A Brief Look At The Week Ahead

Vodafone's annual numbers, due to be published on Tuesday, are expected to hold few surprises. Organic growth should be strong, and investors will be anxious for more details about the mobile phone giant's expansion plans, especially in developing markets. One cloud on the horizon that shareholders will want to talk about with CEO, Arun Sarin, is a verdict expected to be handed down next month by the European Court of Justice. The court will decide on 26th June whether Vodafone and other sector giants will have to pay up to 5bn in tax refunds related to mobile phone licences. The world's largest quoted hedge fund manager, Man Group, is expected to put up impressive numbers as it continues to benefit from waves of money flowing into the sector. Investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods predicts $1.5bn (755m) in pre-tax profits, an increase of 21% over the prior year, on assets under management that had grown to $61bn by the end of March. Investors will want more information on the company's planned float of its brokerage division, though they are not likely to get it. The company is restricted by US regulations from saying much of anything. The annual earnings will also be the first for CEO, Peter Clarke, who took over from Stanley Fink at the end of March. Shareholders will be keen to hear his outlook for the rest of 2007 and beyond. On the energy front, a pair of companies should come through with respectable results. Stockbrokers Charles Stanley expects British Energy to reveal 45m of pre-tax profits, up from 33.3m the year before. Analysts are bullish on the company's near-term prospects after the Nuclear Installation Inspectorate granted permission to the company to restart its Hunterston B nuclear reactor. The company's cash position is also improving and management has promised a special dividend early next year. Barclays Wealth analysts expect Scottish & Southern Energy to publish results on Thursday that exhibit "another year of solid growth in profits, earnings and dividends". Its performance will have been supported by higher wholesale power prices and increased customer numbers. Amongst others in the spotlight this week will be GCAP Media and Antofagasta on Wednesday and Pennon and QinetiQ on Thursday. Good hunting! Greystone Thanks, as always to Supermum, Digger and Kyoto for their invaluable input to the Traders Thread (Greystone is Alan English, City Editor at MoneyAM.)

UPS (Added by Master RSI on Sun 27 May 10:50 pm)

CSH - Mid 7.25p

Reason - Share price rising for the last week with large volume, the last negative news last month are reaching to an end "expects to restart exports in June 07" is next week. A good long flat bottom, could be developing into a CUP and HANDLE and uptrend

UPS (Added by Master RSI on Sun 27 May 11:44 pm)

HMV - Mid 108.375p
Reason - Looking ready for a bounce on the chart as is forming a double bottom, plenty of speculation on the music business of a bid from somewhere as others on the same sector are being taken over, profitable and on high % dividend and low P E

        JOKE OF THE DAY

Perfect Dave
A man walks out into the street and manages to get a taxi just going by.
He gets into the taxi, and the cabbie says, "Perfect timing.
You're just like Dave."

"Who?"

"This guy named Dave. He always did everything right.
Like my coming along when you needed a cab.
It would have happened like that to Dave."

"There are always a few clouds over everybody."

"Not Dave. He was a terrific athlete.
He could have gone on the pro tour in tennis.
He could golf with the pros, too.
He sang like an opera baritone, and
danced like a Broadway star."

"He was something, huh?"

"Oh, you don't know the half of it.
He had a memory like a trap.
Could remember everybody's birthday.
He knew all about wine, which fork to eat with.
He could fix anything. Not like me.
I change one light on the Christmas Tree and
I black out the whole neighborhood."

"No wonder you remember him."

"Well, you would too, if you'd married Perfect Dave widow

Morning all. Friday's market reports:

Telegraph
Telegraph (Bloomberg summary)
The Times
FT
The Guardian
The Independent
This is Money

Chris Hohn, the controversial hedge fund manager behind The Children's Investment Fund, is threatening to set up his own stockbroking firm after accusing some of the investment banks he deals with of leaking information about his trades.

He believes that investment banks use their knowledge of which shares he is buying and selling to make money for their own trading desks. Hohn claimed his fears were shared by several other major fund managers.

Hohn: banks don't keep my secrets

NIKKEI	AUSTRALIA	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

OUTLOOK Vodafone growth prospects under spotlight

OUTLOOK - UK companies results for 2 weeks to June 8Asian economic and corporate news summary

Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Hang Seng closed the morning down 89.96 points at 20,439.80,
while the Nikkei reached the midpoint up 92.38 points at 17,679.97.

New York Mercantile Exchange's benchmark contract, light sweet crude for delivery
in July, was down 50 cents at $64.70 barrel from $65.20 in late trading in the US
Friday.

Happy trading!

G.

OUTLOOK - UK smaller company results for 2 weeks to June 8

Asian markets summary

AAL downgraded to hold from buy - ABN Amro
AZN upgraded to overweight from neutral - target 3000 - HSBC
REL upgraded to buy from hold - Deutsche Bank
XTA downgraded to hold from buy - ABN Amro
VED downgraded to hold from buy - ABN Amro

London shares outlook - higher, RBS consortium unveils bid, Vodafone outlook

The Tuesday Press Roundup

Morning all. How will BARC share price react to RBS offer?

STOCKWATCH Astrazeneca upgraded to 'overweight' from 'neutral' at HSBCThomson Financial UK at a glance share guide

STOCKWATCH Reed Elsevier upgraded to 'buy' with 715p target by Deutsche Bank