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SATURDAY 30TH DECEMBER 2006
The Lex Column:
*Markets - valuations appear attractive to media and telecoms, both historically and relative to the US. The pharmaceuticals sector remains troubled but looks cheap and may restructure following repeated pipeline woes. In resources, the big oil and mining stocks are discounting reasonably conservative long-term commodity price levels. Overall, investors should be positioned for a fairly buoyant macro-economy but a year of reckoning in credit markets.
*Executive compensation - unlike the prices of most goods and services, levels of executives pay seem to be determined by a consensus of what the going rate is.
*Japanese equities - Real Estate Investment Trusts are a growing slice of the market and small-scale restructuring of consumer electronic and other conglomerates could also yield opportunities. But investors will have to sweat for returns.
The Lombard Column:
*What the new year will bring, more foreign bids and less corporate multiculturalism.
Sectors to watch and likely bid targets:
*Aerospace, defence (Smiths (SMIN.L), Meggitt (MGGT.L), Cobham (COB.L), Ultra (ULE.L)).
*Chemicals (ICI (ICI.L), Johnson Matthey (JMAT.L), Elementis (ELM.L)).
*Oil, gas and mining (Abbot (ABG.L), Premier Oil (PMO.L)).
*Retail (Sainsbury (SBRY.L), Woolworths (WLW.L), Galiform (GFRM.L), JJB Sports (JJB.L), Moss (MOSB.L)).
*Leisure and Consumer (Cadbury (CBRY.L), Whitbread (WBT.L)).
*Pharmaceuticals (GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L), AstraZeneca (AZN.L), Shire (SHP.L), Smith & Nephew (SN.L)).
*Utilities (Northumbrian Water (NWG.L), Kelda (KEL.L), Centrica (CNA.L), Scottish Power (SPW.L)).
*Financials (Man Group (EMG.L), Lloyds TSB (LLOY.L), Prudential (PRU.L), Alliance & Leicester (AL.L), Bradford & Bingley (BB.L), Barclays (BARC.L)).
*Media (Trinity Mirror (TIN.L), EMI (EMI.L), Informa (INF.L)).
Further news:
*Taste of success for cider makes C&C (CCR.L) look abroad.
*Failure to win Putnam Investments could leave Amvescap (AVZ.L) vulnerable to a bid.
The Tempus Ten to follow in 2007:
*Asos (ASC.L), BSS (BTSM.L), Compass (CPG.L), Cranswick (CWK.L), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L), Intertek (ITRK.L), ITE (ITE.L), Johnson Matthey (JMAT.L), Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L), Venture Production (VPC.L).
The Business Commentary Column:
*Matt Barrett leaves Barclays (BARC.L) transformed and successful.
*The stock option scandal at Apple looks far from over.
*Little Chef gets the chop?
Further news:
*Xstrata (XTA.L) is year's FTSE 100 winner, but Manganese Bronze (MNGS.L) was best ride of all.
*Vodafone's (VOD.L) American stance in question as Alltel comes into play.
*Jeremy Batson of Charles Stanley goes for Experian (EXPN.L) as his blue chip share to watch.
The Questor 2006 Review:
*Sportingbet (SBT.L), Greene King (GNK.L), British Land (BLND.L), Persimmon (PSN.L), William Morrison (MRW.L), Tesco (TSCO.L), Forth Ports (FPT.L), LogicaCMG (LOG.L), Bank of Ireland (BKIR.L), Axon (AXN.L), Tangent Communications (TNG.L), Restaurant Group (RTN.L).
2007 Share Picks from the Experts:
*Pinewood Studios (PWS.L), Tesco (TSCO.L), Amvescap (AVZ.L), Oxford Biomedica (OXB.L), Lloyds TSB (LLOY.L), Vodafone (VOD.L), BP (BP.L), Concateno (COT.L), Mediterranean Oil & Gas (MOG.L), Kingfisher (KGF.L), Ashtead Group (AHT.L).
The Business Comment Column:
*Eagerness to pay off war debts stops at these shores.
*Alitalia: troubled airline sums up turbulence in Italy.
*PartyGaming (PRTY.L) £19 million shares award scheme a bit rich.
Profile:
*Mark Wood, Chief Executive of Paternoster.
Further news:
*A dollar in the doldrums means time is ripe to go west.
*Keep and eye on MyHome International (MYH.L).
No share news today
DAILY MAILReporters Picks for 2007:
*Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L), Ark Therapeutics (AKT.L), Prudential (PRU.L), Vodafone (VOD.L), Redstone (RED.L), Oakdene Homes (OKD.L), Rank Group (RNK.L), Tesco (TSCO.L), ICI (ICI.L).
Further news:
*Nexus Management (NXS.L) could be worth watching.
*Analysts reckon Next's (NXT.L) sales have been hit by the mild winter.
*Rivals feel pinch as Stuart Rose revives Marks & Spencer (MKS.L).
*William Morrison (MRW.L) boss Marc Bolland will launch new year raids on rivals Tesco (TSCO.L) and Asda (WAL.L) to fill out its depleted senior management ranks.
DAILY MIRRORNo share news today
THE SUNNo share news today
COMMENT AND BID NEWS*Marsh & McLennan is set to sell its asset management business Putnam Investments for £2 billion.
*German retail giant Karstadtquelle is considering acquisitions in the British tourism sector.
*Little Chef is preparing to bring in administrators if emergency refinancing talks fail.
*GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) puts buy programme in place for closed period to February 8.
*Suez (SUE.L) asks French regulator to obtain clarification from French financier Francois Pinault on whether or not he intends to pursue a takeover bid for the group.
*Glanbia (GLB.L) sells stake in Cheese Company for £42.207 million.
*Centurion Energy (CUX.L) agrees to end West Manzala and West Qantara LNG deal with Shell (RDSA.L).
*Australia's Tattersalls and Macquarie Bank vehicle European Gaming raises offer for Talarius (TLS.L) by 10p to 280p-a-share.
*Dermasalv Sciences (DRM.L) raises £125,000 after placing 1.136 million shares at 11p.
*Ferd/CVC raises take in SIG (SHI.L) to 10.62%.
*Last Night in New York the Dow ended the year at 12,463, down 38, whilst the Nasdaq was down 10 at 2,415.
*Footsie ends year with gain of 10.7%.
*Saddam Hussein hanged at dawn; car bomb in a Shi'ite town kills 30 people.
*US November help-wanted advertising index unchanged, according to the Conference Board.
*UK mortgage approvals rose further in November and lending was at a record high, according to British Bankers' Association.
*First-time home buyers have to pay an average £150,000, according to a report.
*International house prices have defied rising interest rates this year, growing at more than 10% in some European countries and many analysts expect residential property to remain resilient in 2007.
*Growth in money increases prospect of European Central Bank rate rise.
*Industrial & Commercial Bank of China has overtaken Bank of America to become the second biggest bank in the world by market value. Citigroup remains at number one.
*Skills shortages leave UK door ajar for new European Union workers.
*German 2006 exports up 13% at €888 billion and automotive exports hit €170 billion.
*PartyGaming (PRTY.L) is giving its chief executive a new bonus package that waives the performance criteria on his existing remuneration arrangements.
*Apple chief Steve Jobs, could still face Security & Exchange Commission investigation over options.
*New York Stock Exchange joins Nasdaq and will close on Tuesday as part of a nation day of mourning to mark the funeral of former president Gerald Ford.
*Fyffes (FFY.L) announce major board reshuffle; chairman and finance director step down today.
*James Dyson (DYS.L), former Lord Mayor David Brewer and Philip Hampton, chairman of Sainsbury's (SBRY.L), lead business new year honours.
Compiled in association with HB PLC and WH Ireland Ltd
