This Morning in London the FTSE-100 has puffed up to a gain of over 37-points, led by Gallaher (GLH.L) (owner of Benson & Hedges) after the company said last night it was the subject of bid interest, even though a possible suitor had not been named. Today the name of Japan Tobacco has been appended to Gallaher’s. Gallaher sent smoke rings in the air, lifting the share price to 1210p, a rise of 231p, but they have since stubbed out part of that gain and now stand at 1161.5p, a climb of 182.5p. Other tobacco shares have been dragged along with them, with Imperial Tobacco (IMT.L) up 107p and BAT’s (BATS.L) up 39p. Rank Group (RNK.L) has sold its Hard Rock Café division to the Native American Seminole tribe of Florida, but the price of £490-million has been deemed ‘disappointing’, at least by Citigroup, whom had expected £700-million. The shares have fallen 7p to 259.5p. At 10::43 the FTSE-100 was up 25.7-points at 6116.0.
So, how many more want to move to Tewkesbury?
Tewkesbury is celebrating a parking free-for-all... after it's only traffic warden was suspended. Local shoppers in Tewkesbury are parking for the entire day in short-stay car parks, loading bays and on double-yellow lines. Traffic warden Nigel Greene, 49, was suspended over claims his part-time job as a taxi driver represented a conflict of interest, reports the BBC. Mike Ricketts, who works in the High Street, said: "It's a free-for-all. People are parking on double yellow lines, loading bays, and it's causing quite a lot of problems. "It's getting worse in the run-up to Christmas and people are getting fed up." Gloucestershire Police said drivers might be in for a nasty shock. Sgt Clive Patterson said: "I can assure you that drivers won't get away with parking anywhere they like." Community support officers are going to be drafted in to hand out tickets.
You think it’s windy in this country at the moment!?
Well, here is a problem that security services at US airlines had never envisioned... a passenger who lights matches – whilst in flight - to mask odours from her flatulence. The woman's actions forced the plane into an emergency landing in Nashville. The flight was an American Airlines flight bound for Dallas from Washington DC. It seems that the other passengers reported the odour of burnt matches, but the woman (obviously a little embarrassed) was not forthcoming when asked about it. A spokeswoman for Nashville's airport, Lynne Lowrance, said, "Of course, she was scared and embarrassed but all the passengers had to disembark, all the luggage had to be searched, a canine team was brought in, and about 3-hours were consumed in sorting out the situation," she said. The woman was not allowed back on the flight and has been barred from flying on American Airlines in the future. The good news for the unnamed miscreant, is that as there was no malice involved and the incident was accidental, she was not charged with anything. Passengers are permitted 4 books of paper safety matches on a plane, but cannot light them during flight, explained Ms Lowrance.
Altium reiterates buy Premier Asset Management (PAM.L) (250p target).
Bridgewell reiterates sell Vanco (VAN.L), and has overweight on Xaar (XAR.L).
The broker says buy Afren (AFR.L), Allergy Therapeutics (AGY.L), Atrium (AUW.L) and Spice (SPI.L).
Cazenove reiterates hold Premier Farnell (PFL.L) and has outperform on Intermediate Capital (ICP.L) (raising estimates).
The broker has in-line on Abbott Group (ABG.L) (cutting estimates) and Biffa (BIFF.L) (raising estimates).
Citigroup reiterates sell Woolworths (WLW.L) (30p target, cutting estimates) and says hold Premier Farnell (PFL.L) (190p target, raising estimates).
The broker says buy Biffa (BIFF.L) (raising the price target to 310p from 290p).
Collins Stewart says sell Severn Trent (SVT.L) (1332p price target) and BSkyB (BSY.L) (420p target).
Credit Suisse has downgraded ITV (ITV.L) to underperform from neutral (cutting the price target to 120p) and has underperform on the London Stock Exchange (LSE.L).
The broker is neutral on Gallaher (GLH.L) (960p target) and outperform on Bodycote (BOY.L) (290p target).
Deutsche has upgraded Hays (HAS.L) to buy from hold and reiterates buy Michael Page (MPI.L) (raising the target price to 480p).
The broker says buy Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) (raising target to 2150p from 2080p).
Dresdner Kleinwort has downgraded Carnival Corporation (CCL.L) to hold from buy.
Goldman has upgraded Gallaher (GLH.L) to neutral from sell.
HSBC reiterates overweight on Prudential (PRU.L) (raising the price target to 800p from 778p) and has overweight on Friends Provident (FP.L) (raising the price target to 245p from 225p).
The broker is neutral on Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) (raising target to 2050p from 2000p).
KBC Peel Hunt says buy Arena Leisure (ARE.L) and Allergy Therapeutics (AGY.L) and sell Wagon (WAGN.L).
Kepler Teather & Greenwood has initiated coverage of RoyalBlue (RYB.L) and Offshore Hydrocarbon Mapping (OHM.L) appending buy recommendations.
The broker says buy Spiritel (STP.L), Gulf Sands Petroleum (GPX.L) and Angus & Ross (AGU.L).
Lehman has upgraded Home Retail Group (HOME.L) to overweight from equal-weight (cutting target to 470p from 490p) and reiterates overweight Anglo Irish Bank (ANGL.L) (raising the target price by 23% to €17.6 and raising estimates).
The broker has equal-weight on Vodafone (VOD.L) (increased target price of 152p target) and overweight on Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) (raising the price target to £22.46, preferring HSBC (HSBA.L)).
Morgan Stanley has overweight on Bodycote (BOY.L) (cutting the price target to 292p from 304p) and equal-weight on Sainsbury (SBRY.L) (raising the price target to 365p from 300p).
The broker has downgraded Woolworths (WLW.L) to equal-weight from overweight.
Numis says sell Carpetright (CPR.L) (900p target price, ahead of next Tuesday's interims) and has upgraded Admiral (ADM.L) to hold from reduce (850 target) and Albidon (ALD.L) to buy from add 103p.
The broker has downgraded Atrium (AUW.L) to hold from add (250p target), Balfour Beatty (BBY.L) to hold from add (410p target), Caffe Nero (CFN.L) to add from buy (300p target) and United Business Media (UBM.L) to add from buy (780p target).
UBS has upgraded Capita (CPI.L) to buy from neutral and Future (FUTR.L) to buy from reduce.
The broker has initiated coverage of Care UK (CUK.L) appending a neutral and a 665p price target.
UBS reiterates neutral on David S Smith (SMDS.L) (raising the price target to 185p from 175p) and says buy Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L), Misys (MSY.L) and Antofagasta (ANTO.L).
The broker says reduce Biffa (BIFF.L).
NEWS ROUND-UP
Last Night in New York shares closed lower as the market took a breather from recent advances, which has seen a pretty good rally and new highs, so it’s not surprising that the market has eased back a little. The Dow fell 22.35-points to 12309.25, the Nasdaq dropped 6.52-points to 2445.86, while the S&P lost 1.86-points to 1412.90.
On this day in:-
1997 - The Great British children's TV phenomenon, the Teletubbies moved to new heights when their first record, ‘Teletubbies Say Eh-Oh’, reached Number One.
1989 - A gunman, claiming to hate feminists, massacred 14 women at the University of Montreal in Canada.
1982 - America carried out its first execution by lethal injection: prisoner Charles Brooks Jnr was executed at Fort Worth in Texas.
1979 - The production of MG sports cars came to an end after 50-years.
1967 - American singer Otis Redding recorded 'Dock of the Bay', 3-days before being killed in a plane crash.
1941 - World War II: Japanese dive-bombers attacked the US fleet at Pearl Harbour in Hawaii, several hours before issuing an official declaration of war. On Sunday morning, 7th December, 1941, American neutrality in World War II ended when Japanese forces conducted a surprise attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii. Over 400 planes from 6 Japanese carriers bombed the harbour and airfield, and within 2-hours much of the American Pacific fleet was rendered useless. Losses were devastating: Five of eight battleships, 3 destroyers, and 7 other ships were sunk or severely damaged, and more than half the island's aircraft were destroyed. Fortunately for the Americans, all 3 U.S. Pacific fleet carriers were out at sea. A total of 2,400 Americans were killed and 1,200 were wounded in the attack. Japan's losses were 29 planes and 4 midget submarines. The next day, Japan attacked the Philippines, Malaya, Thailand, and Hong Kong, while Great Britain and the United States declared war on Japan.
1907 - The first Congress of the Egyptian nationalist movement under Mustafa Kamil.
1787 - Delaware became the first state of the United States of America.
1783 - At the age of 24, William Pitt the Younger became the youngest Great British Prime Minister.
1732 - The opening of the original Covent Garden Opera House, with a performance of Way Of The World, by William Congreve.
