Hello traders!

Financial issues seem set to dictate proceedings this week, with the BoE interest
rate decision on Thursday colouring early sentiment. Most pundits I have either
read or spoken with anticipate rates will be held at 5.75%. But, you never know..

The banking reporting season reaches a climax this week with HSBC, Lloyds TSB,
Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays all slated to produce numbers. All eyes will be
on how they are coping with rising bad debts and a weakening US dollar.

HSBC kicks off the bankers' week and the portents are not good.

On the M&A front, there are plenty of stories due for an upgrade...

ICI are reportedlly upping their defence against the recent approach from Dutch
rival, Akzo Nobel.

Sainsbury also looks as though it is trying to raise the drawbridge as it seeks to
elicit more detail of the Qatari bid for its stock; the family appearing to be
wavering about whether the offer is good for them or not. Whether it is good for
the substantial number of indepenent shareholders seems to have been overlooked.

The opposing bidders for ABN Amro are also in the spotlight, with the Dutch banker
understood to be impatient to achieve a solution to the apparent standoff between
Barclays and the RBoS consortium. There are noises in the City suggesting that
Amro will withdraw support for both bids, effectively inviting a new approach from
an alternative suitor.

It is certainly going to be a busy week, even without the ongoing trauma in the US
ahead of an important week of statistics which could set the tone for the rest of
the summer.

Thanks, as always to Supermum, Kyoto and Digger for their continued support
and input to the Traders Thread.

Good hunting!

G.

Morning all. Friday's market reports:

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

NIKKEI	AUSTRALIA	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Hang Seng ended the morning down 10.94 points at 22,559.47,
while the Nikkei was recently off 127.28 points at 17,156.53.

Crude oil for September delivery fell 37 cents to $76.65 a barrel Monday, after
rising $2.07 to close at $77.02 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange
Friday.

Happy trading!

G.

BROKERWATCH BG Group raised to 'hold' from 'sell' at ING on valuation groundsBROKERWATCH Shire upgraded to 'buy' from 'neutral' at Merrill Lynch; tgt 1,370pRPT TFN economic and business calendar to Friday Aug 10Thomson Financial UK at a glance share guideLondon shares outlook - higher, as BoE rate decision provides the week's focus

Australian shares close higher on support from big miners

BROKERWATCH Bradford & Bingley upped to 'overweight' at Lehman BrothersBROKERWATCH Northern Rock cut 'equal-weight' vs 'overweight' by Lehman Brothers

Australian shares close higher led by miners - UPDATE

BROKERWATCH Marks & Spencer upgraded to 'market perform' by Sanford C BernsteinLondon shares open lower, global markets down, BoE rate decision Thursday key

STOCKWATCH Pearson up after results beat expectations; UBS maintains 'buy'

Tokyo shares close little changed; bargain hunting cuts early losses - UPDATE

BROKERWATCH Fortis in focus as registration deadline nears for fundraising voteUK smallcap opening - Infonic surges after raising H1 revenue guidance

BROKERWATCH Akzo Nobel raised to 'buy' from 'hold' at Rabo Securities

STOCKWATCH Alliance & Leicester rises; Citigroup ups to 'hold' from 'sell'

STOCKWATCH Henkel higher as agreement with Akzo Nobel seen helpingSTOCKWATCH ICI jumps on improved 650p/share Akzo Nobel approachUK smallcap opening - Creston higher; FY trading seen in line with expectations

BROKERWATCH Rentokil Initial kept as 'buy' at Seymour Pierce after acquisition

Good morning all, one for the "UPS" ......

UPS (Added by Master RSI on Mon 30 Jul 09:28 am)

FAN - Mid 102.5p

Reason -- Very positive statement this morning