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Good Morning ShareCrazies
This Morning in London major shares were firmer in early deals, with Home Retail Group (HOME) rising after a bullish trading statement. Home Retail Group announced it was on target for full year profit to be towards the upper end of market forecasts after reporting third quarter sales in line with its own expectations but which fell short of analysts' hopes. The figures revealed a slowdown in underlying sales growth at Argos, its high street catalogue retailer, but an improved performance at Homebase, its DIY business. For the 18 weeks to January 5th 2008, Argos' total sales were up 2.5% to £1.92bn, while sales on a like-for-like basis, which strips out the impact of new and closed stores, were down 0.2%. At 9:40 the FTSE-100 was up 55.6 points at 5,998.5 with the FTSE-250 ahead 175.5 points at 9,802.4.
BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS
Charles Stanley has upgraded H&T Group (HAT) to buy from add (cutting the price target to 250p from 270p).
Daniel Stewart reiterates buy CareCapital (CARE) (40p target) and says buy London Capital Group (LCG) (450p target and raising estimates).
Goldman has downgraded Experian (EXPN) to neutral from buy (cutting the price target to 411p from 510p) and as part of its European Strategy the broker has cut its stance on the Retail Sector to neutral from attractive.
KBC Peel Hunt says hold Enterprise Inns (ETI) and reiterates buy Barratt Developments (BDEV).
The broker says buy Venture Production (VPC).
Morgan Stanley has reviewed the Property Sector and for the UK it has raised its stance to attractive from cautious and prefers it to Continental property.
The broker has upgraded British Land (BLND) to overweight from underweight (raising the target price to 1280p from 910p), Brixton (BXTN) to overweight from underweight (raising the price target to 390p from 270p) and Segro (SGRO) (raising the target to 590p from 410p) and downgraded Hammerson (HMSO) to equal-weight from overweight (raising the price target 1130p to 980p) and Liberty International (LII) (cutting the price target to 950p from 1030p) and reiterates equal-weight on Land Securities (LAND) (raising the target to 1750p from 1400p).
Morgan Stanley has raised its Sector stance on Continental property to attractive from cautious, but its switch ‘preference’ is into UK property.
Seymour Pierce reiterates hold HMV (HMV) and says hold Smiths News (NWS).
The broker has upgraded Spring Group (SRG) to outperform from hold (55p target price) and says buy Telit Communications (TCM).
NEWS ROUND-UP
Last Night in New York stocks closed lower after a session that had the Dow soaring more than 70 points in the final moments only to slump again in the face of ongoing worries about economic growth, spurred by a disappointing outlook from technology bellwether Intel. U.S. stocks had already edged off earlier declines, with badly beaten financial and consumer stocks helping pare losses amid tamer commodities prices and an upbeat response to quarterly reports in the banking sector. The Dow Jones closed down 34.9 points at 12,466.2, with 16 of its 30 components ending lower. The S&P declined 7.75 points to close at 1,373.2, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq dropped 23 points to 2,394.59.
On this day in:-
1991 - The first full day of Operation Desert Storm in the Gulf War.
1991 - After the death of his father, Olav V, Harald V becomes King of Norway.
1983 - The start of breakfast television in Great Britain with the BBC's Breakfast programme presented by Frank Bough and Selina Scott.
1977 - Convicted murderer Gary Gilmore was executed by firing squad in Utah State Prison, Salt Lake City. It was the first execution in the U.S. for almost 10-years.
1995 - A massive earthquake hit Japan. The city of Kobe was worst hit, with hundreds of people feared dead.
1994 - A huge earthquake rocked Los Angeles, killing more than 20 people.
1966 - Citizens of the Spanish coastal village of Palomares suffered a portentous scare, when two U.S. Air Force jets collided in the skies overhead. The mid-air crash of the B-52 bomber and a KC-135 refuelling plane killed 8-crew members and dropped three 70-kiloton hydrogen bombs on the land and one in the sea. One thousand U.S. soldiers and experts were dispatched to clean up the wreckage strewn over the small town. None of the bombs were armed, but explosive material in 2 of the bombs that fell to earth exploded upon impact, forming craters and scattering radioactive plutonium over the fields of Palomares. A third bomb landed in a dry riverbed, and was recovered relatively intact. The fourth bomb fell into the sea at an unknown location. After an extensive search, the nuclear weapon was found, intact, in nearby waters. The United States eventually settled some 500 claims by Palomares residents whose health was adversely affected by the accident.
1961 - Dwight D. Eisenhower made his last television address to the American people as President.
1945 - World War II: Soviet troops captured the Polish capital Warsaw.
1938 - The first jazz concert took place at Carnegie Hall in New York, U.S.A.
1912 - English explorer Robert Falcon Scott (Scott of the Antarctic) reached the South Pole, one-month behind Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen.
1899 - In France, the world land speed record was broken twice on the same day by Camille Jenatzy and Gaston Chasseloup-Laubat respectively.
1893 - A group of American sugar planters overthrew Queen Liliuokalani, the Hawaiian monarch, and established a new provincial government. The coup occurred with the foreknowledge of the U.S. government.
1773 - Captain Cook's ship 'Resolution' became the first to cross the Antarctic Circle.
1648 - ‘The Vote of No Address’ was passed by the Long Parliament. Negotiations with King Charles I were ended and the second phase of the English Civil War began.
1545 - Henry VIII of England fell from his horse at the age of 44 while jousting and remains unconscious for several hours. Historians believe the fall triggered his mental instability.
WEEKLY DIARY
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Compiled in association with HB PLC and WH Ireland Ltd
