Hello traders!

I'm sorry this is both light and late this week but I've just got home from England and the trip back was pretty awful. Late flight, aircon on the plane didn't work and giant traffic jams back here in Spain. :-(

I'll try to catch up with the missing links in the morning.

G.

Good morning traders!

In Asia this morning, the Hang Seng ended the morning up 14.44 points at 14,518.73. The Tokyo market is closed for the day.

Oil prices were higher in late morning trade as a hurricane threatened offshore production platforms and refineries in the US Gulf Coast. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in August, was at $58.56 a barrel, up 47 cents from its close of $58.09 in the US on Friday.

Off to find some UK news....

Happy trading!

G.

ROYAL & SUN CUT TO 'UNDERWEIGHT' AT MORGAN STANLEY

EUROPEAN STEEL SECTOR UPGRADED TO 'IN-LINE' VS 'CAUTIOUS' AT MORGAN STANLEY

AFX UK at a glance share guide - 3

MARKETS
Tokyo: Closed for public holiday
Hang Seng (midday) 14,518.73, up 14.44

BREAKING NEWS - MONDAY
* WILLIAM MORRISON has missed its deadline to update the City on efforts to
appoint further directors to its board - Express
* CORUS has joined the suitors for Turkish steel group Edemir, where a 49.3 pct stake is up for grabs, thought to be worth around 570 mln stg - Mail
* Summer homes sale as prices tumble 1 pct in June: Rightmove - Independent
* Sugar farmers join protests at EU cuts - Guardian
* US antitrust watchdog carrying out broader than expected examination of proposed exchange mergers proposed by both the NYSE and Nasdaq- FT
* DTI set to put a limit on liability of auditors - FT
* European heatwave forces up price of carbon emissions trade-off - FT

MONDAY PRESS COMMENT
FT
Lex Column: OECD's composite leading indicators (The trend in leading indicators is delicately poised, but the burden of proof is back on the pessimists); Asian family business (The riches of the fathers will be necessarily be visited on the sons. This time, it will not just be the families with capital at risk); Nuclear power (As the world leader, France's
Areva is the bellwether of sentiment towards the industry. Yet, despite the signs of secular growth in the industry, no analyst covering the stock recommends buying it.)

Independent
Small Talk: API (eyes US expansion); MANO RIVER (plans to pursue joint venture talks with BHP BILLITON in Liberia before it succumbs to PETRA DIAMONDS after split); MESSAGING INTERNATIONAL (Israeli company plans to float on Aim); TV COMMERCE (launching mobile phone gambling games); UKRPRODUCT (concerns over corporate govenance at Ukranian dairy products firm floated in February)

Express
The Aim Market: MESSAGING INTERNATIONAL (looking to raise 1.5 mln stg through an institutional placing at 5 pence a shares); THANI INVESTMENTS (may float its Middle Eastern oil interests on Aim)

Times
Smaller Stock to Watch: JACKPOTJOY.COM (understood to be in talks with advisers about a possible 100 mln stg flotation) -- Rumour of the day: CADBURY SCHWEPPES (rumoured to be close to completing a strategic review)

Good morning all

Goodnight folks. Nice to be back but hoping for a slightly brighter day tomorrow. At least in the morning I can write about toffee and chocolate (two of my fave subjects) with Thorntons producing an update. -:)

G.