BP price target cut to 660p from 675p by Citigroup — Brit downgraded to hold from outperform — Catlin upgraded to buy from outperform by Seymour Pierce –Fenner rated overweight by Bridgewell; price target 250p — Future upgraded to overweight from neutral by Bridgewell — GlaxoSmithKline rated neutral by HSBC; price target cut to 1,447 […]

We love it. RWE out, but just about everybody - including the French - still in.

Will it be HSBC, or Resolution? My vote on Resolution for the UK book with Pru taking a stake in Res. Then let’s see what happens when US and Asia business are trading separately.

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Word is Ladbrokes bidding for Rank. Three quid. Hard Rock not a problem. 
 Editorial comment: Hard Rock sale aside, why would Ladbrokes buy Rank - whose main business is Mecca bingo - when smoking ban in Scotland is chewing a huge hole in sales??? Still, people in the know seem to be pretty convinced.

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Little whisper doing the rounds that Charlie Dunstone will soon receive a bid from private equity.

Amvescap downgraded to equal weight from overweight by Morgan Stanley — Arriva a hold says Citigroup — Barclays a buy says Merrill Lynch; price target 903p Barclays rated outperform by Credit Suisse; price target 750p Barclays rated underweight by HSBC — Daily Mail a buy says Citigroup –De La Rue downgraded to neutral from buy […]

Arriva downgraded to neutral from buy at Merrill Lynch — Arena Leisure a buy up to 56p says Numis — ASOS a buy up to 130p says Numis; accumulate says Charles Stanley — Aveva add says Numis; 880p price target, up from 730p — Barlcays a buys says Merrill; target price 908p — Barlcays hold […]

Eight quid a share - as promised. Four quid cash, four quid equity. Today, tomorrow latest. St Andrews Day would have  been poetic.

Here’s something of interest. Private equity crawling all over Ahold, the Dutch supermarket group. Sector was down sharply yesterday. Buying opportunity? Who knows? But with Sainsbury vulnerable now David Sainsbury is ready to sell up, and Morrison now on the radar screen of the VCs, perhaps it is worth looking a little closer. My betting […]

We were all lead to believe the new boss of ITV would be an TV outsider currently working abroad. Look who we got. Mr TV working at the channel next door. What a wonderful riposte tro Sky. Wonder how baby James Murdoch will engage with our Micheal. Grade as executive chairman. Has he been brought in to […]

Broker Bridgewell goes to buy from overweight. It says:
“Speedy’s first half results announced last week were in line with our expectations (PBT near-20% ahead yoy), and suggest that drivers remain strong in Speedy’s business. Underlying revenue growth continued to be strong and fundamentals are good, with regulation, safety and the national client opportunity all feeding […]

Bridgewell says buy, adding it just can’t get enough of stock in the retailer. Advocates a switch from buyback to higher dividend. It reckons the ‘upside’ of this change in policy would be ’significant’.

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Broker has raised the sector to neutral from from cautious. Says best sell idea is Cadbury, best buy idea Unilever.

Canaccord has place a 129p a share price target on the stock post the merger with Innovata.

Britivic is a sell says Goldman Sachs
BSS is a buy says ABN Amro; buy says Dresdner; price target 426p
Cadbury’s is sell says Goldman Sachs
Enodis price target increased to 216p fromn 182p by Goldman Sachs, which is still neutral
First Choice is a buy says ABN Amro
Homeserve is a buy ahead of results says ABN Amro; hold […]

Bit of a slow morning for recommendations,  but here they are: 
Barclays rated a buy at Citigroup 
Burberry downgraded to underweight from neutral by HSBC; price target 580p
CSR initiated as a buy at Nomura 
Glaxosmithkline rated a buy a Citigroup
HMV rated underweight by HSBC
Kensington Group downgraded to underperform from neutral by Credit Suisse
Royal Bank of Scotland rated a buy at Citigroup 

Sage […]

Expect some movement this week. CSN has to lodge its formal bid this week, ahead of the shareholder meeting on December 4 (next Monday). Tata still undecided on the counter to CSN. Do the Brazilians really own 15 per cent of Corus now.

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The appointment of PriceWaterhouseCoopers to vendor due diligence ahead of a sale or a float. Forget it. PWC is auditor, so is conflicted. There is no DD, so no float for the time being.

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Bang on. Bellway, Redrow and George Wimpey are all in there. Board has appointed HSBC to look at the offers. Statement tomorrow will say the interest is ‘very preliminary’. Yes, but we are told the situation is fast moving. Don’t believe that David Wilson will hang onto his 33 per cent stake. He’s 65 next […]