This Morning in London Gallaher (GLH.L) saw its shares rise 24p to 920p, on vague speculation that Japan Tobacco is considering making an approach. There are also said to be a few "shorts" out there, who are worried there may be some weekend press coverage and are therefore closing their bears. Further bid speculation has been appended to Arena Leisure (ARE.L), up 1p at 41p, but with an impressive 2.74-million volume against just over 5,000 shares yesterday. Investec's (INVP.L) shares gained 22p to 561p. Enodis (END.L) has fallen 7p to 191.5p after rebuffing an approach from Aga Foodservice (AGA.L). Aga have fallen 19p to 387p. Oil and gas explorer, Soco International (SIA.L), have fallen 63p to 1450p after announcing that they had encountered reservoir sands at the first exploration well on the Te Giac Xang ("TGX") structure on Prospect "K" and it will be plugged and abandoned as initial analysis indicates that it was not drilled within structural closure. Flat profits and delayed product launches have seen Rexam (REX.L) fall 28.5p to 549p. At 10:52 the FTSE-100 was up 2.4 at 6151.7.
No age restrictions - nor gender
A 70-year-old has landed a job as a "bouncer" at a brothel in Berlin. Oh one other piece of information for you... the 70-year old happens to be... a grandmother!! According to the owner of the establishment, granny Waltraud Hotzl (who is quaintly known as 'Mumsy') has no problem turning away drunks and other undesirables, who never argue with OAP at the Fraulein Mueller brothel, in Hermannplatz. Forty-one year old Johann Vepsi, who is her boss said that she has got the business "perfectly under control" and that 'Mumsy' is far and away the best person for the job. Multi-talented Mumsy not only ensures that customers are well-behaved, she also settles disputes between the prostitutes. Vepsi says that if she hears of a squabble between the girls, she will shout, "Children, all quiet on deck please," and total silence always follows. Mind you, that's always assuming that the girls are on the deck at the time I suppose.
Post early for Christmas!
Here in the UK we have just undergone a change in postage prices, with letters and packages being charged by size, so I wonder just how much this 'special delivery' would have cost? It seems that in Austria, a prisoner wrapped himself in a large parcel and posted himself to freedom. Thirty-six year old Bosnian, Muradif Hasanbegovic, was serving a 7-year sentence for robbery, in the Karlau prison, near Graz. His escape was engineered from the workshop where he helped package and post parts for lampposts. So, what he did was pack himself up in a parcel, and with the help of fellow 'inmates' was loaded onto a lorry. Once clear of the prison he broke out of the parcel, jumped off the back of the lorry and fled. Quite succinctly I think, prison warden Franz Hochstrasser said that this sort of thing "was not supposed to happen" and said that he had initiated an investigation. Hasanbegovic is still on the run.
Altium has initiated coverage of Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY.L) appending a reduce recommendation and a 295p price target.
The broker has reiterated its buy recommendation on Anite (AIE.L) (90p target) and says buy Innovation Group (TIG.L) (cutting the price target to 36p from 40p).
Bridgewell has upgraded Chrysalis (CHS.L) to buy from overweight and has initiated coverage of Vanco (VAN.L) appending a sell recommendation and a 350p fair value price.
The broker has reiterated its buy recommendation on Anite (AIE.L) (90p target) and is neutral on Blacks Leisure (BSLA.L) and Transense Technologies (TRT.L).
Bridgewell says buy Investec (INVP.L) and Soco International (SIA.L).
Credit Suisse has outperform on Skyepharma (SKP.L).
Dresdner Kleinwort has downgraded Greggs (GRG.L) to add from buy.
Evolution says buy GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) (1690p target) and add Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) (675p target).
The broker says buy Millennium & Copthorne (MLC.L) (600p target).
Evolution gas a 14p target price on Sanctuary Group (SGP.L).
Goldman has upgraded JD Wetherspoon (JDW.L) to neutral from sell.
ING says hold for Unilever (ULVR.L) (raising target to 20.5 from 19.5).
Kepler Teather & Greenwood reiterates hold Chrysalis (CHS.L) and says buy BSkyB (BSY.L), Millennium & Copthorne (MLC.L), Rexam (REX.L) and Soco International (SIA.L).
The broker says sell Elecrocomponents (ECM.L) and hold Emap (EMA.L) and Greggs (GRG.L).
Lehman has underweight on BG Group (BG.L) and equal-weight on Carphone Warehouse (CPW.L) (cutting the price target to 360p from 380p and reducing estimates) has an overweight on ICI (ICI.L) (raising the price target to 440p from 435p).
The broker has underweight on Signet (SIG.L) and Unilever (ULVR.L).
Merrill says buy BSkyB (BSY.L) and is neutral on British Airways (BAY.L).
JP Morgan reiterates overweight on Alliance Boots (AB.L) (raising the price target price to 880p from 850p) and has upgraded Unilever (ULVR.L) to neutral from underweight.
Morgan Stanley has equal-weight on Unilever (ULVR.L) (raising the price target to 21 from 19.5).
Panmure Gordon has downgraded British Airways (BAY.L) to hold from buy and says buy AB Foods (ABF.L).
The broker reiterates sell BSkyB (BSY.L) and has initiated coverage of Huntsworth (HNT.L) appending a buy recommendation and a 106p target.
UBS says buy British Airways (BAY.L), LogicaCMG (LOG.L), Unilever (ULVR.L), BG Group (BG.L), Smith & Nephew (SN.L), Laird Group (LARD.L) (cutting the price target to 500p from 547p) and JD Wetherspoon (JDW.L) (raising the price target to 700p from 600p).
NEWS ROUND-UP
Last Night in New York the markets closed lower for the 5th-consecutive day, as data showing a pick-up in wage inflation and a rise in jobless claims prompted investors to push shares towards the south. Its the first time the markets have had 5-consecutive days of losses since June 2005. The Dow closed down 12.48-points to 12018.54 (off an intra day low of 11979), with the Nasdaq losing 0.33-points to close at 2334.02, while the S&P fell 0.47-points to 1367.34.
On this day:-
1975 - The Queen opened the North Sea pipeline, the first to be built underwater, bringing ashore 400,000 barrels a day to Grangemouth Refinery on the Firth of Forth in Scotland.
1957 - The Soviet Union launched the first animal into space, a dog name Laika, aboard the Sputnik 2 spacecraft. Laika, part Siberian husky, lived as a stray on the Moscow streets before being enlisted into the Soviet space programme. Laika survived for several days as a passenger in the USSR's second artificial Earth satellite, kept alive by a sophisticated life-support system. Electrodes attached to her body provided scientists on the ground with important information about the biological effects of space travel. She died after the batteries of her life-support system ran down. At least a dozen more Russian dogs were launched into space in preparation for the first manned Soviet space mission, and at least 5 of these dogs died in flight. On 12th April 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel into space aboard the spacecraft Vostok 1. He orbited the Earth once before landing safely in the USSR.
1941 - Broadcaster Roy Plomley conceived the idea for 'Desert Island Discs'. The programme was first broadcast on BBC Radio in January 1942.
1942 - World War II: The Battle of El Alamein - the Great British Eighth Army, commanded by General Bernard Montgomery, broke through the German front line having taken 9000 prisoners and destroyed 300 tanks.
1918 - German sailors began a mutiny on ships of the fleet at Kiel.
1908 - Republican William Howard Taft won the Presidential election in the USA, defeating Democrat William Jennings Bryan. Taft was the 27th President of the United States.
1903 - In Central America, Panama proclaimed its independence.
1867 - Italian revolutionary leader Guiseppe Garibaldi was defeated and captured by French and Papal forces at Mentana.
1856 - In America, Democrat James Buchanan won the US presidential election, defeating Republican candidate John Fremont. Buchanan was the 15th President of the United States.
1843 - The statue of English Admiral Horatio Nelson was put on top of Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, London.
1493 - Explorer Christopher Columbus, on his second voyage of discovery, sighted land (now Dominican Republic, West Indies) after sailing across the Atlantic.
