This Morning in London the weakened commodity prices had been expected to impinge upon the mining stocks, and, perhaps send the FTSE-100 lower. But the bid speculation around Scottish Power (SPW.L) helped to lift the index to a rise of 31.4-points. It is thought that Iberdrola's potential acquisition of Scottish Power is likely to be paid through a share exchange. Scottish Power gained 22.5p to 763.5p. The interest in property and real estate lifted Land Securities (LAND.L) 25p to 2177, with pharmaceutical giants AstraZeneca (AZN.L) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) adding 57p and 20p respectively. Some profit-taking has taken place and at 11:01 the FTSE-100 was up 4.2 at 6212.6.
It's my pasty... No, no, it's mine!!
Cornwall and Devon are all puffed up, in a war of words. Not about whether Camelot is at Tintagel or Honiton, but over who invented the 'Cornish' pasty. It seems that a 500-year-old document has been discovered in Devon and has been hailed as the earliest pasty recipe on record. The recipe, dated 1510, is some 236-years before the first Cornish written reference to pasties. Dr Todd Gray, chairman of the Friends of Devon's Archives, who just happened to have been the person who found the recipe, said it had been a great joy for him to have discovered that pasties may have originated in Devon and spread to Cornwall later. However, Les Merton, who is the author of the Official Encyclopedia of the Cornish Pasty, said that pasty recipes had been handed down by word-of-mouth in Cornwall since 8,000BC. "One theory in parts of Cornwall is that it went back to the beginning of time - well almost," he said.
Bah... Humbug
Coastal holiday resort Scarborough, is cancelling its ceremonial switching-on of the Christmas lights... what... no lights? No, they'll have the lights, but the fact that people actually want to see them being turned on has caused the problem. Apparently the event is "too popular." Ten thousand visitors attended in December 2005, however, fire officials say only 2,000 can safely attend. So, instead of turning families away, or even worse... face a compensation claim if someone was injured, council officials have cancelled the event altogether. Penny Marsden, an independent councillor and shopkeeper, described the decision as "a joke," remarking that it is supposed to be a joyous occasion, when children come out to enjoy the start of Christmas. But now the council is going to "rob them of it," she said. The council defended its decision when council chief executive Jim Dillon said that a vast amount of hard work by all parties had been carried out in looking at ways of staging the event safely, but they all felt that the risks were far too great.
BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS
ABN has downgraded Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNN.L) to hold from add (210p target price).
Altium has downgraded Diploma (DPLM.L) to reduce from add and says buy Innovation Group (TIG.L).
The broker says hold Accident Exchange (ACE.L).
Bridgewell reiterates buy Evolutec (EVC.L) and has underweight on Crest Nicholson (CRST.L).
The broker has overweight on Emap (EMA.L) and Sage Group (SGE.L).
Citigroup has downgraded Intercontinental Hotels (IHG.L) to hold from buy (raising the price target to 1100p from 1050p) and says buy Scottish & Southern (SSE.L) (1350p target).
The broker says hold British Energy (BGY.L) (470p target), Crest Nicholson (CRST.L) (raising the price target to 585p from 525p) and Man Group (EMG.L) (raising the price target to 520p from 490p).
Collins Stewart says buy EMI (EMI.L) (330p target).
Deutsche says buy Cable & Wireless (CW.L) (raising the price target to 190p from 145p).
Dresdner Kleinwort has initiated coverage of Civica (CIV.L) appending a buy recommendation and a 300p price target.
Evolution reiterates buy Barratt Developments (BDEV.L) and buy Bovis Homes (BVS.L), Oxford Biomedica (OXB.L), Persimmon (PSN.L) and Torex Retail (TRX.L) (70p target).
Goldman says sell Rentokil (RTO.L) (130p target price), removing the stock from its Conviction Sell List and says sell Dairy Crest (DCG.L) (raising the price target to 580p from 550p).
Lehman reiterates underweight on EMI (EMI.L) (320p target) and has overweight on Hammerson (HMSO.L) (raising the price target to 1589p from 1516p).
The broker has underweight on Northern Foods (NFDS.L) (60p target).
Merrill has downgraded Scottish Power (SPW.L) to neutral from buy and Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT.L) to sell from neutral and says buy Wolfson Microelectronics (WLF.L) (350p target).
The broker is neutral on AB Foods (ABF.L) and says buy Intercontinental Hotels (IHG.L) (raising the price target to 1150p from 1030p).
JP Morgan has initiated coverage of Carphone Warehouse (CPW.L) appending an overweight recommendation and a 379p price target.
Morgan Stanley has initiated coverage of Northumbrian Water (NWG.L) appending an equal-weight recommendation and a 290p price target and has upgraded Friends Provident (FP.L) to equal-weight from underweight.
Panmure Gordon reiterates buy Luminar (LMR.L) (650p target) and says buy Diploma (DPLM.L) (1060p target).
The broker reiterates buy Amec (AMEC.L) (450p target) and says hold Robert Wiseman Dairies (RWD.L).
Panmure reiterates sell Northern Foods (NFDS.L) (70p target).
Seymour Pierce says buy Stanley Gibbons (SGI.L), Focus Solutions (FSG.L) and Maxima (MXM.L) and has outperform on Sage (SGE.L) and Torex Retail (TRX.L).
The broker says hold Austin Reed (ARD.L), Caledonia Mining (CMCL.L) and Millbrook Scientific Instruments (MBK.L).
UBS has neutral on McCarthy & Stone (MCTY.L) (raising the price target to 1075p from 825p) and Whatman (WHM.L) (cutting the price target to 290p from 350p).
The broker says reduce Chemring (CHG.L) and buy WS Atkins (ATK.L) and Vedanta Resources (VED.L).
NEWS ROUND-UP
Last Friday in New York shares closed higher, after strong financial results from American International and lower crude oil prices counteracted disappointment with Walt Disney's latest earnings report. The Dow closed up 5.13-points at 12108.43, the Nasdaq gained 13.71-points to 2389.72, while the S&P put on 2.57-points to 1380.90. On the week the Dow rose 1%, the Nasdaq Composite added 2.5% and the S&P gained 1.2%.
On this day in:-
1987 - In Great Britain, a rapist is jailed for 8-years at Bristol Crown Court, after being convicted on evidence based on genetic fingerprinting.
1970 - Colossal tidal waves and storm surges struck the shores of the Ganges Delta, wreaking lethal damage on the people of East Pakistan. A 120-mile-per-hour cyclone spurred deadly tidal waves that washed over scores of coastal islands. An estimated total of 200,000 dead made it the century's largest disaster by water. The Ganges Delta had suffered many furious storms, but this was the worst natural disaster in the region’s history. The failure of the West Pakistani government to respond quickly to the crisis contributed to the political turmoil that produced an independent Bangladesh in 1971.
1947 - Chancellor of the Exchequer Hugh Dalton resigned after admitting he had disclosed tax proposals to a reporter several minutes before presenting his Budget to the House of Commons.
1942 - World War II: Great British forces retook Tobruk in North Africa from the Germans.
1936 - Edward VIII told Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin he intended to marry American divorcee Mrs Wallis Simpson.
1930 - The discovery of planet Pluto.
1916 - World War I: The end of the Battle of Somme in which 400,000 Great British troops were killed or injured.
1914 - The Brassiere was patented in the United States by heiress Mary Phelps Jacob. Previously women had worn a version of the child's liberty bodice to protect them when playing sport.
1909 - An explosion and fire at a coal mine in Illinois, USA, killed at least 250 miners.
1887 - 'Bloody Sunday' in London when violence erupted in Trafalgar Square at a Socialist rally attended by Irish agitators.
1851 - The start of a telegraphic service between London and Paris.
1687 - The death of actress Nell Gwynn aged 37, mistress of King Charles II of England.
