This Morning in London the FTSE-100 had 8.4-points removed from it because of constituents going ex-dividend and was further depressed by the looming interest rate decision tomorrow, which could, if as expected, we were to see the MPC lift rates, prompt an increase in bad debt provisions. Barclays (BARC.L), Lloyds (LLOY.L), HSBC (HSBA.L), HBOS (HBOS.L) and Standard Chartered (STAN.L) are all easier today, but the exception is Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L). Taking on board the bad debt situation Citigroup has suggested selling Lloyds TSB and switching in Royal Bank of Scotland (up 11p at 19.4p). There has been talk of a German broker pushing a bid story in Scottish Power (SPW.L), with the name of RWE (RWW.L) supposedly appended as the acquirer. Scottish Power gained 39p to 710.5p. Newswires are reporting that Citigroup were placing 6-million shares in Burberry (BRBY.L), at 568p-a-share. Burberry are down 10.75p at 565p. At 11:13 the FTSE-100 was down 32.9 at 6211.1.
Oops!
German pensioner, 76-year old Ingrid Schoppenhauer caused 9 separate crashes, after she executed a U-turn on a motorway, causing £35,000 of damage along the A9 Autobahn, as drivers piled into each other. She calmly explained to officers that she had been trying to get to the Bavarian city of Bayreuth, but had taken a wrong turn and got on the A9 Autobahn heading towards Berlin. She said she wanted to get off the motorway as quickly as possible and decided to do a U-turn and head back to the correct exit. Fortunately no-one was seriously injured in the accidents, but police have confiscated the woman's licence.
But shouldn't you stand up for the National Anthem?
The fate of a toilet that flushes to the tune of Italy's national anthem, is now in the hands of a tribunal, following a complaint from a right-wing political party. The 'creation' was part of an exhibit, entitled "Group Therapy," that opened at the modern art museum in Bolzano in September and the toilet, installed by artists Eleonora Chiari and Sandra Goldschmied, plays an electronic version of the national anthem along with the sound of flushing. The music is activated by a sensor when a visitor approaches. The right-wing National Alliance party, which called the work a "massacre of respect," had it impounded on 19th October and the museum has been trying to get it back. Spokeswoman for the museum, Silvia Rissbacher, said, "The tribunal told us Monday that it would decide soon." She went on to say that art is free in democracies. For its part, the Association of Italian Modern Art Museums said it backed the museum "with all its professional authority," saying it had been the victim of censorship. Hey maybe it’s just a passing phase, but the museum are somewhat flushed.
BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS
Altium reiterates buy ITIS Holdings (ITH.L) and says buy Civica (CIV.L) and NCC Group (NCC.L).
Bridgewell has initiated coverage of UK Coal (UKC.L) appending a buy recommendation and a 625p price target and upgraded IG Group (IGG.L) to overweight from neutral.
The broker says buy Cookson (CKSN.L), K3 Business Technology (KBT.L), Celsis (CEL.L) and Advanced Medical Solutions (AMS.L) and has downgraded CSR (CSR.L) to neutral from overweight.
Bridgewell has neutral on Tullow Oil (TLW.L), Shanks (SKS.L) and London Stock Exchange (LSE.L) and overweight on Fenner (FENR.L).
Citigroup says buy Alfred McAlpine (MCA.L), Homeservice (HSV.L) (raising the price target to 2275p from 1700p) and Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) and hold Scottish & Newcastle (SCTN.L).
The broker has downgraded Next (NXT.L) to hold from buy and upgraded Kesa Electricals (KESA.L) to buy from hold.
Citigroup reiterates buy CSR (CSR.L).
Deutsche says buy M&S (MKS.L) (raising target to 775p from 750p) and says hold VT Group (VTG.L) (raising the target price to 470p from 460p).
The broker says sell Yell (YELL.L) (cutting the price target to 460p from 470p).
Dresdner Kleinwort has issued a note on European Oil Explorers, in which they have initiated coverage of Burren Energy (BUR.L) appending a buy recommendation, Cairn Energy (CNE.L) with a hold recommendation, Sibir Energy (SBE.L) appending a hold recommendation and Tullow Oil (TLW.L) with a hold recommendation.
Evolution reiterates add Volex (VLX.L) (130p target) and sell CSR (CSR.L) (630p target).
The broker says add Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) (raising the price target to 725p from 700p) and buy Morgan Crucible (MGCR.L) (300p target) and Pipex (PXC.L) (16p target).
Evolution says add Standard Life (SL.L) (304p target ) and buy JD Wetherspoon (JDW.L) (700p target).
HSBC reiterates underweight on BG (BG.L) (raising the price target to 607p from 590p).
ING has downgraded Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) to hold from buy.
WH Ireland says buy Intermodal (IMR.L) and has market perform on Office2Office (OFF.L) and Majestic Wine (MJW.L).
KBC Peel Hunt reiterates sell First Calgary (FPL.L) and says hold Tullow Oil (TLW.L).
Kepler Teather & Greenwood says buy Yell (YELL.L) and has initiated coverage of Davis Service Group (DVSG.L) appending a buy recommendation.
Merrill is neutral on Cable & Wireless (CW.L), FirstGroup (FGP.L), London Stock Exchange (LSE.L), Rentokil (RTO.L) and Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) and reiterates neutral Standard Life (SL.L).
The broker says buy CSR (CSR.L), Shanks (SKS.L) and Tullow Oil (TLW.L) and has downgraded Tesco (TSCO.L) to neutral from buy.
JP Morgan reiterates overweight on Marks & Spencer (MKS.L).
Morgan Stanley has initiated coverage of Restaurant Group (RTN.L) appending an equal-weight recommendation and a 265p price target and has equal-weight on Sainsbury (SBRY.L).
Panmure has initiated coverage of Sci Entertainment (SEG.L) appending a buy recommendation and a 650p target price and says buy FirstGroup (FGP.L) (580p target) and Rank (RNK.L) (280p price target).
The broker says hold Rentokil (RTO.L) (150p target) and sell M&S (MKS.L) (550p target).
Panmure has downgraded CSR to hold from buy (cutting the target price to 750p from 950p).
Seymour Pierce reiterates outperform on BT (BT.L) and has underperform on Cable & Wireless (CW.L).
The broker has outperform on Daily Mail & General (DMGO.L) and says hold Emap (EMA.L).
Seymour Pierce says buy UK Coal (UKC.L).
UBS reiterates neutral on Standard Life (SL.L) and says buy AB Foods (ABF.L).
The broker is neutral on Vodafone (VOD.L), Hanson (HNS.L) and Berkeley Group (BKG.L) (raising the price target to 1569p from 1396p) and reduce Yell (YELL.L) (target 530p).
UBS says buy Acambis (ACM.L).
NEWS ROUND-UP
Last Night in New York shares closed higher recording its 2nd-consecutive day of gains as investors awaited the outcome of mid-term congressional elections. The Dow Jones closed up 51.22-points to 12156.77 (having been up over 91-points to hit an all-time high of 12196.32), the Nasdaq rose 9.93-points at 2375.88, while the S&P gained 3.06-points at 1382.84.
On this day:-
1995 - General Colin Powell, former head of the United States' armed forces, announced that he would not be seeking to become America's first black President.
1987 - In Northern Ireland, 11 people were killed by an IRA bomb, which exploded shortly before a Remembrance Day service at Enniskillen.
1974 - The world famous fruit and vegetable market at Covent Garden in London closed, after existing for more than 300-years.
1967 - Great Britain’s first commercial radio station, Radio Leicester, was given a licence to broadcast.
1966 - The Italian city of Florence appealed for help to save valuable art treasures threatened by severe flooding.
1960 - In America, Democrat John F Kennedy defeated Republican Richard Nixon to become US President.
1920 - 'The Daily Express' published the first 'Rupert Bear' strip cartoon.
1917 - Nikolai Lenin became Chief Commissar in Russia and Leon Trotsky named as Russian Premier.
1904 - Republican US President Theodore Roosevelt won another presidential term, after defeating his Democrat challenger Alton Parker.
1895 - In Germany, scientist Wilhelm Rontgen discovers X rays during an experiment at the University of Wurzburg.
1892 - In America, Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland won the Presidential election.
1864 - Abraham Lincoln was re-elected President of the United States with Andrew Johnson his Vice-President.
1861 - In America, the 'Trent Affair'. Confederate commissioners to Great Britain and France were forced off a Great British ship by Unionists. They were released and allowed back on board after strong Great British protests.
1793 - Louvre Museum in Paris officially opens to the public.
.gif)
