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Market news round up, upgrades & downgrades courtesy of Cantor Index

Cantor Opening Call
  • The FTSE is called to open around unchanged to down 5 points today
 
 
UK Corporate Announcements
  • Thomas Cook announces full year revenues of £9.5bn from £9.8bn and also just under the forecasts with a full year pre-tax loss of £485m from £398m, and states it was taking measures to boost its cash and profitability, but that the results mask a material Q4 improvement
  • United Utilities reports H1 revenues of £822.9m and a pre-tax profit of £153.9m
  • Daisy Group announces an H1 adjusted EBITDA of £27.3m from £26.6m
  • Telford Homes announces H1 revenues of £78.3m and a pre-tax profit of £6.5m and sees further significant growth ahead
 
UK Market News
  • Mark Carney of course dominated the headlines yesterday, although Mervyn King’s testimony to the parliamentary hearings would have been headline news on any other day, in what has been described as a ‘fractious’ discussion, he was put under pressure to explain the institution’s culture and confirm its independence
  • UK media itself will be eyed today as Lord Leveson is due to report his findings tomorrow, and as a new poll suggests that 79% of voters back an independent press regulator that is established by law
  • Mike Lynch stays in the news as he escalates the recent war of words as he writes an open letter challenging the HP board to explain the recent allegations, that Autonomy misled investors, HP has declined the request and stated it is leaving the matter with government officials, but this will put pressure on Meg Whitman to justify the multi-billion dollar writedown
  • BAE Systems gained yesterday after market talk of possible interest from Lockheed Martin
  • Smith & Nephew announces it is to buy Healthpoint Biotherapeutics for $782m
  • William Hague is due to speak in UK Parliament  today on whether the UK should support a UN motion to give Palestinians statehood
  • Tony Blair is expected to state today that moves by the UK to move outside the EU would lead to a loss of British influence internationally
  • FTSE 100 Ex dividends (net): Amec, AMEC, (11.7), Johnson Matthey, JMAT, (15.5), National Grid, NG/, (14.49), Tate & Lyle, TATE, (7.4)
  • FTSE 250 Ex dividends (net): Alliance Trust PLC/The, ATST, (2.3175),  Diploma PLC, DPLM, (10.20),  Dunelm Group PLC, DNLM, (10),  Intermediate Capital Group PLC, ICP, (6.30),  JD Sports Fashion PLC, JD/, (4.30),  Telecom Plus PLC, TEP, (13),  Utilico Emerging Markets Ltd, UEM, (1.375)
  • FTSE Small Share Ex dividends (net): Anglo Pacific Group PLC, APF, (4.45),  E2V Technologies PLC, E2V, (1.30),   Hansa Trust PLC, HANA, (3.50),  Helical Bar PLC, HLCL, (1.85),  Investors in Global Real Estate Ltd, IGRE, (1.05),  JPMorgan Japanese Investment Trust PLC, JFJ, (3.65),   Scottish American Investment Co PLC/fund, SCAM, (2.45),  Sepura PLC, SEPU, (.51),  St Ives PLC, SIV, (4),  Standard Life Equity Income Trust PLC, SLET, (9)
 
FTSE 100 Movers
UK Analyst Upgrades
  • Debenhams Raised To Overweight From Neutral At Hsbc
  • G4S Raised To Buy From Hold At Jefferies
  • Severn Trent Raised to ‘Sector Perform’ at RBC Capital
  • Ultra Electronics Rated New Buy At Citi, Pt 1750P
 
UK Analyst Cuts
  • Resolution Cut To Neutral Vs Buy At Ubs
  • Vodafone Cut To Hold From Buy At Berenberg
  • WPP Cut to ‘Hold’ at Pivotal Research
 
UK Insider Buying
  • Bovis Homes Group Plc, (BVS), 1 insider(s) bought 13 shares, £5.2
  • Cairn Energy Plc, (CNE), 1 insider(s) bought 1090 shares, £2.65
  • Cape Plc, (CIU), 1 insider(s) bought 15000 shares, £1.85
  • F&C Asset Management P, (FCAM), 1 insider(s) bought 47505 shares, £0.99
  • Fiberweb Plc, (FWEB), 1 insider(s) bought 15000 shares, £0.64
  • Howden Joinery Group P, (HWDN), 1 insider(s) bought 14000 shares, £1.65
  • Johnson Matthey Plc, (JMAT), 1 insider(s) bought 2000 shares, £22.74
  • Sdl Plc, (SDL), 1 insider(s) bought 170532 shares, £4.4
 
UK Insider Selling
  • Burberry Group Plc, (BRBY),  insider(s) sold 5000 shares, £12.32
  • Bodycote Plc, (BOY),  insider(s) sold 7332 shares, £3.95
  • British Land Co Plc, (BLND), 1 insider(s) sold 2007 shares, £5.37
  • Compass Group Plc, (CPG), 5 insider(s) sold 1017231 shares, £7.19
 
Global Footprint
 
 
Major European Companies Reporting
  • Lundbergforetagen, Q3, Raiffeisen Bank, Q3, 0.605
 
European Market Summary
  • France’s Hollande has demanded that Lakshmi Mittall guarantee the long term future of workers at a plant in Northern France
  • An exiled Russian ‘supergrass’ who was helping Swiss authorities unravel a multi-million pound money laundering scheme by the Klyuev Group, has died ‘in mysterious circumstances’ outside his home in Surrey, the fourth person in the investigations to have died
  • Bloomberg sued the ECB in December 2010 to obtain documents describing how Greece used derivatives to hide its debt, the court ruling is expected tomorrow and could ‘illuminate’ the ECB’s role in the process
  • Italy sells €7.5bn in bills at 11:00 Germany is to sell €3bn in 5 year notes at 11:30
 
Major US Stock Movers After Hours
  • Analog Devices came off 3% as it announced it was cutting its EPS outlook for Q1
  • Green Mountain Coffee gained a solid 23% after hours as it announces stronger profits buoyed by K-Cup sales
 
S&P 500 Companies Reporting
  • Pall Corp, Q1, 0.663
 
US Market News
  • ConAgra Foods announces that it is buying Ralcorp for $5bn, bringing to an end a 20 month long process to buy the own brands foods manufacturer
    Apple is reportedly set to fire its Maps Manager after the high profile initial flaws dented the release of its latest iPhone
  • Moody’s may face a block on products issued by Berkshire Hathaway after EU moves on alleged conflicts of interests
  • The board at Groupon is reportedly looking at a leadership change, on its first day after its IPO last year the company topped $30/share, yesterday it closed at $3.96, the stock gained 2% after hours on the news
  • The Fed is reportedly looking to require US units of foreign lenders to comply with the more stringent capital rules
  • Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid states that parties have made little headway in the negotiations on how to avoid the fiscal-cliff
 
Overnight Market News
  • Muddy Waters stays in the news as Carson Block states that it was retreating on short sales of Chinese stocks listed in the US as China is seen limiting disclosures required, and as Olam states that it has no risk of insolvency
  • Singapore’s prime minister has stated that increasing the population by encouraging citizens to have more children was the largest challenge confronting the nation
  • Japan’s 10 year yields have fallen under 0.72% today, the first time since 2003
 
Major Global IPOs Due Today
  • Ares Senior Credit Strategies Fund Inc, (ACS), USD 20
  • Daiwa House REIT Investment Corp, (3263), 0.1028m, JPY 500000
  • MegaFon OAO, (0615662D), USD 20 – 25
 
FX Summary
  • The US Treasury has again held back from officially labelling China as a currency manipulator
  • Argentina has had its ratings cut by Fitch, with international law bonds rating down to CC, 8 levels under investment grade, citing a risk of default following the recent US court ruling that it cannot make restructured debt payments without also including holders of defaulted debt
 
Economic Data Due
  • 09:00 Eurozone October M3, 2.8% exp. 2.7% previous
  • 15:00 US October New Home Sales, 386k exp. 389k previous
 
Economic Events
  • 19:00 US Fed’s Beige Book
 
Eurozone q/q M3
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