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FINANCIAL TIMES
The Front Page
* Banks accused over loan cover
The Lex Column
* Bite the bullet - The traditional view is that Americans are so in love with gas-guzzlers that petrol pumps would have to be prised from their cold, dead hands. But economic forces are trumping emotional attachments
* Nintendo gets physical - Nintendo, whose Wii game consoles far outsell Sony’s PlayStation3 and Microsoft’s XBox, has launched another best-seller - Wii Fit
* Yahoo’s delay - Fleetingly, it felt as though Carl Icahn might provide a quick fix to the delay that shareholders have been marooned in since Microsoft launched its takeover bid in February
* InBev and Bud - Will the self-proclaimed king of beers be deposed??Shares?in Anheuser-Busch, brewer of the famous Budweiser, have leapt 10 per cent in the past week on speculation that Belgium’s InBev is circling
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The Lombard Column
* Failure is habitual among fledgling airlines
* Get to front of queue – There’s still no firm bid for British Energy from Suez, RWE, Iberdrola and Vattenfall, but EdF does seem to be the most likely acquisitor. That may not be good news for Centrica (British Gas owner), which may be best advised to get to the front of the queue should the French group be pushed to sell off some of British Energy’s holdings
* Time to push ahead (Network Rail/Engineering work/Sir Richard Branson)
* On the rocks - Talk about strange bedfellows. Legal & General, an "interested party", has joined the action against the government over the nationalisation of Northern Rock.
The Weekend Share Watch Column (now in the Money Section)
* SSL International – Scholl maker puts its best foot forward. The company has fans, but some may view the shares as having gone far enough for now
* Premier Oil – Explorer’s failed forays drag on shares. Further exploration failure would hit the shares, but the undemanding valuation allows a margin for error
* Axeon Holdings – Battery supplier powers ahead. FinnCap, which this week initiated research, paid for by the company, says the poor rating is at odds with progress and has set a target of 107p
Feature (The Money Section)
* Slump in values lures investors back into property
The Trader’s Diary (The Money Section)
* Outside the box and ready to pounce (Optos – Avis Europe)
* BBA tries to regain altitude after tailspin
* Treasuries show upside
Interview
* Julia MacMillan, founder of Toyboywarehouse dating agency
The Neil Hume “On London Column”
* An old adage that might contain a grain of truth “Sell in May and go away, don’t come back ‘til St Leger Day” – Earnings could easily fall heavily given that the after-affects of the credit crunch have still to felt fully in the real economy – Investors were given a brief glimpse of a world in which mining stocks fall instead of rise this week. It was not a pretty sight
Further news
* InBev eyes Anheuser-Busch and SAB
* Cairn chief predicts oil price benefits
* Bmi puts £770-million value on its Heathrow airports slots
* Coal of Africa aglow on bid rumours
* Banks hold their ground as Footsie is undermined
THE TIMES
The Front Page
* ‘Quit now’ call grows as Labour MP’s panic
The Page 58 Feature
* Silverjet fights to stay in the air after cash lifeline fails to materialise
Feature
* Ian Carter, the president of global operations for Hilton Hotels Corporation
Business Big Shot
* Lawrence Hunt, of Silverjet
A Tiddler to Watch
* Mediterranean Oil & Gas
The Robert Cole Personal Investor Column
* British Land offers easy pickings - Buy
Further news
* Sale of stake in DVD publishing unit could raise up to £200-million for Woolworths
* Lloyds TSB provides a rare silver lining
* Coal of Africa is talk of town
* There is talk that Balfour Beatty is looking at Costain, its rival
DAILY TELEGRAPH
The Front Page
* Crisis-hit Brown told to scrap car taxes rises
The Comment Column
* Anheuser unlikely to welcome Inbev as its best Bud
* Oil price has left Silverjet leaking money
* Families’ split doesn’t suit Moss Bros
Profile
* Graham MacKay, chief executive SABMiller
Feature
* BP strikes an invisible obstacle in Russia (Bogged down by intrigue, which some observers believe may have been engineered by the Kremlin)
The Your Money Section
The Fundamentalist View Column
* Now’s the time to back dull – but safe – dividend growth
The Citywire Column
* Baring Global offers UK investors a new agriculture fund
Further news
* Becks beermaker plans £23-billion Bud bid
* Carbon trading will cripple Europe’s airlines, warns British Airways
* Rogue trader may have had a helper, says Soc Gen report
* Talk of predatory Lloyds TSB boosts banks
* Market Report Feature: Brokers say buy Daily Mail & General
INDEPENDENT
The Front Page
* Does this really mark the end of New Labour?
The Derek Pain, “No Pain, No Gain” Column
* The rules of gravity always apply, what goes up ... (Asos) – Derek has decided not to recruit the shares to his portfolio, at this point anyway. They are on a sky-high rating that could be too rich for these turbulent times. But after so sadly missing the boat in 2004, he would not try to dissuade any investors who are prepared to climb on board. He would, therefore, not be surprised to see it engulfed in corporate action. The impressive profit record should ensure a premium bid
The Outlook Column
* Cameron’s Tories are on a roll, but do they promise business better days than Labour?
* InBev sets sights on world domination
A day in the life of ...
* Andy Green, chief executive of LogicaCMG
Further news
* Lloyds banks pre-holiday gains on Exane upgrade
THE GUARDIAN
Analysis
* The oil squeeze could end cheap fares and the holiday plans of a generation weaned on budget travel.
Further news
* Woolworths considers selling DVD distribution stake.
DAILY MAIL
The Investment Extra Column
* How to deal with the big issue this summer (Right issues)
* Still plenty of promise for the future of Silence Therapeutics
* Nothing is as good as gold
At a Glance
* Toledo (Mining) deals
Further news
* Findel could fall from FTSE-250
* Biotech company Renovo jumped 3p to 30p as investors took the view that the stock has been oversold, ahead of this Thursday’s results
* Coutts may bank £6-million in oil deal
DAILY EXPRESS
* Marston’s slams hike in beer duty
* B&B looks a tempting target for Lloyds TSB
* A £5-million placing at Tadpole Technology expected next Tuesday
DAILY MIRROR
No share news available today
THE SUN
No share news available today
COMMENT AND BID NEWS
* Silverjet has suspended trading in its shares on Friday, after failing to receive urgently needed funds from a new investor.
* Speculation mounts that Lloyds TSB could launch a bid for Bradford & Bingley or Alliance & Leicester
* Aegis blocks Bolloré move for fifth time
* BT keeps an eye on surfing habits in quest for better advert targeting
* First-round offers for RBS Insurance imminent
* Candover-led consortium, Umbrellastream, tops Halliburton on Expro
* Raymarine shares sink after takeover talks stall
* Thomas Cook agrees new €1.8-billion credit facility
* Budweiser froths as InBev finds $50-billion to launch bid
* Moss Bros family sells more stake
OTHER NEWS THAT COULD AFFECT SHARE PRICES
On Wall Street
* The Dow Jones fell 145.99-points to 12479.63, the Nasdaq declined 19.91-points to 2444.67, while the S&P slipped 18.42-points to close at 1375.93.
Credit crisis fallout
* There is no scope for interest rate cuts in the near future, the IMF said on Friday night, and Great Britain’s economic policy framework “faces difficult circumstances and its toughest test to date”.
* Thousands of hard-up motorists are being locked out of the car market, as risky credit seizes up, raising fears for dealers who cater for subprime drivers
* OECD says steel demand is slowing in mature economies but strong in emerging markets
* Inflation risk for €urozone as economic growth slows
Oil and Commodities
* Buncefield oil fire was result of negligence by Total, says High Court
* Prices spike $10 during ‘crazy week’ for crude
* Future contracts outpace spot prices for oil
Trading News
* Société Genérale traders frequently flouted rules, inquiry concludes
* Merrill Lynch has suspended a London-based proprietary trader in its equity derivatives business pending a probe into apparent mis-marking of the employee's positions. The US investment bank said a preliminary review had established that a trading desk had used valuations that appeared to be "outside of Merrill's accepted policy
News from Home
* Armed police have detained 2 men in an operation linked to an explosion in a restaurant in Exeter. Officers targeted the men at a cafe in the Old Town Street area of Plymouth. One man was arrested and the other is described as "helping police". The operation is linked to Thursday's explosion in Exeter, for which Nicky Reilly, 22, has been arrested. Meanwhile, sources close to the investigation revealed police were aware of Mr Reilly prior to his arrest.
* Great Britain's biggest banks are braced for a stinging competition watchdog ruling that will accuse them of large-scale profiteering on insurance products, which in turn could lead them to further raise the soaring price of personal credit. A Competition Commission probe will soon unveil possible sanctions against the banks over up to £1.5-billion of allegedly excess profits made from the sale of sickness and unemployment insurance to cover customers against their failure to pay off personal loans, lawyers and industry insiders said yesterday
* The Prime Minister is being urged by Ministers to scrap rises in car taxes and petrol duty
* Gordon Brown faces the sharpest protests against his leadership yet after the Crewe/Nantwich by-election defeat prompted some Labour MPs to call for a cabinet coup to oust him from Number 10
* Airport regulator slates BAA ownership and the CAA calls for break-up of BAA’s London monopoly
* Falling sales at John Lewis ring High Street alarm bells
* Energy adviser AEA puts forward powerful case of hydrogen
* Network Rail orders to improve West Coast service by the end of next month
News from Abroad
* Dramatic evidence of the break-up of the Arctic ice-cap has emerged from research during an expedition by the Canadian military. Scientists travelling with the troops found major new fractures during an assessment of the state of giant ice shelves in Canada's far north. The team found a network of cracks that stretched for more than 10-miles on Ward Hunt, the area's largest shelf. The fate of the vast ice blocks is seen as a key indicator of climate change.
* Dollar at one-month low to €uro
* US April existing home sales down 1% to 4.89 million unit annual rate
(Sources for news taken from newspapers and websites)
Compiled in association with HB PLC and WH Ireland Ltd
