This Morning in London renewed speculative buying pushed Northumbrian Water (NWG.L) higher on continued talk that Kelda (KEL.L) was considering a bid, as part of a further consolidation of the water industry. Northumbrian is up 7p at 309.5p, with Kelda off 1p at 871p. It was "Cheers!" all round at JD Wetherspoon (JDW.L), because although they have seen the introduction of a smoking ban, they have indeed seen a rise in sales. JDW are currently up 32.75p at 597.5p. Unilever (ULVR.L) also cheered the market after good third quarter figures, however, there was not such good news from one-time bell-weather of the City, ICI (ICI.L), after failing to meet expectations. Unilever are up 47p at 1341p, while ICI are down 3.5p at 390.75p. At 9:55 the FTSE-100 was down 14.5-points at 6135.1.
Road signs with a difference
Commuters in Crawley, West Sussex, were told to 'F*** off' by council car park signs, however... hardly anyone noticed. The signs normally inform travellers how many spaces are free in each of the town's car parks, but were defaced by a hacker. It seems that the hacker broke into the system at around 6.45am, substituting the rude message and a tag promoting the US totse.com forum. The unseemly messages were on display for more than 2-hours before council officers told the company which maintains the system (German-owned signage specialist Dambach) to remove them. The computer system was now been locked down and will now have its operating system upgraded. Council spokesman Allan Hambly said that they had no idea why Crawley was picked on. Only two members of the public reported it and even Mr Hamby drove past one of the signs without noticing it. Somewhat philosophically, Mr Hamby said, "Nowhere is foolproof. If hackers can get into Pentagon computers then I am sure they would have no problem with ours."
Trick is not such a great treat!
In America, jail officials feared that an escapee was on the loose on Halloween night, after a former inmate was spotted trick-or-treating in his orange prison jumpsuit. A corrections officer spotted the former inmate, 32-year old Oscar Aponte, going from house to house with his son in his hometown of Peekskill, north of New York City. The officer alerted the Westchester County Jail and the prison was then “locked down” while all inmates were accounted for. The prison authorities believe that the former inmate smuggled the orange jumpsuit out of the jail when he was released in September after a four-month stay for a probation violation. "It was a really poor choice of costume," said chief adviser to the county executive Susan Tolchin. She went on to say that they would be investigating how he got it out, because when they are discharged they leave with their belongings in a clear plastic bag." Aponte has been charged with petty larceny and criminal possession of stolen property for taking the jumpsuit.
BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS
Bridgewell has initiated coverage of Aminex (AEX.L) appending a neutral recommendation and says buy Afren (AFR.L).
The broker has overweight on Corin Group (CRG.L), Northgate Information Solutions (NIS.L) and Sinclair Pharma (SPH.L) and has underweight on Venture Production (VPC.L).
Cazenove has in-line on Carphone Warehouse (CPW.L), with a 320p fair value price, although they will be looking to update their forecasts and valuation after the interims.
Citigroup says buy for CSR (CSR.L), Laird Group (LARD.L), Tate & Lyle (TATE.L), Taylor Woodrow (TWOD.L) (cutting the price target to 440p) and Yell Group (YELL.L) and hold Old Mutual (OML.L) and Paypoint (PAY.L).
Collins Stewart reiterates sell Kelda (KEL.L) and Severn Trent (SVT.L) and says buy ICI (ICI.L) (435p price target).
The broker says sell BSkyB (BSY.L) (420p target price, ahead of tomorrow's figures).
Dresdner Kleinwort says buy British Airways (BAY.L) and has upgraded JD Wetherspoon (JDW.L) to add from hold.
Evolution says add BG Group (BG.L) (750p target) and Carphone Warehouse (CPW.L) (430p target) and buy D1 Oils (DOO.L) (300p target price, after a company visit).
The broker says add ICI (ICI.L) (410p target price) and buy Ashtead Group (AHT.L) and JD Wetherspoon (JDW.L) (raising the price target to 650p from 550p).
JP Morgan has upgrades GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) to neutral from underweight and has underweight on Rolls-Royce (RR.L).
Numis says buy Carphone Warehouse (CPW.L) (375p target) and has upgraded JD Wetherspoon (JDW.L) to add from hold (raising the price target to 654p from 532p).
The broker says add Unilever (ULVR.L) (1520p target price) and has raised the price target of Floors2Go (FGO.L) to 42p from 35p.
Numis says add Northgate Information (NIS.L) (93p target price) and buy Debt Free Direct (DFD.L) (635p target), Connaught (CNT.L) (282p target) and Chrysalis (CHS.L) (147p target).
Panmure Gordon has upgraded JD Wetherspoon (JDW.L) to hold from sell (raising the price target to 600p from 470p) and says hold Unilever (ULVR.L) (1200p target).
The broker says buy Carphone Warehouse (CPW.L) (385p target) and hold Bango (BGO.L) (75p target).
UBS has upgraded Aegis (AGS.L) to buy from neutral.
NEWS ROUND-UP
Last Night in New York shares made 4-consecutive days of losses, after investors digested disappointing factory and housing figures, however, strong earnings from MasterCard and Burger King reduced the pain. The Dow Jones closed down 49.71-points to 12031.02, the Nasdaq fell 32.36-points to 2334.35, while the S&P lost 10.13-points to closed at 1367.81.
On this day:-
2003 - Sir Ranulph Fiennes and companion Mike Stroud completed their 7th marathon in 7-days, each in a different country. Fiennes had suffered a heart attack 5-months previously.
1997 - American Craig McCaw, who pioneered the mobile phone, agreed a record $277-million divorce settlement with his wife Wendy.
1964 - The first episode of the television soap opera 'Crossroads' was broadcast on ITV.
1962 - US President John F Kennedy announced that the 'Cuban Missile Crisis' was over, after ships carrying nuclear missiles to Cuba were ordered to return to Russia.
1960 - In Great Britain, Penguin publishers were cleared of obscenity, for printing the D.H.Lawrence novel 'Lady Chatterley's Lover'.
1957 - Rock 'n' roll star Elvis Presley set an all-time record with 8 hit singles in the UK Top 30 chart at the same time.
1954 - The comedy series 'Hancock's Half Hour' was first broadcast on BBC Radio.
1953 - The founding of the Samaritans.
1930 - Ras Tafari, King of Ethiopia, was crowned Emperor Haile Selassie.
1924 - Almost 11-years after its appearance in America, the first 'crossword puzzle' was published in a Great British newspaper, sold to the Sunday Express by C.W. Shepherd.
1917 - Great Britain issued the 'Balfour Declaration on Palestine', promoting the idea of creating a national Jewish homeland in the Middle East.
1903 - The publication of the 'Daily Mirror' newspaper, designed especially to be read by women.
1899 - Boer War: The start of the siege of Ladysmith in Natal, when Boers encircled Great British troops and civilians inside the town.
1871 - Great British police began their 'Rogue's Gallery', taking photographs of all convicted prisoners.
1841 - The start of the Second Afghan War.
