Ok is there a mutter from the gutter going about today or what?
Shares are now consolidated, payout deadline gone, no official
news......??????

(scratches head......)

Any clues among us beautiful BB'ers this afternoon?

You're welcome Baylis - I just post news/charts on shares that I follow/hold.

New 2year+ highs this morning.

£7.

HSBC upgrades to Overweight Tp increased from 770p to 790p.

Sparks fly again on National Grid amid takeover rumours

The powers that be in the City are adamant that there is a multi-billion-pound takeover bid being hatched in the utilities sector. Corporate financiers have apparently been busy burning the midnight oil for weeks in order to bring the deal to light before the end of the month.

All fingers yesterday were again pointed at National Grid. Shares of the operator of most of England’s energy pylons and pipelines touched 693p amid growing speculation that GE Capital, the financial services unit of US giant General Electric, and its advisors are working on a cash offer well north of £9 a share. The close was 2p easier at 691.5p.

The word is GE Capital wants to get its hands on National Grid’s American activities and would be a seller of its UK operations.

I did have a nibble in the end and have taken my profit today, Sell on the rumour.

Back in on Fri. and up already, nice little trading range developing here?

National Grid plc
Initial Proposals: consultation response

Today, National Grid has published its detailed responses to Ofgem's initial proposals for the UK electricity and gas transmission (RIIO-T1) and UK gas distribution (RIIO-GD1) network price controls.

The initial proposals are the first time that National Grid has had an opportunity to test Ofgem's evidence and analysis and as a result the responses are extensive and thorough. As previously stated, National Grid believes that the initial proposals as they stand give rise to a number of important issues which need to be resolved over the coming months to ensure a fair balance of risk and reward for investors and customers. National Grid is committed to working with Ofgem to deliver an affordable deal for consumers which will allow these networks to finance around £25bn of essential UK infrastructure investment.

Out again.

Light weight! :-)

12 month high of 706 could be vulnerable today.

.. Well if it does us lightweights won't be very pleased -):

Time for a new thread. I'll start one with a chart in the header.

New 12 month high 706.5 707.5p just touched.

3+ year high this morning @710.

SHORT LIST FOR UK’S £1BN CCS COMPETITION ANNOUNCED

The four short listed bids, all full chain capture, transport and storage projects, are in alphabetical order:

Captain Clean Energy Project: A proposal for a new 570MW, fully abated coal Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (pre-combustion) project in Grangemouth, Scotland with storage in offshore depleted gas fields. Led by Summit Power, involving Petrofac (CO2 Deepstore), National Grid and Siemens.

Peterhead: A 340MW Post-combustion capture retrofitted to part of an existing 1180MW Combined Cycle Gas Turbine power station at Peterhead, Scotland. Led by Shell and SSE.

Teesside Low Carbon Project: A Pre-combustion coal gasification project (linked to c330MWe net power generating capacity fuelled by syngas with 90% of CO2 abated) on Teesside, North East England with storage in depleted oil field and saline aquifer. A consortium led by Progressive Energy and involving GDF SUEZ, Premier Oil, and BOC.

White Rose Project: An Oxyfuel capture project at a proposed new 304MW fully abated supercritical coal-fired power station on the Drax site in North Yorkshire. Led by Alstom and involving Drax, BOC and National Grid.

Following further decisions in the new year the Government expects that projects will undertake engineering studies before final decisions to build. The precise timetable for this will be dependent on the projects selected.

Link copied from over the road - National Grid US

Tuesday, October 30th - 10:00PM:

We have already made significant progress restoring power to customers affected by Hurricane Sandys damaging winds and torrential rains. Full restoration began at daybreak today, in parallel with ongoing wires down activity, damage assessment and tree clearing. With the halloween festivities approaching, we want to remind customers to keep a careful watch out for trick or treaters and drive slowly. Please be sure to avoid flooded areas and always assume all downed wires are live. To report wires down and power outages call 1-800-465-1212 in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and 1-800-867-5222 in Upstate New York.

New high this morning @714p

Half Year Results 15 th November Events Calendar

Ex dividend 28th November

Yield 5.54%

Half Year results

Good performance in first 6 months of 2012/13

· Operating profit1 up 7% at constant currency2 excluding impact of timing and major storms3

· Profit before tax1 up 21%, up 15% excluding impact of timing and major storms

· Earnings per share1 up4 20% at 23.0p, up 14% excluding impact of timing and major storms

· Interim dividend increased by 4%, in line with policy

Progress againststrategic priorities

· Investment up 23% to £1.8bn; mostly in regulated UK and US operations

· Settlement processes for new rates filed in New York and Rhode Island progressing

· New power supply agreement concluded with the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA)

· UK regulation: RIIO process in final stages

Outlook and priorities unchanged

· Sustain focus on improving returns and securing appropriate regulatory outcomes

· Implement new UK operating model, aligning activities to deliver optimal outcomes under RIIO

· Restoration expenses following 'Superstorm' Sandy, outside LIPA, not expected to exceed £100m

Blackrock lower their holding by the looks of things. SP hardly affected.