That stock News

NEW YORK – The daredevils are winning big this year.

Investors who bought the riskiest stocks when the economic recovery was in doubt this year are clocking the biggest gains. Among them: stocks from companies at risk of defaulting on their debt, ones already priced high and those that other investors bet would drop fast. Returns from this dicey lot are as much as double the gains in the broad market.

"Greed is increasing, and people are going to risky stocks for higher return," says Paul Hickey, co-founder of stock researcher Bespoke Investment Group.

Consider shares of companies that rating agencies think could stiff lenders. Stocks of so-called junk-rated companies rose 19 percent from the start of the year through Dec. 16, according to Bespoke. By comparison, those of stable and flush companies with ratings of AA or higher returned six percent.

One possible reason risky stocks are booming: the stop-and-go economic recovery. The idea is that some investors who buy risky shares in recoveries held back earlier this year out of fear this one would stall. Now they are jumping in and that is extending the rally. Typically, riskier stocks rise the most early in recoveries because they fall the most in the recessions preceding them. During a recession, investors figure high-risk companies won't churn out profits or even stay in business. But then bargain hunters pounce on the survivors in anticipation of better times and the stocks climb fast — for a while at least. Eventually, investors shift money into bigger, more stable companies called blue chips as the recovery gathers steam.

But this time, 21 months into the rally, investors still prefer the dangerous over the dull.

"We spent most of the year worried about earnings and a double dip," says Mark Bronzo, manager of Security Global's big company fund. But then "earnings came in better than expected and people are playing catch-up."

The danger now is that small investors who are edging back into stocks will buy these high flyers just as the trend breaks and prices fall.

Investors are "pulling money out of bond funds but where is the money going?" says Steven Ricchiuto, chief economist at Mizuho Securities. "We've had a huge run. I'd get more defensive now."

Conventional wisdom says that at this point in the bull, investors should avoid stocks priced high compared with their earnings. A low price-earnings ratio suggests a stock is a bargain. But if you followed that strategy, you would have missed out on big returns this year. The 10 percent of stocks in the Standard & Poor's 500 index with the highest price-earnings ratios at the start of the year returned 23 percent through Dec. 16, according to Bespoke. That was eight percentage points higher than the return for stocks with the lowest price-earnings ratios.

Likewise, stocks that Wall Street traders targeted for so-called short sales have shot up. In a short sale, an investor bets against a stock by borrowing shares and selling them. If the stock falls, the investor can buy back the shares and return them to the original owner, pocketing the difference. But the 10 percent of stocks in the S&P 500 that attracted the most short sales at the start of the year are up 26 percent, according to data provider FactSet. Those with the least short sales rose 17 percent.

Another winner in the stop-and-go economy: stocks of so-called cyclical companies whose profits are bound up tightly with economic cycles. Consumer discretionary companies like toy maker Mattel Inc., for instance, gained 90 percent last year from their lows as investors anticipated that people would spend more on non-essentials. Then prices kept rising, up another 25 percent this year. What's more, they've trounced stocks of non-cyclicals whose sales are steadier and should be outperforming now. Stocks of consumer staple providers like Campbell Soup Co. have returned 11 percent.

Stocks of small firms are beating stocks of big companies, too. Big companies are thought safer because they sell many products and services in many countries and can tap various sources to finance themselves. Yet the S&P Small Cap 600 index, after returning 85 percent last year from its March low, is up another 24 percent in 2010. That's more than double the 11 percent gain in the S&P 500, a large-company index.

"These things go in cycles," says USAA stock manager Arnold Espe of the small-stock outperformance. "We think we're at an inflection point."

Alas, some experts were saying the same thing 10 months into the rally a year ago.

Pioneer Investments' John Carey owns Pfizer Inc. and Eli Lilly & Co., drug makers with fat dividends but whose stocks have been hurt by fears that President Barack Obama's health care plan will eat into profits. A shift by investors into blue chips, which he figures is already six months overdue, would have helped lift those stocks. No dice. Pfizer is down 2.1 percent so far this year while Eli Lilly is up 4 percent, a third of the S&P 500's gain.

"During the course of a bull market, people start focusing more on dividends and earnings" but that hasn't happened, Carey says. But he adds, "I'm a patient investor."

View the original article here

The Daily Stock Market List service provides stocks picks which we consider having the best potential for quick profits. The Daily Stock Market List ranges from pink sheets to ETFs and our stock picks are generated from over 21,000 stocks in our database.

Check it out!

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks, bucking a trend of late-day selloffs, ended higher on Thursday as economic bellwether FedEx offered a bullish profit outlook that augured well for broad growth.

Stocks that performed well in 2010 were among Thursday's biggest gainers as investors sought to boost returns by the year's end. Advancing stocks outnumbered decliners by more than two to one on both the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.

Package shipper FedEx Corp (FDX.N) raised its full-year outlook, though its quarterly profit and revenue missed expectations. Shares rose 2 percent to $94.22 while larger rival United Parcel Services (UPS.N) gained 2.1 percent to $73.76 and the Dow Jones Transportation Average (.DJT) gained 1.3 percent.

"The fact that FedEx missed its earnings is overshadowed by its very strong outlook, which is a good indicator that we're looking for good economic times ahead," said Kimberly Foss, president at the Sacramento, California-based Empyrion Wealth Management, which has more than $200 million in assets under management.

Visa Inc (V.N) and MasterCard Inc (MA.N) tumbled on heavy volume after the Federal Reserve issued a proposal that would force banks and card networks to slash the fees they charge retailers on debit cards. Visa sank 13 percent to $67.19 while MasterCard slumped 10 percent to $223.49.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) was up 41.78 points, or 0.36 percent, at 11,499.25. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) was up 7.64 points, or 0.62 percent, at 1,242.87. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) was up 20.09 points, or 0.77 percent, at 2,637.31.

Stocks gained momentum after a slow start to the day, with big gainers for the year boosting the Nasdaq.

Intuit Inc (INTU.O), known for its tax-filing software, gained 3 percent to $49.35 after rising about 60 percent for the year.

Some shares raised hopes consumers will be less frugal over the holiday shopping season. Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) rose 1.4 percent to $178.10 and its stock was up 32 percent for the year.

After the closing bell, Oracle Corp (ORCL.O) reported a surge in new software sales in its second quarter, lifting its shares 3.2 percent to $31.24.

Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O) rose 2.3 percent to $32.59 after Goldman Sachs gave the coffee chain a "conviction buy" rating with a $44 price target.

Economic data added to the positive mood. Factory activity in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region unexpectedly rose in December, while jobless claims dipped for a second week. November housing starts rose, but permits for future home construction dropped to a 1-1/2 year low.

U.S.-listed shares of Research in Motion (RIM.TO)(RIMM.O) rose 1.8 percent to $60.28 after it reported its third-quarter results after the close.

"While we expect the market to continue growing, the slower growth we expect is going to be good for those companies that execute well, but challenging for the ones that have been struggling," said Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist at RidgeWorth Investments in Richmond, Virginia.

About 7.54 billion shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq, well below the year's daily average of 8.62 billion.

(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

View the original article here

Few stock mutual funds have managed to return investors' balances to levels at the market's peak in late 2007, before stocks fell sharply. Despite the recent rally, an investor with $10,000 in a stock fund at the peak has less than that now, in most cases.

Among 21 categories of U.S. stock funds, just two have returned investors to where they stood when the market hit a historic high on Oct. 9, 2007, according to Morningstar. The calculations, through the end of last week, include fund expenses but exclude fund sales charges known as loads.

While few stock investors are whole again, three U.S. stock funds have produced average annualized gains of greater than 15 percent since the October 2007 peak:

FUND: Reynolds Blue Chip Growth (RBCGX)

INVESTMENT CATEGORY: Large-cap growth

AVERAGE ANNUALIZED RETURN SINCE MARKET PEAK: 17.1 percent

$10,000 AS OF OCT. 2007 NOW EQUALS: $16,434

ASSETS: $159 million

MANAGER: Frederick "Fritz" Reynolds

EXPENSE RATIO: 1.8 percent

UPFRONT SALES CHARGE: None

MINIMUM INITIAL INVESTMENT: $1,000

______

FUND: Delaware Healthcare (DLHAX)

INVESTMENT CATEGORY: Large-cap blend

AVERAGE ANNUALIZED RETURN SINCE MARKET PEAK: 15.7 PERCENT

$10,000 AS OF OCT. 2007 NOW EQUALS: $15,832

ASSETS: $13.4 million

MANAGER: Liu-Er Chen

EXPENSE RATIO: 1.52 percent

UPFRONT SALES CHARGE: 5.75 percent

MINIMUM INITIAL INVESTMENT: $1,000

________

FUND: Intrepid Small Cap (ICMAX)

INVESTMENT CATEGORY: Small-cap value

AVERAGE ANNUALIZED RETURN SINCE MARKET PEAK: 15.1 percent

$10,000 AS OF OCT. 2007 NOW EQUALS: $15,566

ASSETS: $682 million

MANAGERS: Gregory Estes, Mark Travis, Jayme Wiggins

EXPENSE RATIO: 1.57 percent

UPFRONT SALES CHARGE: None

MINIMUM INITIAL INVESTMENT: $2,500

______

Note: Returns through Dec. 3

Sources: Morningstar

View the original article here

。

Such a sharp rise in US benchmark market interest rates matters a lot — and it matters way beyond America. The US government is now servicing $13.8 trillion (￡ 8.7 trilion) declared liabilities - making it, by a long way, the world's largest debtor. Around $414bn of US taxpayers' money went is sovereign interest payments last year - around 4.5 times the budget of America's Department of Education.

Debt service costs have reached such astronomical levels even though over the past year and more, yields have been kept historically and artificially low by "quantitative easing (QE)" - in other words, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's virtual printing press. Borrowing costs are higher than 28pc Now a month ago, with the 10-year Treasury yield reaching 3 33pc last week, an already eye-watering debt service burden can only go up.

Few on this side of the Atlantic should feel smug. The eurozone's ongoing sovereign debt debacle has pushed up Germany's borrowing costs by 27pc over the last month - to 3 03pc. The market has judged that if Europe's Teutonic powerhouse wants the single currency to survive, it will ultimately need to raise wads of cash to absorb the mess caused by other member states' fiscal incontinence.

While the UK isn't ain't ensnared in monetary union, gilt yields have spiralled 18pc since the start of November - to 3 55pc aussi. British Government debt is officially ￡ 1.05 trillion. We are fast approaching a debt-to-GDP ratio of 100pc, compared to 30pc just a decade ago. If you add off-balance-sheet liabilities to Government estimates, including the bank lease-outs disgracefully remain "off the books", which the UK already owes more than an entire year's national income. In the medium-term, this is surely inconsistent with a triple AAA credit rating.

Even with gilt yields ultra-low, courtesy of British EQ, the UK is still spending ￡ 42bn a year servicing sovereign debt - up 50pc since 2008. The Coalition is talking tough about reining in the annual budget deficit, but our burgeoning debt stock means interest payments are anyway set to reach ￡ 70bn - twice the defence budget - by 2015. And those numbers rest on low gilt-yield assumptions that will be blown out of the water if this recent bond market implosion is the start of a trend.

Some say that growing signs of a US economic recovery are positive for stocks, which means money is being diverted out of Treasuries, so lowering their price, which pushes up yields. That's wishful thinking. Sovereign borrowing costs have just surged in the US - and therefore elsewhere - because a IV-wounded President Obama caved in and extended the Bush-era tax cuts, combining them with a $120bn payroll tax holiday.

Lower taxes, and the certainty of lower taxes, may bolster business investment and growth. That's the logic employed by those painting last week's global yield spike in a positive light. Government borrowing costs rose in America and elsewhere, they say, as a re-bounding US economy is now drawing investors' cash away from sovereign bonds and towards more productive uses.

The reality is, though, that the market is increasingly alarmed at the rate of increase of the US government's already massive liabilities. America's government debt is set to expand by a jaw-dropping 42pc over the next few years, reaching $19.6 trillion by 2015 according to Treasury Department estimates presented (very little fanfare amid) to Congress back in June. Since then, government spending has risen even more. So US debt service costs, like those of many other Western nations, are expanding rapidly in terms of both the volume of sovereign instruments outstanding, and the yields on each bond.

The new worry in the market is that this latest round of tax cuts could add another $1 trillion to the U.S. deficit, on top of the already horrendous numbers produced in June. With opinion now deeply split about the wisdom of yet another round of EQ, bond investors are getting increasingly worried that the Fed will turn off the funny money and the sugar-rush will fade. Meanwhile, the US has very few plans - and none of them remotely credible - to get to grips with the biggest debt in history.

America has lately been very happy for small eurozone members to endure most of the adverse publicity related to the sovereign bond crisis. But, as of last week, the Western government debt debacle has entered the big league. We're going to hear a lot more about the US government's borrowing costs over the coming months--and the related "contagion" of other countries' treasury bills, as America's funding issues focus attention on the scale and ratcheting interest costs of sovereign debts in other large economies too.

Until now, market attention has oscillated between the eurozone and the States, with one region's debt benefiting from the woes of the other instruments. Last week marked a turning point. Western sovereign instruments were hammered across the board - with traders making little distinction between the debts of Germany or Japan. There's a lot more of this to come.

Investors in mass are ever more cash parking in alternative asset classes, such as commodities, other tangible assets and emerging market sovereign debts. The pool of money available to finance Western government borrowing is relative and maybe even in absolute terms, starting to shrink. This is extremely worrying - not least because of the industrialised world's demography. Our ageing population means that higher future borrowing requirements are practically guaranteed, even if our politicians become paragons of virtue tax - which, of course, they won't. As one economist I admire recently quipped: "Expecting today's Western leaders to run fiscal surpluses is like expecting dogs to stockpile sausages '.

Just a few months ago, it was only newspaper scribblers like me and other naturally dissenting voices, who dared to be openly critical of grotesquely irresponsibly policies such as ve. Yet increasing numbers of important voices are now saying that, in fact, the Emperor has no clothes. Last week the patience of many bond traders snapped too. That marked a very important moment.

The US will continue to run a budget deficit of in excess of 10pc of GDP for at least another year. This is in marked contrast to most other advanced economies, where tax the axis is now being swung, with consolidation now beginning in earnest. The danger is that the bond markets won't care - and almost all Western sovereign instruments will become burdened with a big risk premium, even the bonds of those countries which have bitten the bullet and started to actually imposes serious tax reforms. If ministers in Britain and Germany would like to know in advance what this feels like and the domestic political havoc it can cause, they should talk to their Irish counterparts.

Over the coming months, the world's appetite for dollar assets will be very severely tested - perhaps very close to destruction. America boasts the world's reserve currency, of course, but its ability to borrow from the rest of the world is not without limit. Last week's U.S. tax move poses great dangers. There is little point in a tax giveaway that's cancelled out by higher rates. All you end up with is even more sovereign debt. Upgraded growth forecasts don't cause yield spike like that we saw last week - and its absurd to suggest that they do. There's a new mood in the bond markets - a mood of zero tolerance.

View the original article here

But Mr Tattersall said that although Tesco has a variety of growth opportunities in its services and international operations, he believed that many of these were unlikely to become material contributors to group profit in the long term.

He added: "in our opinion, the 'burden of growth' will fall increasingly on Korea, where Tesco has its best international co-operation and strong prospects, and China."

Tesco has championed its overseas prospects and recently took analysts on a trip to see its operations in China and South Korea. But Mr Tattersall pointed out that it would be "a long, hard road to decent returns" in China where the retail market will be "difficult to crack" thanks to factors such as high levels of competition.

Tesco, which is due to unveil its third - quarter results on Tuesday, shed 6.9 to 420p rival and J Sainsbury fell 4? to 357?p comme wider market rallied on M & A rumblings.

Amongst the latter-liners De La Rue hurtled 193? higher to 841p is confirmation that the banknote printer had rejected an approach worth ￡ 895 m from French rival Oberthur Technologies.

While on the top tier, Xstrata ticked up 47p to ￡ 14.37 amid talk of a potential listing of the world's largest commodities trader Glencore. The proposed flotation follows speculation that Glencore is seeking a merger with Xstrata, in which it currently holds a one-third stake.

Vodafone edged up 0.95 to 165p on reports that it is close to selling its 44pc stake in mobile phone operator SFR to France's Vivendi. A sale is seen as potentially paving the way for a ￡ 5bn share buy-back. But analysts at RBS maintained their "sell" on Vodafone, saying that such a deal would remove the biggest positive catalyst for the stock in the coming year.

Although bid excitement helped lift the FTSE 100 up 24.96 points to 5770.28 and the FTSE 250 gained 69.18 points to 11151.35, the biggest blue-chip gainer was capita.

The back-office outsourcing specialist jumped 34 to 669?p after it announced that chief executive, Paul Pindar, bought 150,000 shares at 640p on December 3.

However, persistent concerns around sovereign debt kept the large-caps in check. As investors awaited the outcome of a meeting of European finance ministers, traders stuck to the sidelines and financial stocks suffered - Barclays shed 5 to 263p.

Having a better day, however was Rolls-Royce. The engine-maker's share price has encountered some turbulence since the mid - air explosion of one of its engines aboard a Qantas A380 jet last month.

Goal on Monday, Rolls ticked up 13 to 640?p after Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts shifted their stance on Rolls to "buy" from "neutral" as part of an upbeat review of the civil aerospace sector. The analysts named Rolls as one of their "top picks". Also buoying Rolls was news it had won contracts worth over $110 m (￡ 70 m) for energy projects in Europe, Africa, India and the Middle East.

But in the same note, Merrill cut the aerial refuelling equipment and technology company, Cobham, to "neutral" from "buy", p. concerns over defence contracts.

"Defence contractors are likely to face a few years of continued pressure given the tightening budgetary environment (at least in the US and Europe), increased customer focus on affordability, and greater competition in international markets," said analysts. Cobham shed 4.8 to 194?p, making it the sharpest faller is the benchmark index.

Not far behind Cobham was Randgold Resources. The gold miner slid 145p to ￡ 58.85 amid concerns over political tensions in the Ivory Coast. After a disputed election which resulted in both main candidates being sworn in as president, the miner said it was "closely monitoring the political and security situation".

Mark Bristow, Randgold Resources' chief executive, said that access and security around the company's Tongon mine had thus far not been affected by the post election developments.

Punch Taverns bubbles up on private equity rumours

Another beneficiary of the M & A rumour mill was Punch Taverns.

The pub group rose 4.3 - Gold 7pc - to 69?p on weekend reports that private equity firm CVC could be plotting a bid for punch.

There were also suggestions that other private equity players such as TPG Capital could be interested in the pub operator.

But analysts at Seymour Pierce exercised caution. They said: "We believe such a bid for the whole Punch Group is unlikely to materialise unless it comes from a 'specialist' - as such the mention of GPT is of interest."

They added that considering the size of the group's debt-￡_3 1bn - such a bid seems unlikely from a firm which would normally use leveraged funds for acquisitions.

"If such a bid were to happen the bidder may be looking for debt holders to take a 'margin' - this would normally not be good news for equity," said the broker.

Last week, there was speculation that punch could be considering offloading 6,000 tenanted pubs to its bondholders in an attempt to slash its debt pile.

View the original article here

 NEW YORK?— Chinese companies are poised to dominate the U.S. IPO market next week.

Of the nine companies scheduled to conduct initial public offerings, six are from China and one is from Taiwan. If all go to market as planned, it will be a record number of Chinese companies listing in the U.S. in the same week, according to data provider Dealogic.

The companies drawing big investor interest are E-Commerce China Dangdang Inc., which is modeled after online store Amazon.com Inc., and Youku.com Inc., an Asian mash-up of popular U.S. online video websites Hulu and YouTube.

Since September, Chinese companies have made up 35 percent of IPOs on U.S. exchanges, according to Renaissance Capital, an IPO research and investment fund based in Greenwich, Conn. Chinese IPOs have had an average return of 30 percent, while IPOs overall have returned about 19 percent.

"Given that the U.S. economy is not growing very fast, if it is growing at all, U.S. investors are naturally drawn to China," said Nick Einhorn, an analyst with Renaissance Capital.

IPO professionals say the companies racking up the biggest investor orders are those that play on China's transition to a consumer society. The most successful IPOs have bet that China's growing middle class will have more free time, access to the Internet, higher incomes and the inclination to spend a bigger chunk of that income.

E-Commerce is China's largest online bookseller. It expects net proceeds of about $144.1 million from its $204 million IPO, which the company plans to use to build up its technology infrastructure and, like Amazon, broaden its product offerings beyond books, CDs and DVDs.

Youku.com is the country's leading online TV and video portal. It licenses popular TV shows, sporting events — including the 2010 World Cup games — and movies. Like YouTube, it hosts user-generated videos streamed to computers and mobile phones.

Youku expects net proceeds of about $139 million from its $154 million IPO. It plans to spend the funds on improving its technology and buying up more video content.

While Youku's revenue has grown since it launched in December 2006, the company has never been profitable because of the cost of distributing its content, which is free for viewers. All of its revenue comes from online ads.

E-Commerce became profitable in 2009.

Smaller Chinese IPOs on deck include a $65 million offering from Sky-mobi Ltd., which sells apps for smart phones and has a big backer in well-known venture capital firm Sequoia Capital. Film distributor Bona Film Group Ltd., which also lists Sequoia as an investor, hopes to raise about $94 million, while car dealership Lentuo International Inc. plans an IPO of about $94 million. SemiLEDS Corp., a Taiwanese maker of chips used in LED lighting products, expects to raise about $81 million.

The two U.S. companies hoping to debut shares are Targa Resources Corp. and First Republic Bank.

Targa is a kind of "tracking stock" — it has no real assets of its own, but distributes dividends to investors based on the performance of Targa Resources Partners LP, which stores and processes natural gas. Targa hopes to raise about $275 million.

First Republic, a former division of Merrill Lynch and Bank of America Corp., is expected to fetch $280.5 million, much of which would go to selling stockholders.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

View the original article here

The broker raised its price target for the company from ￡20 to ￡25 and lifted its long-term earnings forecasts to around 10pc above consensus. Liberum Capital said the change in forecast was partly down to raised profit expectations for Johnson Matthey's precious metals activities.

Other winners included Imperial Tobacco, which rose 19p to ￡18.93 on a smaller-than-expected jump in Spanish tobacco taxes. Madrid said the tax rise would raise €780m (￡639m) a year – less than many had anticipated – under a package of reforms it hopes will calm investor concerns about its economy.

Away from the leaderboard, speculation continued to grow about the future of Kesa Electricals, owner of high street retailer Comet, following the release of a note from UBS.

Earlier this week, activist investor Knight Vinke raised its stake in the Kesa to 7pc, fuelling suggestions that a break-up of the chain could be imminent. Shares in the company rose 0.4 at 174p as UBS analysts Adam Cochrane and Andrew Hughes speculated that Knight Vinke "may try to instigate a one-off return of capital". This may come through a sale and leaseback of €300m of the company's French property, disposing of either Comet or one of its emerging businesses or increasing financial gearing at the company, they said.

However, the analysts had doubts over whether Knight Vinke's position was likely to be enduring. "The investment has attracted investor speculation and interest but we are unsure as to what long-term shareholder value can be created ahead of what the current management is already undertaking."

Among the laggards, shares in Man Group shed 9.6 to 279.1p as Numis Securities cuts its rating for the hedge fund manager to "reduce" from "hold" in an otherwise neutral review of UK asset managers.

Luxury retailer Burberry also fell out of fashion yesterday. The company found itself among the losers after a short rally – which saw the shares jump by over 10pc in two days – came to an end.

Shares in the company retreated 20p to ￡10.79 despite Seymour Pierce initiating coverage on the company with a "buy" rating. Kate Calvert, retail analyst at the broker, said the brand has been "reinforced as a modern, trend setting, 'must have' luxury brand".

"The business model continues to change as management tackles many of the distribution issues and moves to a retail-led business model. The full benefits of many of these actions are yet to come through profit wise."

The financial services sector was also subdued as insurers weighed on the market. Old Mutual fell 3.1 to 120.1p, Aviva slipped 5.8 to 379.5p while Standard Life closed down 2.2 at 206p.

Bucking the trend was St James's Place, the mid-cap wealth manager. It jumped 14.9 to 268p in a delayed response to a rebound in the wider insurance sector earlier this week.

Barrie Cornes, insurance analyst at Panmure said: "The last few days have seen the insurers bounce as fears over Irish debt eased after confirmation that exposures are relatively small and manageable. At St James's Place the shares missed the rally earlier in the week but bounced having been relatively left behind." Director share dealing, lack of Irish debt exposure and a general recovery in the mid-cap market also helped.

The FTSE 250 closed up 5.37 at 11082.17, helped by a late dash by online grocer Ocado to the top secondliner's leaderboard. The company, which has been criticised since its controversial 180p-a-share flotation in July, saw its shares close up 16.6 – or 11pc – to 170p on suggestions that US investors were buying into the business.

3pm: US unemployment rises

The benchmark FTSE 100 index fell during afternoon trading after an unexpected rise in US unemployment.

The blue-chip index fell by 0.2pc to to 5,756.77 as data revealed that 39,000 jobs were created in the world's largest economy last month - significantly less than economists had predicted.

The news led a retreat in US shares with the Dow Jones sliding 30.99 points to 1,217.8 during early trading.

12pm: Markets await US data

Mining shares topped the leaderboard at midday as attention shifted away from Eurozone debt.

Fresnillo rose 3.45pc to ￡15.58, while Kazakhmys was up 1.48pc to ￡15.09 and Antofagasta advanced 1.42pc to ￡14.33 as metal prices rose across the sector, which was also buoyed by Walter Energy's $3bn (￡1.91bn) takeover of Western Coal.

Gerard Lane, equity analyst at Shore Capital was bullish on the sector's prospects in the lead up to Christmas:

“Given the rise in metal prices of late we suggest that the mining sector’s earnings are likely to continue to be revised higher and given its low valuation we remain positive on the sector.”

Elsewhere, shares in Man Group shed 2.8pc as Numis Securities cuts its rating for the hedge fund manager to "reduce" from "hold" in an otherwise fairly neutral review of British asset managers.

Numis said it has "marked to market its forecasts for all companies under coverage to a consistent date as of 30/11/10 to reflect movements in performance, markets and foreign exchange since we last published on each of the individual companies."

For Man Group, the broker pointed out that its main AHL fund had returned a fall of 5.1pc since its chief executive said it was performing well in a QE2 (quantitative easing) market, meaning it has a negative mark to market as a consequence.

Burberry was also among the largest fallers despite Seymour Pierce initiating coverage on the company with a "Buy" rating.

In her recommendation, Kate Calvert, retail analyst, said: “The brand has been reinforced as a modern, trend setting, ‘must have’ luxury brand. The business model continues to change as management tackles many of the legacy distribution channel issues (historic license and wholesale agreements) and moves to a retail-led business model. The full benefits of many of these actions are yet to come through profit wise.”

Despite this, shares in the company were down 1.82pc to ￡10.79 by midday as the company reversed recent gains – which had seen shares in the company jump more than 10pc in just two days.

9am: Footsie flat in early trading

After the biggest two-day rally for the FTSE 100 since May, investors held their breath as they awaited US employment figures.

Financial shares took the biggest knock. Old Mutual fell 2pc to 121p and Man Group shed 2.5pc to 281p.

In Paris the CAC 40 slipped 0.8 percent to 3,744.24 points while the Frankfurt DAX dropped 0.14 percent to 6,947.31.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average hit a fresh six-month high intraday high at one point, before edging up just under 0.1pc to 10,172.89.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.1pc to 23,479.92.

Oil prices hovered near $88 a barrel, with losses tempered by hopes that demand for crude will improve. In currencies, the dollar was down against the yen but up against the euro.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average had its biggest two-day rally since July, closing up nearly 1pc to 11,362.41as US home sales and retail purchases topped estimates.

Friday's Market report:

US roadshow delivers new Ocado investors

Thursday's market report:

FTSE today: market report - as it happened Dec 2, 2010

GKN in fast lane as FTSE driven up 2.2pc

Tools: Shares and Markets: News, charts, data

View the original article here

Traders cited a short squeeze is GKN which helped to lift the engineer, but there were also signs that the American heartening because market is continuing its recovery - sales in November were up 17pc on the previous year.

GKN has previously named North America as a "key target market" and the company told analysts in August that it hoped to increase its share of the market from 33pc to 45pc in 2014.

Analysts at Jefferies described the because sales data as a positive for GKN and should – at the very least – provide a "feeling fillip". Sense certainly did seem to be on GKN's side yesterday as the shares climbed 15 to 210 p.

Sage surged up 18 to 289p. Having beaten full-year profit expectations on Wednesday, the accountancy software company benefited from positive broker sentiment. Numis upped its stance on Sage to "add" from "hold", p. encouraging growth in the UK and continental Europe.

Amongst the latter-liners, Marston's gained 6.3 to 106 7q after the pubs and brewing group posted profit before tax of ￡ 52 5 m, up from ￡ 21 4 m last time.

Ralph Findlay, chief executive, said: "We have adapted well to market conditions and trends." "We are benefiting from our focused, differentiated strategy as demonstrated by our robust results in 2010 and a strong start to the new financial year."

Analysts at Killik kept their "buy" rating, saying:

"In managed pubs, the success of the group's food offer and new-build strategy continued to drive growth." Like-for-like sales during the year were 1.7% ahead of last year, with food up 2.5% and wet (i.e. beer) up 1.4%. Recent trading (in the eight weeks to 27 November) has seen an acceleration in growth to + 3.0%. "Encouragingly, it looks as if this has been achieved without the need for additional promotion, with operating margins up by one percentage point on the year, largely as a result of tight cost control, lower utility costs and the disposal of 17 lower margin leasehold sites operational."

3. 15 pm: Rachel rollercoaster continues at Desire Petroleum

Ever-volatile Desire Petroleum was in demand as the explore said it had made an oil discovery in the Falkland Islands.

Desire said that preliminary tests at its closely watched Rachel North well indicated it is an oil find sending soaring up to 132 75p 26.75 - gold 25pc - Desire.

Analysts at Evolution Securities said:

"Desire has this morning announced that the Rachel North well has intersected 57 m of net oil pay which is excellent news." Wireline logging is ongoing but initial indications are that the thickest section has good porosity which bodes well for any future flow test and therefore commerciality of the field. "We upgrade to Add and a target price of 180p."

Desire's surge came as the wider market raced ahead. The FTSE 100 gained around 98 points to 5740.67 as the European Central Bank delayed the withdrawl of its stimulus measures.

Jean-Claude Trichet, European Central Bank president, said the central bank will delay its withdrawal of emergency liquidity measures to combat "acute" market tensions. Trichet said the ECB will keep offering banks unlimited loans through the first quarter. The bank will also continue to buy government bonds.

Driving up the leaderboard GKN, which was manufacturing car and change shares. Traders were p. US as sales, which rose 17pc in November from a year earlier.

11. 15 am: TUI Travel leads charge

TUI Travel was enjoying a day in the sun, jumping 14.4 to 228 8 p to top the leaderboard large-cap.

Investors piled into the travel company after its full-year results came in at the top end of market forecasts.

Analysts at Numis kept their "add" rating, saying:

"The statement reads well and TUI reports that it has seen a" sustained improvement in demand since July. "" However, the macro environment remains uncertain. We would highlight two key issues. Position at Corsair agreement has been reached with employees for a turnaround plan. and, secondly, for Summer TUI expects to have minimum cost inflation whilst Thomas Cook said yesterday that it expected 2% cost inflation. "This puts in TUI a strong competitive position."

TUI's rise helped the FTSE 100 gain around 35 points to 5677.44. Speculation that the European Central Bank may announce further measures to stem the region's sovereign debt crisis also lifted feeling.

Analysts at Royal Bank of Scotland said:

"Thursday's ECB meeting could send the first signal that the central bank is on course to step up its purchase program: we continue to look for EEUR100bn of purchases by the beginning of next year, including Spanish securities."

They added:

"With financial contagion gathering pace across countries and sectors, we reiterate our view that there is an urgent need for the ECB to intervene in the market, so as to send a powerful message to global investors that the central bank stands ready to provide an unlimited line of defence for the euro area."

Goal GlaxoSmithKline missed out on the rally. Britain's biggest drug maker shed 9.5 to ￡ 12.21.5 after advisors to the US Food and Drug Administration recommended against wider use of Glaxo's prostate drug Avodar.

9 am: FTSE climbs after Asian stocks rise sharply

Frankfurt's DAX 30 0 42pc to reach 6,895.77 and gained in Paris the CAC 40 pink 0 71pc 3,695.57 to.

Miner Rio Tinto was one of the biggest early risers, up 5pc 2 to 4, 312p after a jump in metal prices.

Rolls Royce, which has endured a month-long scrutiny after one of its Qantas A380 superjumbo engines suffered a blow-out over Indonesia, fell 1. 610p after it emerged Qantas would file a compensation claim to 29pc against them.

Asian stock markets rose sharply on Thursday after improved economic indicators powered big gains on Wall Street that followed - on in Asia.

The overall share rally continued overnight as Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average surged 1. 8pc 10,168.52, hitting its highest level in intraday to more than five months at one point.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 0. 9pc 23,458.74 and the Shanghai Composite index advanced to 1. 6pc to 2,868.49.

On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 2pc to 11,255.78 in its biggest gain since September 1 after positive employment figures and growing speculation that the European Central Bank could step up its purchases of government debt boosted confidence.

Wednesday's market report:

FTSE today: market report - as it happened Dec 1, 2010

Betfair sinks below float price as FTSE 100 conscientisation

Tools: Shares and markets: News, charts, data

View the original article here

Unknown buyer was built in the dominant position since last week at least, to a dealer on the market.

According to the rules of the London Metal Exchange, the merchant must lend copper if it holds between 50pc and 80pc of total keep cash in day agenda on the market. The trader is currently ready for a 0 5pc premium for the cash price.

The premium prices for copper cash on delivery within three months reached $89 in the middle of this week - the highest within two years.

London stock fell more than a third since their levels at the beginning of the year.

LME Copper was stable at $8,720 per tonne this morning, after having reached a maximum of $8,732 earlier. A record price of $8,966 was hit in the middle of November.

Large position is not the only reason why the price of copper is high.

There are fears of a supply shortfall next year, as mine production should not at the same pace as demand bounce after the recession.

Two investment banks us and a UK company also want to launch traded exchange of funds tied to copper, which is likely to suck up the market demand.

View the original article here

Translate Request has too much data
Parameter name: request
Translate Request has too much data
Parameter name: request

Proving the only winners yesterday were Barclays gaining 3.15 to 262.95p and HSBC putting on 0.3 to 651.4p.

Even the drug makers were feeling under par, with Shire falling 45p to ￡15.22. GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca shed 36p to ￡12.24? and 50p to ￡30.23 respectively.

Shire's slide came as analysts at Jefferies cut their rating to “hold” from “buy”.

Although Shire is on course for strong earnings-per-share growth, which analysts said made Shire one of the most attractive global pharmaceutical stocks, the broker thought this growth spurt was already priced in.

They also highlighted risks that could curtail ongoing performance for Shire, which has recently gained market share thanks to production problems at its American rival Genzyme.

Analysts pointed out that Shire’s manufacturing capacity is constrained until its new production facility in Lexington comes online, adding that there is uncertainty over when this new site will be approved by the regulatory authorities.

Amongst other risks faced by Shire, according to Jefferies, is a Food and Drug Administration review of cardiac safety in relation to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder drugs, due in the first quarter of next year. However, the broker added that it expected the outcome to be “relatively benign for Shire”.

In terms of opportunities for the company, analysts pointed to the chance to break into the attention deficit market in Europe - an opportunity which they said was “largely untapped by Shire”.

Elsewhere, Aim-listed broadband satellite operator, Avanti Communications, hurtled up 72p to 725p after announcing the launch of its HYLAS 1 satellite. Analysts at Daniel Stewart said the launch “effectively launches Avanti itself as a satellite- based communications provider rather than a start-up”.

3.15pm: Weak start on Wall Street sends FTSE 100 further into red

Europe's debt crisis infected sentiment on the other side of the Atlantic too, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing around 136 points to 10959.06.

Hewlett Packard and McDonald's were amongst the biggest fallers in the US, while Amazon ticked up after the National Retail Federation reported a 6.4pc rise in retail sales over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

But news of ringing tills failed to rouse the markets on either side of the Atlantic. With Wall Street on the slide, the FTSE 100 continued on its downward trajectory, shedding around 90 points to 5578.16.

2.30pm: HSBC amongst few stocks on the ascendant

HSBC climbed up a brief leaderboard, gaining 4.9 to 656p as the wider market fell back. The FTSE 100 slipped further into negative territory, shedding around 69 points to 5599.74.

HSBC's rise came despite a downgrade from Ian Gordon, an analyst at Exane BNP Paribas, who cut the bank to "underperform" from "neutral".

Mr Gordon described HSBC as a "safe port in the storm", but asked "perhaps time to edge back out to sea?"

He said that as HSBC had outperformed the other banks during the recent sector pull-back, there were now more “enticing entry levels” offered by Lloyds, Barclays, Deutshce Bank, the French banks “and even RBS”.

Topping the leaderboard, however, was TUI Travel. The holiday operator, which is due to unveil full-year results this week, said it was selling its Thomson Al Fresco business to Homair Vacances. At September 30 last year, the net book value of the assets was ￡10.3m.

Elsewere, Costain slid 11.25 to 198.75p after the construction company said it was in talks with contractors over the financing of an energy-from-waste facility in London after one of them filed for insolvency.

Analysts at Panmure Gordon said:

"The insolvency of the Swiss operator AE&E Inova is unhelpful for the completion, and payment to Costain, of the Belvedere waste to energy plant. Further clarification of the situation is needed before we do anything to our numbers. UK energy policy remains high on the infrastructure agenda; we hope that a sensible solution is found to ensure ongoing sector activity."

12 noon: Resolution caught in the bears' clutches

Resolution was amongst the laggards thanks to a bearish note from JP Morgan Cazenove. The broker started coverage of Clive Cowdery’s insurance buy-out vehicle with an “underweight” rating and a 254p target price.

“While we acknowledge that the poor share price performance of Resolution since launch in 2008 (down 41%) has left the shares undervalued, we think that there are much better stories elsewhere in the sector,” said analysts.

Last year the company bought Friends Provident and in June, Resolution clinched a deal to buy AXA’s UK life insurance businesss.

“We see some industrial logic for the AXA / Friends Provident combination but still think the combined group is one of the least attractive of the listed names from both a cash flow and operating perspective. We see the AXA asset as having the inherited estate (i.e. capital) but less attractive earnings capacity ex this,” said the broker.

Resolution shed 5.7 to 219.4p while the FTSE 100 pared back some of its losses, falling around 15 points to 5653.8.

However, the banks gained some ground in the wake of the Irish bail-out with HSBC putting on 13.3 to 664.4p and Royal Bank of Scotland rising 0.49 to 39.18p.

The FTSE 250 also lost around 15 points to 10793.95. Bucking the trend was Punch Taverns on speculation it could hand over almost 6,000 pubs in an attempt to reduce its ￡3.1bn debt pile.

Analysts at Liberum Capital, who have a "hold" on Punch, said:

"This suggests that new CEO Dyson may withdraw support to the entire tenantedbusiness and hand the pubs over to bondholders.

"This would mean retaining the PLC cash (c40p per share) and diverting it to improve managed pub business (Spirit). This could be worth >40p per share, albeit this is a very subjective valuation."

Punch gained 3.5 to 62.6p.

11.10am: FTSE falls back on debt contagion worries

Having made early gains, the FTSE 100 headed south as the morning wore on. The blue-chips shed around 24 points to 5644.11 as debt contagion worries persisted.

Ben Critchley, a sales trader at IG Index, said: "It’s no secret why investors are still nervous - the worry is that Ireland won’t mark the end of the eurozone crisis and with the economies of Portugal and Spain looking less than robust markets are worried that we could be talking about potential bailouts once again in the not too distant future."

9.30: Irish bail-out gives blue-chips a lift

Royal Bank of Scotland, which is exposed to Irish debt, rose 3.6pc. Barclays, Lloyds, Standard Chartered, HSBC also gained.

The FTSE 100 was up 46 points - or 0.8pc - at 5715 in early trading.

Shares in software firm Autonomy dropped 0.8pc, after falling as much as 9pc last Wednesday when it said talks on a deal it is pursuing had given rise to an additional opportunity, which may cause a delay in its timetable.

Asian markets were mixed in light trading on Monday as they waited to see the impact of a bailout for Ireland and amid caution ahead of a slew of economic data from the US this week

Oil prices rose above $84 a barrel as investors looked to this week's key jobs report for evidence that the US economy is imporoving. Manufacturing, vehicle and retail sales figures for November will also be released, along with factory orders for October.

In currencies, the dollar was up against the yen and the euro.

Tokyo's Nikkei added 0.8pc to 10,125, buoyed by a stronger dollar. South Korea's Kospi fell 0.3pc to 1,895.52 and Australia's S&P/ASX200 gained 0.4pc, to 4,618.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng was almost flat - up just 0.06pc at 22,890 - as were exchange in mainland China.

Also helping ease market tensions was news over the weekend that the European Union had agreed to €85bn in bailout loans for Ireland to help it weather its banking crisis.

The rescue deal means two of the eurozone's 16 nations have now come to depend on foreign help and underscores Europe's struggle to contain its spreading debt crisis.

The fear is that with Greece and now Ireland shored up, speculative traders will target the bloc's other weak fiscal links, particularly Portugal. Underlying all those concerns is that the contagion would spread to Spain, a major economy whose implosion would have serious repercussions for the euro.

Worries about an escalation between the Koreas weighed on some stocks. Joint military exercises involving a nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier and a South Korean destroyer continued on Monday, nearly a week after a deadly attack on a South Korean island sent tensions soaring in the region.

Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen rising as much as 0.4pc - or 20 points - on Monday. It closed down 30 points at 5668.70 on Friday.

In New York on Friday, the Dow Jones fell 95.28, or 0.9pc, to 11,092. The S&P 500 index was down 8.95, or 0.8pc, to 1,189.40. The Nasdaq composite index fell 8.56, or 0.3pc, to 2,534.56. Overall, stocks ended the week mixed. The Dow ended 112 points lower, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 10. However, the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 17 points for the week.

Monday's Market Report:

Malaise grips markets as FTSE 100 loses 2pc

Friday's Market Report:

Cold front ahead for retail sector, analyst warns, as FTSE 100 slides

Tools: Shares and Markets: News, charts, data

View the original article here

反序列化操作 "Translate" 的响应消息的正文时出现错误。读取 XML 数据时，超出最大字符串内容长度配额 (8192).通过更改在创建 XML 读取器时所使用的 XmlDictionaryReaderQuotas 对象的 MaxStringContentLength 属性，可增加此配额。 第 1 行，位置为 9647。

He downgraded his stance on Kingfisher, JJB Sports, HMV and Topps Tiles to "sell" from "hold".Kingfisher fell 4.9 to 6 while JJB Sports lost 0.3 to 6 p 244 p HMV shed 0.5 to 46.25 and Topps Tiles put on 1.5 to 60 p.

At the end of a volatile day, the FTSE 100 recovered earlier heavy losses to close down hereby points to 5668.7.The FTSE 250 shed 25.61 points to 10809.43.

With feeling proving shaky banks and miners found themselves on the red side of the index.

Antofagasta and Vedanta Resources lost to 52p ￡ 13.25 and 68p to ￡ 20.75 respectively.However, taking the biggest tumble was Royal Bank of Scotland falling 2.17 to 38 69p. The state-backed bank was closely followed by Lloyds Banking Group, which lost 2.85 to 61 85p.

4. 15 pm: Capital Shopping Centres again wearing yellow jersey

The FTSE 100 pared back its losses towards the closed, shedding around 31 points to 5667.51

"Going into the last half hour of trading blue chips have been under pressure for much of the day in London and while the index is still down it has recovered strongly off the morning lows." "Once again concerns about just how far the European debt crisis is going to spread this time around are making for charge trade and it is the banks which are amongst some of the biggest losers today," said David Jones, chief market strategist at IG index.

Capital Shopping Centres again topping the leaderboard.Having surged on Thursday on bid interest from Simon Property, the property investor was in demand again, putting it another 18.6 to 399 6 p.

Panmure Gordon moved their stance on SCC to "hold" from "sell".

"Until the EGM is held on 20th December we expect the situation to remain very lively and believe the shares are therefore likely to be subject to active trading, particularly by short-term speculators." "In the long run, if the business stays publicly quoted, the future looks improved with ownership of The Trafford Centre and a strengthened balance sheet," said the broker.

One of Thursday's losers, Betfair, found itself under more pressure.After Investec initiated on the online betting business with a "sell" rating, followed by UBS followed. Analysts at the latter said that liberalization of international betting markets provided "a significant growth opportunity", but should be set against the risk of higher betting tax and of being pushed out of existing markets.

Betfair lost 66p to ￡ 14.05.

12noon: Weir rises we nod from Morgan Stanley

Weir was amongst a bunch of blue-chip winners thin as Morgan Stanley initiated on the engineering group with an "overweight" rating and ￡ 20.00 price target. Weir, which makes pumps and valves, gained 20p to ￡ 17.27.

Analysts said Weir was a "high quality business with exposure to long-term growth markets such as Minerals and Oil & Gas".

But the wider market was in the doldrums during morning trading as mounting debt contagion fears sent investors running for cover.The FTSE 100 was off around 93 points to 5604.93 and the FTSE 250 was down 72 points to 10762.61.

Adding to the market's woes were escalating tensions between North and South Korea and continuing concerns around interest rates in China.

The latter hit the mining stocks, with Antofagasta shedding 59pp to ￡ 13.18 and Vedanta Resources losing 93p to ￡ 20.50.

Banks were again on the decline with Lloyds Banking Group the sharpest faller.It dropped to 61 62p 3.08.

But BT continued to top a brief leaderboard after the telecoms giant sold a 5 5pc stake in Indian IT services group, Tech Mahindra.

"It looks like it's up on the back of the India deal, even though the stake sale is only worth about 60 million pounds at current market prices," said Will Draper, an analyst at Execution Noble.

BT was also boosted by Exane BNP Paribas raising its target price for the company by 20pc to 265p.

9 am: eurozone debt worries keep FTSE under pressure

The FTSE 100 was down 34 points at 5663.89 at 9 am, with worries over the global recovery due to the escalating eurozone debt crisis and Korean tensions weighing on miners and banks.

BT was the biggest riser in the blue chip index - up 3 65pc - after it said India's Mahindra & Mahindra had agreed to buy up to 5 5pc of Tech Mahindra from BT over time at a market price related.BT owns about 30pc of Tech Mahindra.

While recently Joseph Ocado gained around 2pc at the open following reports of interest from Morrisons.

Asian stock markets fell on Friday after North Korea said that any "confrontation escalated" will lead to war and the escalating eurozone debt crisis kept buyers on the sidelines.

South Korea's Kospi fell 1. 3pc, Japan's Nikkei 225 was down 0. 1pc and Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0. 1pc.Markets in Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia and New Zealand also fell, although Australia's S & P/ASX 200 edged up 0 1pc.

"Most Asian countries are still hesitating about the situation in Korea, and the markets are hesitant about what might happen," said Lee Kok Joo, head of research at Phillip Securities in Singapore.

In Europe, a debt crisis that seemed just weeks ago is now escalating containable, with some experts saying it was only a matter of time before Portugal and Spain - like Ireland and Greece - would be forced to ask for help.

The continent's problems have sent the euro lower against the dollar.

Asian markets were trading without cues from the US, where financial markets were closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen falling on Friday, retreating after gains in the previous two sessions, amid concerns about Europe's crisis with mining stocks likely to pressured by weaker metals prices and debt persist.

The UK blue chip index looks set to shed 21 to 29 points, or as much as 0 5pc, according to financial bookmakers, after it ended up 41.83 points, gold 0 7pc at 5,698.93 on Thursday, in thin volumes.

Friday's Markeet Report:

Cold front ahead for retail sector, analyst warns, as FTSE 100 slides

Thursday's market report:

Coffee and Shopping Capital wake up FTSE 100

FTSE today: market report - as it happened Nov 25, 2010

Wednesday's market report:

Autonomy falls on deal disappointment but FTSE rises

FTSE today: market report - as it happened Nov 24, 2010

Tuesday's market report:

Korean nflict hit already nervous FTSE 100

Monday's market report:

Invensys in decline while Irish woes weigh on FTSE 100

FTSE today: market report - as it happened Nov 22, 2010

Tools: Shares and markets: News, charts, data

View the original article here

Alistair Buchanan, regulator, pattern is puzzled how mean profit margins in six Great Britain suppliers to have propelled from ?65 ?90 during the last quarter photo: Heathcliff O'Malley

What are these wags at the Met Office.You may have noticed that it is a little parky today .the kind of starter central heating, uncorking a day another bottle and settle in front of the rugby.

Then fool you. According to meteorologists, you really enjoy the warmest year since 1850. Or perhaps the second warmer.In both cases, it is then sauna.Pourquoi, street, wasting your money on heating bills? Not less when they go so fast.

Alistair Buchanan has identified the tendance.Et there is not even a man of the weather. It is the energy regulator regulator, pattern that has troubled medium profit margins to power six Great Britain suppliers have propelled from ￡ 65 to 90 pounds in the last quarter.He asked his readers counter to see if "companies play it straight with consumers.

The suspicion is that they're not – for various reasons.In recent weeks, three of them - Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE), British Gas & Scottish Power raised double-fuel bills by 7pc and 9.4pc.Appartenant German RWE Npower and Eon kept shtum pricing plans - while at the moment, EDF Energy the France promised a gel consumer print.

Explanation of routine for the higher bills is that they reflect an increase in prices for gasoline in bulk - 25pc himself dials since the overabundance of world gas. But corporations cannot claim there is a direct correlation between prices of wholesale and consumer pays. Bills are lower than in the mid 2008 - 7pc only when wholesale gas prices was higher than 50pc.

Something seems to go - and the index can be newly available retail Buchanan wants to examine accounts. Deconstructing the and he can get, for example, how SES lost 630 m ￡ due to "movement of derivatives" in his last semester.Or 127 million pounds of "portfolio optimization" - vaguely defined as "profits how ESS runs its activities that are not directly attributable to the production or supply".the consumers, you ask, pay were famine for loss of provider before purchasing gas derivatives?Or is there some clever regulatory game passes, whose profits of supply being off squirrelled elsewhere?Accounts are so complex, you can only request.

Ask you too if suppliers are coverage not their Paris for this winter.Storage of gas in Europe are currently filled.If the big chill, gas will be dumped on the market – with the trio reservation invoices have already raised a healthy windfall benefit of lower input prices.

Brings back us to EDF.vider lining a better than expected 5 ￡ 8bn to sell its UK electricity grid can reinvest in holding of prizes to be won with clients.Qui does not stop it raise invoices in the future.

Buchanan is already installing that four of the big six do not have to implement new rules for concession to stop put selling to consumers today, its last review could lead to an investigation of the Commission on a possible break up with six grandes.écorce Buchanan competition may be worse that its morsure.Mais is certainly turn chaleur.Demandez Met Office.

Alistair.Osborne@Telegraph.co.UK

View the original article here

Actions in the engine-maker had reached a record of p 661.5 November 1, but three days later, a second Qantas A380 has to make an emergency landing when one of its four rollers manufactured Trent 900 engines exploded.

Investors took fear, sending shares in Rolls-Royce fall - the day of the incident, roller share price fell from 33% 621.5.The stock has taken another touching a day later when a problem with another forced Rolls-Royce Motor make a Qantas Boeing 747 landing .the new emergency sent low stock 30.5 to 591 p, which means that billion ￡ struck off the coast of the market value of rolls since the explosion of the A380.

Although roll stock took a battering lashes, analysts pointed out long term company .lorsque Rolls said market strengths on 12 November that it had identified the defective part and determine that the problem would be only slightly more weak growth in profits, analysts welcome the new and the stocks recovered 27 at 611 p.

"Rolls-Royce is a financially sound company, thanks to the excellent technology is well positioned to generate growth in the long term," analysts Killik said on 12 November.

"Even if the uncertainty surrounding the Trent 900 is likely linger a little longer, we believe that reference provides a comfort that the incident is mastered, and price response scale hand this week seems exaggerated," added the broker.

But others took a more cautious stance.Last week, analysts of JP Morgan Cazenove reduce their position Rolls "neutral" from "overweight", saying: they fought to see a catalyst for the stock in the six to nine months.

Goldman Sachs, however, have been hooked to their "conviction buy" rating on the r?les.Après day investor focusing on Division marine rollers where analysts could discuss topics including risks for Defense, published Goldman and Trent 900 engine failure a note on 19 November, saying that "all issues we came to reassures.

New contract wins, such as an order of 8bn (￡ 1 billion) of $1 for Air China with the Jet engines have also contributed to renew confidence in rolls.

Commenting on the agenda, Howard Wheeldon, Oro, analyst said: "Confidence in Bearing mind is low then good new must be positive for the prix.Nous should congratulate him for what is a very large order for a set valiantly engines."

"In troubled times like this, is a super new and this is excellent news for the United Kingdom in terms of exports and,", he added.""

It is still a good new Tuesday when Qantas said that it would resume flight Airbus A380 this week, albeit in a limited manner, sending Rolls up to 12.5 to 603 p.

View the original article here

NEW YORK – Actions taken end mixed Wednesday as regards the Ireland will need external assistance to repay its debts are coupled with a steep decline in the construction of housing in the U.S.

Global markets reeling in the last week for fear that the Ireland becomes the last European country need a rescue.The Greece was rescued in may after it became unable to contain expenditure galloping and lost the confidence of the investisseurs.Irlande feels now after the collapse of his forced the country to make housing market supports three major banks.

Great Britain, which is not part of the 16-nation bloc that uses the euro, offered Wednesday to support additional Ireland beyond what he gets from the European Union or the Fund currency international.Qui has contributed to the regular markets in Europe. Euro Stoxx 50, which tracks blue chip companies in the euro area rose by 0.5%.

Construction of new homes fell by 11.7% in October, said the Department of the commerce.Construction new apartments fell by more than 40 percent. Manufacturers, including the DH Horton and PulteGroup. fell.

History: U.S. prices higher in October

Retail stocks were among the few industries that showed gains.Cible Corp., share rose 3.9% after the Declaration of earnings that beat analysts estimates.Competitors Costco Wholesale Corp., Macy Inc. and J.C. Penny Co., each increased by 2% or more.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 15.62 or 0.1% of 11,007.88.The S & P 500 has increased by 0.25 or less than 0.1% to 1 178.59 .the ' technology Nasdaq composite index rose by 6.17, 0.3%, 2,476.01

Seven on the 10 industry groups that make up the S & P 500 has chuté.Entreprises discretionary consumer, energy and health care companies were the only groups to publish financial gains.Sociétés fell the most, with a decline of 0.6%.

Corp. earned McDonalds 1.2 per cent to become a top performer among the 30 companies that make up the Dow Jones.Home Depot index stock fell by 2.8% laggard index.

The prices negotiated a serrée.Le note performance range 10-year Treasury bond, which moves opposite its price, is passed to 2.87% to 2.85% end mardi.Son performance is used as reference rate of interest on loans for mortgages and other consumer and business loans.

The dollar fell by 0.2 per cent against six currencies index.

? 2010 The Associated rights Press.Tous réservés.Ce hardware cannot be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

View the original article here

In a Monday trading update, Hiscox has said that the risk-reward on some of its assets ratio is become "less convincing" that the insurer has warned that continued low interest rates encouraged investors to take more risks.

Hiscox said he saw the prospects for capital gains on portfolio investments and may simply "low-income" he will win his bond funds.

Financial results for the company for nine months at the end of September has remained stable, although Hiscox said U.S. property insurance compensation and "big" cases have been "difficult" with the fall of contribution rates.

An area of potential growth, cited by the company was at sea with the explosion of deep horizon platform and the oil spill resulting energy market should put more emphasis on the region.

United Kingdom, premium income has increased by 8 9pc 249 m ￡, whereas Europe's gross premiums written has increased from 9 7pc-on-year to 119 million euros (￡ 103 m).

View the original article here

Some people think that the stock market favors investors who started off rich. But in my opinion, the stock market is one of the few ways that ordinary people can make themselves rich.

A CBS News poll from May found that 64% of Americans think the stock market unfairly benefits the rich, while only 23% think it's fair to all.

Rich people do have one advantage: more money to invest. If you're worth $10 million, and you earn a 10% return on stocks, presto -- you've just made another $1 million! You and I can't collect a million bucks so easily. But over time, even our small contributions add up.

Proof positive
There are lots of great examples of the power of patient, steady investing. Witness Warren Buffett, who wasn't born rich, and who began investing in stocks as a preteen. Less-well-known examples are even more abundant:

Genesio Morlacci. This 102-year-old former part-time janitor and dry cleaner accumulated $2.3 million from years of working, saving, and investing. He left his fortune to Montana's University of Great Falls.Thomas Drey, Jr. This retired teacher spent a lot of time researching companies at the Boston Public Library. Upon his death, he shocked the library by leaving it $6.8 million.Florence Ballenger. Ms. Ballenger was another teacher who lived frugally but well (often traveling around the world). Through investing, she and her husband accumulated more than $6 million.

Wealth for less
If anything, recent years have made the stock market more open than ever to non-wealthy investors. Where brokers once charged exorbitant commissions to buy stocks only in lots of 100 shares or more, many brokerages now offer fees of $10 or less per trade, and let investors buy a single share or less. Even investors with very limited means can enroll in dividend reinvestment plans ("Drips") or direct stock purchase (DSP) plans, bypassing brokers to buy shares directly from the company for as little as $20 or $50 at a time.

For best results, you should save and invest as much as possible. At the very least, consider the ease of broad-market index funds, which mimic the overall market. A 401(k) or other retirement plan at work can make such investment easier than you think; your contributions (and any employer matching contributions) are likely invested in an index fund, if not a target-date fund that combines stocks and bonds.

The absence of a seven-figure net worth won't leave you at a disadvantage in the market. If anything, the stock market favors disciplined and sensible investors. Just ask any of the people who started out as small fries, and now rank among the world's wealthiest.

We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

Longtime Fool contributor Selena Maranjian appreciates your feedback. The Motley Fool is Fools writing for Fools.

View the original article here

DHAKA (AFP) – Bangladesh will offload stakes in dozens of state-owned enterprises as part of a major government effort to cool down the country's overheated stock exchange, its finance minister said Monday.

Eight state-owned firms, including major energy and power firms, which are already listed will be made to sell more shares, while 24 wholly state-owned firms will be taken public this year, A.M.A. Muhith told AFP Monday.

The moves aim to help the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) soak up excess demand for stocks, which analysts say has pushed valuations to unsustainable levels.

Muhith said the government has eased rules for issuing new shares to encourage the 24 state-owned companies to list.

The DSE, which is up 70 percent since the start of the year, crossed the record 8,000-point mark during trading on Sunday before falling 12 points to close at 7,988 on profit taking. It closed at 7,974 on Monday.

Titas, the country's largest gas distribution company, electricity giant Desco, mobile phone company Teletalk and national flag carrier Biman Air top the list of companies to be listed this year, the DSE said.

"It's the biggest bonanza for the country's share market in decades," DSE director Rakibur Rahman told AFP, adding that the last time the government took similar steps was in 1988, when eight small state-owned enterprises were listed.

"It will stabilise the market by narrowing the dangerous demand and supply gap," he said.

The sale of stakes in the eight main companies will raise up to 600 million dollars, with listing of the additional 24 companies likely to net some 850 million dollars, he said.

The DSE has been the top performing share market in the region since 2007. Its benchmark DGEN index has risen nearly 200 percent since January 2009.

View the original article here

"Stock Market" has 7 Million searches/month. Unique ebook: 8 Pro Traders reveal their Secrets how they Trade & Invest in world markets. Banners, images, emails & product reviews at http://www.stockmarketwizardsofaus.com/subpages/af filiate-resources.htm

Check it out!

Take control of your financial future with high quality Stock Market Technical Analysis Training. 16 hours of detailed video lessons & the Liberated Stock Trader Book, available for download on the iPhone / iPod Touch & high quality streaming for PC & Mac

Check it out!