Reliance Industries, preparing a 2.5 bln stg for BP's troublesome plastic raw-materials business - Express
* BBC wants to sell music on its website, exploiting the commercial opportunity afforded by its vast viewing and listening audience - Times
* Yield curve on US Treasuries close to inverting - FT
* 3i decides not to adopt a new accounting standard (IAS 27) that would have required the FTSE 100 private equity group to consolidate its accounts - FT
* Kimberly-Clark, one of the largest US consumer goods companies, in talks with German discount store Lidl about selling its products on the chain's shelves in Europe for the first time - FT
* Gate Gourmet says it has offered redundancy payments twice the statutory level to employees at the heart of the dispute, which earlier this month grounded flights at BRITISH AIRWAYS - FT
* Global Brands, the exclusive "master franchisee" of the DOMINO'S PIZZA brand for Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein, raising up to 3.5 mln stg in an AIM flotation that will value the company at up to 10 mln when it starts trading next month - Independent

PRESS COMMENT
FT
THE LEX COLUMN asks why is the UK yield curve inverted (institutional demand cannot entirely explain the low level of UK long-term real yields; but it should at least ensure that the 50-year index-linked auction is better received than July's conventional bonds); Lex comments on Pandemics (Cassandra is as unpopular as ever; still, it would be surprising if some hedge fund, somewhere, was not working feverishly on an angle), KPMG US tax case settlement (the deferred prosecution agreement it has struck still leaves a sword of Damocles hanging over it for more than a year; and the fine, at roughly 450 mln usd, is large) - COMPUTER SERVICES: AUTONOMY positioning itself for content wars; Maija Palmer examines how the UK company is taking on the US search engine giants through a venture in China which Google and Yahoo are not dominating (p.18)

LONDON (AFX) - UK blue chips look set for an opening rally as traders return after the long August Bank Holiday break. This reflects a recovery overnight on Wall Street and in Asia as US indices bounced back from Friday's falls amid receding worries over the impact of Hurricane Katrina's battering of the Gulf of Mexico, dealers said.
Spread bettors IG Index expect the FTSE 100 index to open around 20 points firmer today. The UK blue chip index closed 27.6 points weaker on Friday at 5,228.1.

MARKETS
DJIA 10,463.050, up 65.76
Nasdaq Comp 2,135.05, up 14.28
S&P 500 1,209.49, up 4.39
Tokyo: Nikkei closed at 12,453.14, up 143.31
Hang Seng midday 14,873.11, up 36.14
Gold 438.90 usd (438.90 usd)
Oil - Brent Oct 64.87 usd (64.87 usd)



ECONOMICS
* UK July consumer credit/mortgage lending
* UK July final M4/M4 lending
* UK CBI quarterly distributive trades survey

MARKET EXPECTATIONS
* Bunzl. Williams de Broe forecasts six months to June pretax profit before exceptionals and goodwill 110.5 mln stg vs 98.8 mln; interim dividend 4.5 pence, up 8 pct
* CRH six months to June pretax profit before exceptionals under IFSR 378 mln eur; interim dividend 11.0 cents vs 9.6
* CRC Group. Charles Stanley forecasts six months to June pretax profit 3.3 mln stg vs 1.9 mln; interim dividend 2.5 pence, unchanged
* Filtrona. Williams de Broe forecasts pro forma six months to June pretax profit 24.5 mln stg; interim dividend 2.0 pence
* Mears Group. Arbuthnot Securities forecasts six months to June pretax profit 4.3 mln stg vs 3.2 mln; interim dividend 0.7 pence vs 0.5


TODAY'S PRESS
* Hurricane whips up oil price; Katrina forces Gulf refineries to shut; crude tops 70 usd and natural gas rises 23 pct; Saudis promise increased output to fill gap - FT
* OLD MUTUAL eyes bid for Skandia; London-listed group considers 3.1 bln stg offer; Nordic insurer presses for higher price; negotiations continue after weekend talks - FT - FT
* UK retailers are moving production from China to Eastern Europe, Turkey and India as customers' appetite for "fast fashion" forces a fundamental rethink of supply chains - FT
* Intelsat to buy PanAmSat for 3.2 bln usd cash
* AEGIS understood to have held talks with French rival Havas about combining the groups' media operations in a venture designed to bolster their position against giants such as WPP and Publicis - Telegraph
* After a miserable summer, trading conditions on Britain's high streets are going to deteriorate further, according to new sales figures from the CBI - Times

PRESS COMMENT
FT
THE LEX COLUMN comments on Gordon Brown's prudence, Satellite operators (private equity investors behind PanAmSat poised for a sky-high return), French takeovers (Paris is throwing up barricades at home), Hurricane Katrina (importance to long-term insurance investors is what impact this hurricane has on pricing)

Good morning all and thanks Greystone and Digger. Great thread but what's happened to the other regular posters?

Druid - I think we have turned into a lurkers paradise. Thanks for stopping by an saying hello. :-)

Morning Druid and All,

People probably on Holiday or just feeling a bit lazy.

Thanks Greystone and Stan.

It would be nice if all lurkers would just say "Hello" so that we can all know they are.

The information on this thread is very good and although I don't contribute much I do like to say "Hello" from time to time.

My main long term stock is BARC which has performed very bad this year from 586 on 1st Jan 2005 to 555 atm. Fingers crossed for breakeven or more by 31st Dec 2005. Even if it does not rise much the divi. is good.

End of day market wrap