Hello traders!

In the US tonight, stocks took another hit with blue chips suffering the steepest losses, under pressure from Wal-Mart after an earnings shortfall and profit warning.

Heading into the close, the Dow was down 116 points, or 1.1%, at 10,183. If it holds these levels, it would mark the seventh triple-digit decline for the blue chip gauge over the past month.

The Nasdaq Composite lost 13 points to 1,958 and the S&P500 dropped 13 points 1,158.

Back in the morning with the latest.....

I guess ManU will be a hot topic, to brighten up an otherwise quiet day for corporate reporting.

Oh, and don't forget, it is FRIDAY 13TH! ;-)

G.

Good morning traders!

The official closing figures in the US last night saw the Dow down 110.77 at 10,189.48, the Nasdaq off 7.67 points at 1,963.88 and the S&P500 11.75 points weaker at 1,159.36.

In Asia this morning the Hang Seng was recently trading down 78 points with the Nikkei lower by just 21 points.

Back with UK news in a mo....

Happy trading!

G.

PS:If you haven't already entered, take a look at page 41 of this week's Shares magazine for the chance of winning a great prize thanks to Peter Webb.

The hot product at this years gathering of the Buffett faithful was the Berkshire Hathaway Monopoly game currently worth $46 according to the latest bidding on eBay.

ROLLS-ROYCE UPGRADED TO 'BUY' AND ADDED TO MERRILL LYNCH EUROPE 1 LIST

PREMIER FARNELL UPGRADED TO 'NEUTRAL' VS 'REDUCE' AT UBS

BA FY PRETAX 415 MLN STG VS 230 MLN STG

BA SAYS NOT PAYING DIVIDEND

Good morning all.

lw -I hope you win the May FTSE competition as I would love to see the FTSE at 5376 by end of May. That would work wonders for my portfolio.

AFX UK at a glance share guide - 2

MARKETS
FTSE 100 4,893.2, up 17.8
FTSE 250 6,807.2, up 63.8
DJIA 10,189.50, down 110.80
Nasdaq Comp 1,963.88, down 7.67
S&P 500 1,159.35, down 11.75
Tokyo: Nikkei closed at 11,049.11, down 28.83
Hang Seng midday 13,890.25, down 78.03
Gold 424.70 usd (427.37 usd)
Oil - Brent June 48.34 usd (50.07 usd)

BREAKING NEWS
* Paul Myners in call for investor openness; government adviser urges code of governance - FT
* Malcolm Glazer claims his MANCHESTER UNITED prize after Irish tycoons sell their 29 pct stake; offer of 300 pence leads other large investors to sell their shares, giving Glazer close to 70 pct of the Premiership football club, according to a person close to the Glazer family - FT
* Lord Hollick, the outgoing chief executive of UNITED BUSINESS MEDIA, humiliated as more than three-quarters of shareholders rebel against his 250,000 stg bonus - FT
* Hollick refuses to hand back 250,000 stg despite investor vote - Guardian
* CADBURY SCHWEPPES goes organic with purchase of Green & Black's, the confectionery brand
* Sabre Holdings agrees to buy LASTMINUTE.COM for 577 mln stg in cash
* TELEWEST takes full ownership of Sit-up TV by paying 97.5 mln stg for the 50.3 pct of the interactive television retailer it did not own
* Struggling firms can swap pension deficits for equity stake - Telegraph

PRESS COMMENT
FT
THE LEX COLUMN comments on ROYAL & SUN ALLIANCE, German utilities, US dollar, Wal-Mart
Independent
THE INVESTMENT COLUIMN: INTERNATIONAL POWER (investors have probably now missed the opportunity to buy in on the cheap; those who do have a shareholding should keep it), ISOFT (buy), FINDEL (hold) - REGUS (US takeover rumours) - LUPUS CAPITAL (whispers it is close to unveiling its maiden acquisition)
Guardian
BOC GROUP (calming of fears that it faces multimillion-pound claims in the US)
Telegraph
QUESTOR: BOC (hold), FINDEL (buy), INTERNATIONAL POWER (slightly risky and investors looking for spectacular returns should go elsewehere)
Times
DIRECTORS' DEALINGS: IP2IPO (chief executive buys stock for 95,000 stg) - TEMPUS: ROYAL & SUN ALLIANCE (well worth buying), LASTMINUTE.COM (Sabre's terms are acceptable), BOC GROUP (hold)
Express
SHARE WHISPER: IMAGE SCAN (speculation it has landed a second overseas order for its recently launched industrial inspection system, the MDXL) - WHO'S DEALING: COUNTRYWIDE (managing director takes stake to 0.234 pct)
Mail
WH SMITH (vague whispers that a cash-rich venture capitalist group is sniffing around) - ADAMIND (rumours it will today announce a broadening of its contract with Ericsson) - IP LIVE (it has invested 500,000 stg in the Billy Elliot musical)
Investors Chronicle
10 fast-moving value shares: BTG, TELSPEC, ROBOTIC TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS, WORTHINGTON, MSB INTERNATIONAL, PARITY, MERCHANT HOUSE, FAIRBRIAR, GB, AXIS-SHIELD - TIPS - LARGE COMPANIES: SHIRE PHARMACEUTICALS (sell), ANTOFAGASTA (sell), CARTER & CARTER (buy), MAYBORN (buy); TIPS - SMALLER COMPANIES: AVOCET MINING (buy), LONDON & ASSOCIATED PROPERTIES (buy); TIPS - UPDATE: SCI ENTERTAINMENT (fairly priced), REGAL PETROLEUM (hold), WINDSOR (buy), ACAMBIS (high enough)

Morning all!

AVG - "expects trading performance for the twelve months to 31
May 2005 to exceed market expectations of turnover, profit and earnings per
share."
http://www.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/20050513070000P8A2E.html

JDH - no bid support?
http://www.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/20050513070000Z5780.html

HILS - AGM statement
http://www.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200505130700052536M.html

DTY - not seen a sell-off in recent weeks. Q1 results
http://www.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200505130700082597M.html

DTZ - another keen to say they're doing well
http://www.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200505130700102619M.html

AOR - one for Dailos! They were massive during the tech boom
http://www.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200505130700152639M.html

EMP - tiddler beating forecasts. Computer gaming anyone?
http://www.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200505130700132632M.html

EVT - interesting
http://www.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/20050513070000P1D50.html

Quiet day. Will have an early look round.