Safety First Dividends (Avoid the worst of market volatility):
*8 Sure-fire divi payers – Barratt Developments (BDEV), BT (BT.A), Cattles (CTT), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA), Signet (SIG), Tate and Lyle (TATE) and Wolseley (WOS).
Plays of the Week:
*Buy - Northumbrian Water (NWG) and Prodesse (PRD).
Plays Update:
*Buy - Education Development International (EDD).
Trading Plays:
*Buy - Rolls-Royce (RR.), John Wood (WG.) and National Grid (NG.).
The Lex Column:
*Sino things to come - The tide has turned on overseas Chinese initial public offerings, a last outpost of irrational euphoria open to foreigners. In the past week, two IPOs have tanked on their debut in Hong Kong.
*Compass (CPG) recovery - It is a symptom of more straightened times when investors start purring over cost reduction and cash flow generation, rather than top-line growth.
*Sovereign wealth funds - Want some money? How about $7.5-billion, no questions asked? Abu Dhabi Investment Authority's capital injection to Citigroup (CGP) is not quite that straight forward.
*Equities bounce back - The market knows who to listen to at the Fed. Don Kohn's comments on Wednesday that the central bank would be 'flexible and pragmatic' helped light a fire under equities.
*Temasek's strategy - For a fund with such a humble name Singapore's state investment agency creates big waves. The fund boasts a portfolio in excess of $100-billion.
The Lombard Column:
*Prudential's (PRU) outsourcing deal has cold logic.
*Bad, but not yet awful (DSG International (DSGI)).
*Lighttouchregulation.com (FSA).
Power Player:
*Richard Cousins (Compass (CPG) CEO).
Further news:
*‘NatWest 3’ offer guilty plea over Enron case.
*Vodafone (VOD) suffers Africa blow.
*Bradford & Bingley (BB.) and Alliance & Leicester (AL.) to confront credit squeeze fears.
*Rank (RNK) stands out as punters place a bet on stake building.
*New hope for Johnson (Services (JSG)) bid.
*Investors take profits in Superscape (SPS).
Further news:
*Schroders (SDR) calls the bottom of the market for the commercial sector.
*Guy Hands intends to snuff out excesses that cost EMI (EMI) £100-million-a-year.
*Government training contract hopes sustain Melorio (MLO).
The Comment Column:
*Thinking aloud is the new MPC approach to rate cuts.
*One for the brave as Wolseley (WOS) weathers the storm.
*(John) Wood's Rock (NRK) move looks a well-judged gamble.
The Questor Column:
*Buy - Compass Group (CPG).
*Sell - Brewin Dolphin (BRW).
*Buy - Johnson Matthey (JMAT).
Further news:
*Wolseley (WOS) tries to weather slump by slashing jobs.
*Fears of fire sale at Alliance & Leicester (AL.) after 'warning signs spotted'.
*BA (BAY) and banks give cause for optimism to bullish traders.
*Punch Taverns (PUB)/Mitchells & Butlers (MAB): a heady brew.
The Outlook Column:
*More rate cuts loom as credit crisis bites.
*Compass (CPG) seems to have turned corner.
*Bettington hits ejector seat at Biffa (BIFF).
*DSG (DSGI) gets its man but trouble looms.
The Hamish McRae Column:
*Why Europe matters more to the UK economy than Asia or the Middle East.
*The FSA rejects call to name and shame firms using misleading advertising.
*Virgin Group plans £30-billion savings drive to revive Rock (NRK).
*SRM Global lifts stake in Rock (NRK) to 9.1%.
*Northern Rock (NRK) seeks fully financed plan from Olivant; the bank has selected a consortium led by Virgin Group as preferred bidder, but is not in exclusive talks.
*Talk on Wall Street that Citigroup (CGP) had rebuffed an indicative merger offer from Bank of America.
*The Competition Commission confirms that Tesco (TSCO) has to sell its Slough site to a competitor.
*Vodafone (VOD) plans for African expansion hit as £5-billion deal falls through.
*Anglo American (AAL) approves $1.7-billion Los Bronces development project.
*BHP Billiton (BLT) chief insists he will not raise offer for Rio Tinto (RIO).
*Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) is privately negotiating the sale of its stake in 2 offshore oil licences in Nigeria.
*Costain (COST) wins £40-million of construction deals from Highways Agency.
*Standard & Poor's revises GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) outlook to negative from stable citing concerns about the group's more aggressive financial policy.
*Credit Squeeze hits EMI (EMI) and Warner Music.
*Group 4 Securicor (GFS) in talks to buy Global Solutions, a company it used to own, for £350-million.
*Reed Elsevier (REL) sale of Harcourt US Schools Education business receives Department of Justice clearance.
*Research Now (RNOW) gains 17p to 315p as directors embark on 1-to-1’s with brokers.
*Zyzygy (ZYZ) to float Nice Tech on AIM in first-half 2008.
*IQ Holdings makes AIM debut at 2p.
*IDC Technologies postpones IPO due to prevailing market conditions.
SOME ITEMS THAT COULD INFLUENCE SHARE PRICES
*The Dow Jones closed up 331.01-points at 13289.45, the Nasdaq added 82.11-points to 2662.91, while the S&P closed up 40.79-points at 1469.02. Over the last 2-days the Dow has added 542-points.
*Labour deputy leader, Harriet Harman, is to be questioned by MP’s later in “the House” about a donation she accepted from a middleman.
*Banks are struggling to find money to fund new mortgages as the credit squeeze forces up borrowing costs.
*Fears that the housing market slowdown could lead to widespread falls in property prices deepen after Land Registry data showed London was weaker than any other region last month.
*According to a report in The Times British Energy forced to cut training times in half.
*Supermarkets and processors angry at the charge they colluded to rig the market.
*HSBC (HSBA) predicts property slump next year.
*Harry Redknapp, the Portsmouth manager and “possible” England manager, arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and false accounting, has been released on bail. His lawyers say that the investigation does not directly concern Mr Redknapp, but involves others.
*Jose Mourinho does not rule himself out of the England manager’s job.
*Natwest 3 face jail and $7-million fine after plea bargain.
*Odds of further rate cuts increase, after US Federal Reserve chairman Donald Kohn warns elevated turbulence in the financial markets could tighten financial conditions for households and businesses.
*US October durable goods orders down 0.4% vs 0.3% rise expected.
*US October home sales down 1.2% to 4.97-million vs 4.95-million expected.
*OPEC to spend $150-billion to boost output.
*Crude price falls below $92 as US stocks dip by 0.4 million to 313.2-million barrels in November 23 week, less than expected.
*Bear Stearns cuts 4% of staff.
*Financial institutions might be failing to properly vet funds from the former Soviet Union and other foreign capital, a regulator has warned.
*US quarterly bank earnings plunge 25%.
*Virgin Mobile USA faces class-action lawsuit.
Compiled in association with HB PLC and WH Ireland Ltd
