This Morning in London the market opened 8-points easier but the FTSE-100 has managed to pull itself around and at 9:00 the index stood at 6187.6, up 3.9-points. Shire (SHP.L) (in partnership with New River Pharmaceuticals) received a second approvable letter for VYVANSE for the treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. However, the market had been hoping for complete approval. This not being forthcoming and the shares have fallen as until full approval is granted, it almost restricts any major share price gain. Indeed at one stage the shares were off 46p at 1016p, but have since rallied a little and now stand at 1035p, down 27p.
Television gone mad
The Archbishop of York has turned down the opportunity to appear in this year's Celebrity Big Brother. Dr John Sentamu says that he lost no sleep at all turning down Celebrity Big Brother. He stated, "Celebrity can be malign in that it becomes a form of idolatry, and people live their lives vicariously through the rich and famous rather than attending to their own lives." The Archbishop revealed that he was not a fan of reality TV, saying he doesn’t watch Big Brother or I'm A Celebrity.
Mourinho take note
A second division football team in Romania is offering one of its top players in exchange for a gas pipeline. Mayor of Lupeni in western Romania Cornel Rasmerita, who is also in charge of the Minerul football team, said he was willing to sell his star goalkeeper Cristian Belgradean to first division team Jiul. The deal would be subject to Jiul's rich businessman owner paying for the construction of a gas pipeline in his town. Mayor Rasmerita says he knows that his keeper is wanted by a number of top clubs, but that he is willing to let him go to Jiul, if the club's owner makes a £110,000 investment in a gas pipe that his town needs so much. Jiul bosses have not responded to the offer, but it is not the first time football players have been exchanged for goods in Romania. Previous deals have seen players swapped for half a pig and two sets of goalposts and a crate of wine.
BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS
ABN reiterates buy AgCert International (AGC.L) (cutting the price target to 205p from 260p) and says buy Persimmon (PSN.L).
Altium reiterates buy Bank Restaurant Group (BKR.L).
Citigroup reiterates buy Centrica (CNA.L) (raising the price target to 390p from 310p) and says buy Shire (SHP.L) (1200p target).
The broker says hold Vodafone (VOD.L) (147p target).
Citigroup has upgraded CareUK (CUK.L) to hold from sell (raising the price target to 710p from 500p).
Collins Stewart says buy Premier Foods (PFD.L) (350p target).
Credit Suisse reiterates outperform on Persimmon (PSN.L) (raising target the price target to 1650p from 1500p) and has cut the target price of Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA.L) to 2212p from 2273p.
Lehman reiterates equal-weight on Vodafone (VOD.L) (152p target).
Merrill reiterates neutral on Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA.L) and says hold iSoft (IOT.L).
The broker is neutral on Partners Group (PGGO.L).
JP Morgan has issued a note on the UK Banks, in which they reiterate underweight on Alliance & Leicester (AL.L) (cutting the price target to 930p from 940p), Bradford & Bingley (BB.L) (raising the target to 480p from 470p), HBOS (HBOS.L) (raising the price target to 1160p from 1130p) and Lloyds TSB (LLOY.L), they have overweight on Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) (raising the price target to 2400p from 2270p) and neutral on Barclays (BARC.L) (raising the price target to 730p from 710p) and Northern Rock (NRK.L) (raising the price target to 1250p from 1180p).
The broker reiterates overweight on Rexam (REX.L) and Prostraken (PSK.L) (153p target).
UBS reiterates buy Unilever (ULVR.L) raising (raising its €uro target price to €23.70 from €22) and has reduced the target price for George Wimpey (WMPY.L) to 585p from 600p.
The broker has raised the target price of Hammerson (HMSO.L) to 1590p from 1400p.
UBS has downgraded AJ Mucklow (MKLW.L) to reduce from neutral (raising the price target to 500p from 450p).
NEWS ROUND-UP
Last Night in New York shares closed lower, after a weaker-than-expected regional manufacturing survey hit investor sentiment together with a downward revision of third-quarter economic growth, all but wiping-out the positive mood that had been evident from deal making by Raytheon and GlaxoSmithkline. There was also disappointing earnings news from Nike amongst others, which served to depress the markets. The Dow closed down 42.62-points at 12421.25, the Nasdaq fell 11.76-points to 2415.85, while the S&P lost 5.23-points to close at 1418.30.
On this day in:-
1989 - The Romanian army defected to the cause of anti-communist demonstrators, and the government of Nicolae Ceausescu was overthrown. The end of 42-years of communist rule came 3-days after Ceausescu's security forces opened fire on demonstrators in Timisoara. After the army's defection, Ceausescu and his wife fled from Bucharest in a helicopter, but were captured and convicted of mass murder in a hasty military trial. On 25th December, they were executed by a firing squad. Ceausescu, ruler of Romania since 1965, had resisted the liberalisation of the USSR and other Soviet bloc countries in the late 1980’s. By the time of his government's downfall in 1989, Romania was the most repressive and economically backward country in Europe.
1974 - A bomb is thrown at the home of Prime Minister Edward Heath.
1968 - 82 crewmen of US intelligence ship Pueblo were released by North Korea, after being held captive for 11-months.
1965 - The Ministry of Transport introduces a maximum speed limit of 70-miles an hour.
1963 - At least 150 people were killed when the Greek liner Laconia caught fire and sank in North Atlantic.
1961 - James Davis was the first US soldier to be killed in Vietnam. Meanwhile the US Government insisted its role in the war between South and North Vietnam was still limited to being merely military advisors.
1956 - The last Anglo French troops left Port Said in Egypt, following the invasion of the Suez Canal.
1942 - World War II: US heavy bombers raided the Japanese-occupied city of Rangoon in Burma.
1938 - A fish, identified as a coelcanth, thought to have been extinct for 65-million years, was caught by a fisherman off the coast of South Africa.
1929 - A roundtable conference opened between the Great British Viceroy and Indian Party leaders, on Dominion status for India.
1895 - German physicist Wilhelm Rontgen made the first radiograph - X-ray - a picture of his wife's hand.
1894 - French Army officer Alfred Dreyfus, was found guilty of selling military secrets to the German Government. and sent to Devil's Island. French Guyana. Innocent of the crime, Drefus was eventually allowed back to France and exonerated.
1864 - American Civil War: Union commander W.T.Sherman occupied Savannah, Georgia after Confederate forces surrendered.
1716 - Lincoln's Inn Theatre in London put on England's first 'pantomime' which included the characters 'Harlequin', 'Columbine' and 'Pantaloon'.
1715 - In Scotland, James Stuart- 'the old pretender'- landed at Peterhead to lead the doomed Jacobite Rebellion against England.
