This Morning in London shares have remained in the doldrums, even after data was released from the British Bankers Association, showing that mortgage approvals rose by 3.7% in October, compared with the same time last year. The number of mortgages approved last month reached 74,997, with David Dooks, head of statistics at the BBA stating that the market undoubtedly remains robust. Despite October's rise, the increase was far below rises seen earlier this year, including a 20% year-on-year increase in May. However, as dealers are saying, “It was still a 3.7% rise on last year.” The Brazilian steel group, CSN, has been given more time to come up with a formal offer for Corus (CS.L), as the shareholders meeting (to consider the Tata bid) has been put back to 20th December from 4th December. The shares are off 3.75p at 501.25p. The news that housebuilder Wilson Bowden (WLB.L) had received a number of approaches has helped to the sector. Wilson Bowden has gained 264p to 2095p, Persimmon (PSN.L) put on 34p to 1415p, Berkeley Homes (BKG.L) added 83p to 1694p, Bovis (BVS.L) gained 34.5p to 1015p, while Costain (COST.L) put on 0.75p to 61.75p. At 11:17 the FTSE-100 was down 29.7 at 6092.4.
What's on your Christmas list?
Police in Colombia have arrested 2 men for moulding figurines of Santa Claus. Nothing wrong with that you might think. It seems the problem is not that the police didn’t like Santa, it’s just that they little jolly fella’s were modelled out of cocaine, for smuggling to the United States and Europe in time for the holiday season. The 2 market-savvy artisans also cast festive cups, place mats and other Christmas decorations from the same gelatinous mix, which when dried, looks like plastic. The two men have been jailed. Ho, Ho, Ho!!!
Staying with models and statues
A night worker at London’s Madame Tussauds faces the possibility of losing his job... after posing for photos groping star waxworks. In one of the pictures Bryan Boniface is shown pulling down Kylie Minogue's hotpants and kissing her bum. In others, he is seen beating up Sven Goran Eriksson, throttling London mayor Ken Livingstone and grabbing disabled Professor Stephen Hawking. Bryan's ex-girlfriend Sofia Oliveira, leaked the photo’s when their 11-year romance ended. Bryan, of London, said "I'm in hot water." A spokesperson for the museum said, "We do not encourage this."
Citigroup reiterates buy Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) and says buy GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) and Barclays (BARC.L).
Credit Suisse has downgraded Kensington Group (KGN.L) to underperform from neutral.
Deutsche has upgraded easyJet (EZJ.L) to buy from hold and reiterates sell Ryanair (RYA.L).
Goldman has upgraded the European Food Producers to neutral from cautious.
HSBC has downgraded Burberry (BRBY.L) to underweight from neutral (raising target to 580p) and reiterates underweight on HMV (HMV.L).
Investec says buy Robert Walters (RWA.L) and Dimension Data (DDT.L).
Merrill says buy ICI (ICI.L) (raising the price target to 470p from 460p).
Nomura has initiated coverage of CSR (CSR.L) appending a buy recommendation.
Numis says buy ASOS (ASC.L) (130p target) and hold Miichells & Butlers (MAB.L) (630p target).
The broker has upgraded BAE (BA.L) to buy from add (495p target), Protherics (PTI.L) to buy from hold (105p price target) and ZincOx Resources (ZOX.L) to buy from add (349p price target).
Numis has downgraded BSS (BTSM.L) to add from buy (442p price target), Hyder Consulting (HYC.L) to add from buy (426p target), Intec Telecom (ITL.L) to hold from add (35p price target), Goldshield (GSD.L) to add from buy (target price of 350p), Phoenix IT (PNX.L) to hold from add (325p price target), United Business Media (UBM.L) to add from buy (780p target price) and Wilson Bowden (WLB.L) to hold from add (2085p price target).
Panmure Gordon says buy Workspace (WKP.L) (530p target) and hold United Business Media (UBM.L) (630p target).
The broker says buy BSS (BTSM.L) (435p target) and FirstChoice (FCD.L) (275p target).
SG Securities says sell Sage (SGE.L) (225p fair value) and reiterates neutral on the UK Banking Sector.
Last Friday in New York shares closed recording minor losses on the day and mixed on the week, as investors took on board a sharp decline in the dollar, whilst awaiting news about consumer activity as today is considered to be the ‘official’ start of the Yuletide holiday-shopping season. The Dow closed down 46.78-points at 12,280.17, the Nasdaq fell 5.72-points at 2460.26, while the S&P lost 5.14-points to close at 1400.95. During the week, cut short to just 4-days, because if the Thanksgiving holiday, the Dow fell 0.5%, the Nasdaq added 0.6%, while the S&P ended almost unchanged.
On this day in:-
1997 - A House of Commons Committee rejected the Labour Government's arguments for exempting motor racing from the ban on tobacco-related sponsorship.
1975 - Ross McWhirter, co-editor with his twin brother Norris of the Guiness Book of Records, was shot dead by Irish terrorists, outside his home in London.
1970 - The Gay Liberation Movement held its first major rally in London.
1967 - French President Charles de Gaulle vetoed Great Britian's entry into the European Common Market.
1957 - Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru made an impassioned speech for nuclear disarmament in New Delhi. Nehru's leading role in the struggle for Indian independence earned him 9 jail terms from the Great British. Like his mentor, Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru fought Great British authority through acts of passive resistance. In 1929, Nehru became president of the Indian National Congress and declared that they would accept nothing less than full independence for India. When the nation finally achieved autonomy in 1947, he became India's first prime minister. He advocated nonalignment for India in the divided Cold War world, and sought diplomatic and nonviolent solutions in his conflicts with other nations. On 27th November 1957, he appealed to the United States and the USSR to end nuclear tests and begin disarmament, which, he said, would save humanity from the ultimate disaster. He died in 1964.
1942 - World War II: The French fleet was scuttled in Toulon Harbour to prevent the warships falling into German hands.
1919 - A meteor landed in Lake Michigan, USA.
1914 - Great Britain's first policewoman went on duty at Gratham in Lincolnshire.
