News for Tomorrow

27 June 2007 - 23:29

News for tomorrow - I won' t be here , I'm off to sunnier climes for a few days! :-)

UK Newspaper Share Tips - Tanfield Fund Raising News

27 June 2007 - 11:32

TIMES

Smaller Stock to Watch:
Private & Commercial (PCF)

Tempus
Hold - Go-Ahead Group (GOG)
Hold - Chemring (CHG)
Fundraising fears hit Tanfield (TAN)

News just out : 11 :17

Tanfield Group PLC27 June 2007
Tanfield Group Plc ('Tanfield' or the 'Company')

Recent press speculation

The Company notes the recent press speculation regarding a fund raising. The Company confirms that it has completed a placing to raise £115 million at 163p per ordinary share to fund a substantial acquisition, which is expected to be significantly earnings enhancing in the first full year of ownership. The placing is conditional upon, inter alia, completion of the acquisition and the Company expects to provide further information shortly.

FINANCIAL TIMES
Lombard: Bad weather may have hit C&C's (CCR) cider sales. Funding fears at Tanfield (TAN)

THE INDEPENDENT

Investment Column:
Buy - Ashtead Group (AHT)
Buy - Chemring (CHG)
Risky buy - Intercytex (ICX)

Further news
Vodafone (VOD) - talk of Apple iPhone deal.

DAILY TELEGRAPH
Questor
Avoid - WS Atkins (ATK)
Hold - Debt Free Direct (DFD)

…………
Carlsberg hint a major deal could be in pipeline


DAILY MAIL

City Focus
Scottish & Newcastle (SCTN) more bid talk.


DAILY EXPRESS

Share Whisper:
Rumours that bullish update is due shortly from Cape (CIU).

Further news:
*Scottish & Newcastle (SCTN) up on Carlsberg bid hopes.

…………….

COMMENT AND BID NEWS

Diageo loses licence to export alcohol to South Korea after authorities discover it has been involved in illegal sales.

Verizon alliance with Japan's Softbank.
New Court reviewing number of acquisitions; may need to raise capital.
Tesco (TSCO) increases market share - no sign of consumer spending slowing.
US housebuilder Lennar warns of more house price falls.
US companies under renewed pressure to scrap quarterly earnings guidance.
Association of British Insurers says there are ‘unusual issues’ around Tesco's remuneration scheme.
OFCOM inquiry blocks Sky plans for Freeview channels.

tanfield
tempus
questor
vodafone

DOW UNDECIDED - CRAMER WATCH UNIMPRESSED

26 June 15:34

Bob Pisani says :- DOW not sure which way to go after downward revision of May home sales. Average selling prices fell 8% quarter on quarter. Blackstone has dropped below its float price of 31 dollars, affected by Bear Staerns.

Lennar, the 2nd largest homebuilder in the US, warned the market may continue to get worse until the end of the year even though they have cut prices on homes by an average of 15% to try to clear unsold inventory. Good times if you have some cash to spare!

Jim Cramer watch - I just discovered the unofficial Jim Cramer blog - Cramer Watch - it seems to be run by Leonard the Wonder Monkey who says : "Our aim is to see if Cramer is good for investors. With his flashing lights, gongs, bells, over-the-top body language and raging vocalizations he comes across less of an investment advisor than a hawker at an under-performing fairground attraction.

Still, this motormouth is popular to a whole army of viewers who tune into his radio and TV show and read his daily e-mail updates. He has his supporters who think he gets a bad rap. They say he is incredibly intelligent, an excellent stock picker, and he is devoted to his audience.

Yet, he is absolutely loathed by thousands." Looks like it could be an interesting place!


In London BAE is down 11% on news of a US corruption probe.

Evolution says buy Prosperity Minerals up to 180p. According to them : ‘The UK stock market is valuing Prosperity’s cement assets at around $45/tonne, despite the fact that they are extremely profitable. It’s AIM-listed peer, West China cement, is being valued at $75/tonne, despite the fact that some of this tonnage is still under construction and not yet producing cash. We feel that Prosperity warrants a rating closer to that of West China Cement.’

Personally I don't like the tone of what they are saying so I will steer clear.

Benfield Group a leading reinsurance intermediary and risk advisory business, serving many of the large insurance and reinsurance groups, given as a buy at Seymour Pierce who think profits could surprise. Why would they think that? Who knows? Anyway I've had a look.

The 3-year chart looks awful


Artisan has been buying of late. The share bounced yesterday after the news but is down 3% today. Takeover rumours. So one to watch maybe.

Tags :
lennar jim cramer cramerwatch benfield blackstone

NEWSPAPER SHARE TIPS AND NEWS

26 June 2007 - 13:39

FTSE down 7 US futures slightly higher

Heat waves in the USA, floods all over the UK as the Ulley dam outside Rotherham in Yorkshire has developed cracks and could collapse.

Tension mounts as iPhone is about to be released.


FINANCIAL TIMES

Tanfield (TAN) talk of a large placingr

Regal Petroleum firmer after annual results. Shares also supported by speculation of a bid approach from JKX Oil & Gas which also operates in Ukraine.


THE TIMES

The Tempus Column:
Buy - Filtrona
Hold – Persimmon
Pendragon - avoid

Angus & Ross (AGU) Brazilian gold project update expected

Empyrean Energy (EME) rose after saying production testing at Margarita project off the Texas Gulf coast would start this week.


DAILY TELEGRAPH

Questor
Hold – Pendragon
Buy – Persimmon
Hold - Hiscox

THE INDEPENDENT

The Investment Column:
Buy - Persimmon
Hold - Amec
Buy - Majestic Wine MJW

Forth Ports (FPT) rises afte talk of private equity bid.

DAILY EXPRESS

Share Whisper:
Hope of positive update from Angus & Ross on its Brazilian gold prospects.
New takeover talk lifts Sainsbury’s


My recent favourite Silence Therapeutics started the day up then dipped down but now is recovering - big things are expected ! Possible takeover or contract announcements.


share tips
filtrona
angus ross
regal petroleum
ulley dam

Oxonica Rises 166% in a Week

25 June 2007 - 16:30

Oxonica

As I mentioned last week " - Oxonica Flies - " shares in nanotechnology firm Oxonica have risen 166% in recent days. The reason, apparently, is that retail investors spotted a potential bargain (ha ha - allow me to smile) following a 70% slump earlier in the month after product trials proved disappointing. [Sounds to me they forgot to mention the 80% jump in the share price the day before news came out – Ed.]

The share price has fallen back 17% today on profit taking.

According to one analyst who preferred to remain anonymous (why ? for added dramatic effect ?) "The stock is very much driven by private investors, there are hardly any institutional shareholders in the company any more and the free float is very limited."

OXN received a number of contracts last week totalling 1.16 million pounds in its security business ( it develops covert brand and product security.)

Oxonica said it would also be raising money through an equity offering.

According to the analyst "The news about the contracts was quite good but the story that has obviously affected the business most in the last month has been on the Envirox part of the business."

The stock crashed around 70% a few weeks ago, when it was disclosed that trials had failed to prove that Oxonica's fuel-borne catalyst Envirox -- which was supposed to save fuel and reduce emissions – had any effect on high-sulphur diesel fuel.

6-month chart



For more information about Oxonica and nanotechnology in general see here : Cientifica
Tags:
oxonica envirox diesel

Bob Toomey Bullish on Amazon - Existing Home Sales flat - fell 0.3%

25 June 2007 : 14:31

Amazon

Bob Toomey just on CNBC - he was bullish on Amazon.

Reasons :

• 1st quarter earnings much better than expected, guidance upgraded
• growth is sustainable - 30% this year and next
• margins will expand
• operating income will grow 40%
• free cash flow will grow
• they are expanding geographic areas and investing in new technology
• share price up 75% year to date
• $84 price target over 12 - 24 months ($68.60 at the moment) although it may fall a bit first after its recent spike

DOW opened up 46 points, (now up 32 points after existing home sales) support is at 13,266. FTSE still down 23 at the moment but that could easily change, it had a bad week last week so people may be expecting some type of recovery.

In the US they are also expecting stocks to recover some of last week's losses. The improvement in Treasuries before today's economic report is providing assistance.

Existing Home Sales will be announced at 10 a.m. ET. Expectations are for the lowest reading since June 2003, investors are now pricing in the probability that the FED will at some point cut interest rates. [They fell 0.3% sales prices declined - inventorie srose 5%]

Art Cashin is worried about commodities which are down, if they fall further they may drag the market down. Doesn't expect FED to change its tone.

In London stocks fell as miners dominated the list of losing shares after the brokerage firm Cazenove forecast weaker copper, gold and platinum prices. (So may be a good time to pick up some stocks on the cheap?).

The housebuilder Persimmon released a bullish trading statement that helped drive housebuilders higher. It said it expected interim revenue to reach £1.5bn , in line with forecasts despite rising interest rates. But by mid-day the profit takers had moved in and it was down 0.3% to £11.99.

Christopher Zook (on CNBC) not at all confident, expects a 10 - 15% drop, due mainly to the sub-prime mortgage problems but also by a combination of falling earnings and profits. Default wil rise when mortages are re-calculated this summer.

He mentions 2 companies as buys Genentech - new opportunities in pipeline and for existing drugs. Also Legg Mason - international opportunities, tremendous cost savings from the city transaction. .

Bob Pisani says people are a bit jittery but market is still near all-time highs

Tags :
bob toomey
amazon
existing home sales
genentech
legg+mason
art cashin

25 June 2007 - 11:47

Super-rich pull a fast one over the Middle Classes

Not strictly stocks and shares but there's an excellent article in the Guardian by Madeleine Bunting about how the middle classes are feeling the pinch (in the UK at least).

The list of problems is long (and I thought it was only me!) and the middle class is a lot larger than it used to be.

• First you need £500,000 ($1 million) for a modest house in South-East England and some childcare.
• There is the problem of finding a decent school, which means house prices go up close to the better schools.
• The problem of inadequate pensions.
• Their children end up with £20K of university debt, which they are stuck with for years.
• The middle classes used to be proud of the fact that they could help the next generation, but they no longer can.

The middle classes look very rich on paper (due mainly to the sky-high house prices) but they feel very poor. In the words of Lloyd Evans in The Spectator of all places, after he had bought his first house: "In theory, we're halfway to being millionaires. Yet we don't have a car, we can barely afford a holiday, and when we go for a drink, we sit on the green outside the pub, quaffing Tesco £2.99 Frascati to save money."

It's worth pointing out that if you do have a car in the UK in general and in London in particular, you pay through the nose for the privilege of using it. Petrol (gas) here the last time I dared look was about £1 ($2) per litre which I guess works out to around $9 a gallon ! 80% of that $9 is tax to the government, who then merrily waste it.

Gordon Brown (our new finance minister recently announced with pride and a large grin (he always has a large grin) that the UK will be giving £3 billion pounds to help with education in African countries. The education system in the UK is a disgrace and as mentioned above students now leave univeristy with around £15K- £20K of debts, why doesn't he spend the £3 billion of our tax money on UK education?

Madeleine Bunting points out that "middle England" is waking up to the fact that they've been duped, they were told a "fair deal for hard-working families"; while in reality Britain has become the "world's billionaire playground," and the IMF even described the City of London as a "tax haven." The wealth of Britain's top 1,000 has quadrupled since 1997 and is speeding up, jumping a massive 20% in the past year.

But there has been very little protest - until now, MB says. Why hasn't Brown been criticized for not closing the tax loopholes which legally allow these billionaires to pay less tax than their cleaners? As has recently come to light. Could it be because the Labour Party is nothing without the backing of Rupert Murdoch and the Sun (a very influential rag here in the UK that seems to have some sort of Rasputin-like control over the minds and voting decisions of the more intellectually challenged amongst our population) ?

Sir Ronald Cohen, himself one of the super-rich has warned that "the widening gulf of inequality could lead to riots in the streets."

In a bid to cling onto power a bit longer I now expect Gordon Brown to call a snap election, as he seems to be enjoying a honeymoon period, many people are just glad to see the back of Tony Blair. Gordon Brown can now blame TB for everything that's wrong with the country, promise everything will be different from now on and win a quick election with another 5 years in power. For those who don't know, Gordon Brown has been in charge of the financial affairs of this country for the last 10 years, so he can hardly blame Tony Blair for that.

Madeleine Bunting's full article can be found here : http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2110761,00.html it's a lot longer and more detailed than my brief foray into the sleazy world of politics.

On a lighter note, if you want to discover the actual price of houses in your neighbourhood in the UK, have a look here NetHousePrices just put in a postcode!

Tags :
gordon brown tony blair middles classes super rich city house prices

SLN recovers - Oxonica psychics got it right - Newspaper Tips

22 June 2007 - 11:09

FTSE down 30 waiting for the DOW to tell it what to do basically. Flushed with yesterday's success I confidently predict another up day!

Silence Therapeutics (SLN) back up 4% - yesterday's fall was a bit odd but good to see it rebounding so quickly. People are still very optimistic about news and/or a takeover/stake (some say around 200p [130p currently])

Oxonica (OXN) up another 30% ! That's over a 100% in 3 days - someone is making a lot money, unfortunately it ain't me.

TIPS FROM THE NEWSPAPERS

Investor's Chronicle
Tips:
Buy - British Land (BLND) Low & Bonar (LWB) Catalytic Solutions (CTS) Ten Alps (TAL)

Sell – (SMG) - Endace (EDA)

Updates:

Buy - Clapham House (CPH) HydroDec (HYR) Senior (SNR) Autonomy (AU.) MWB Business Exchange (MBE) Melrose Resources (MRS)

FINANCIAL TIMES

Rumours of a 105p bid for Northgate Information Solutions (NIS) - currently 80p

THE TIMES

Recommends a small stock to watch - Kalahari Minerals (KAH)

Tempus says take profits in Bradford&Bingley (BB.)

Buy Keller Group (KLR)

Hold BPP Holdings (BPP)

Elsewhere - : talk of a £3.2bn takeover bid for Ladbrokes at (LAD)

DAILY TELEGRAPH

Questor says :
Weir Group (WEIR) may rise further
Hold Rolls Royce (RR.)

THE INDEPENDENT

Hold Bradford & Bingley (BB.)
Buy Renovo (RNVO)
Risky Buy Mulberry Group (MUL)

DAILY MAIL

Weir Group (WEIR) Buy on weakness
Bradford&Bingley (BB.) Likely to go nowhere until interest rates stabilise but worth a look nevertheless

DAILY EXPRESS
Share Whisper says - rumours of a positive update boost Max Petroleum (MXP)
Takeover speculation around Hichens Harrison (HICH)

Happy hunting !

STOP PRESS : ITM Power plc (ITM) will be announcing its final results for the year ended 30 April2007 on Tuesday 31 July 2007.An analyst and private client broker meeting will be held in London on the dayof the results.
(People are expecting good things - Ed.)
Andy Brough from Schroders (?) on CNBC TV just recommended HSBC Bank (HSBA)

Online Financial TV News - DOW Rebounds

21 June 2007 - 19:50

DOW rebounds (as predicted - well done me) - the excuse being that investors "shook off a stronger-than-expected report on manufacturing and as oil prices fell back from the $70-a-barrel mark."

The FED said regional manufacturing in June had its "strongest growth since April 2005." The index of regional manufacturing activity jumped to 18 from 4.2 in May (quite a jump !). But the market largely ignored the report, despite the fact that investors are wary about any signs of economic strength which might cause the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates next week.

So according to some "the market appears to be waiting to see what the Fed does" - well we will see, sounds a bit too easy to my mind.

Andersons Inc., an ethanol and grain producer, rose 12% to $45.08 after it raised its full-year profit forecast following a strong Q2 performance by its agricultural businesses. The company also "began producing ethanol from a second plant and has seen better-than-expected margins".

I just discovered today an interesting financial site by Thestreet.com that has TV interviews online, including Jim Cramer and The Talented Blonde Blogger TheStreet.Com

Markets down but Oxonica flies fuelled by psychics

21 June 2007 - 15:12

Shares fall again in London - down 70 at the moment following yesterday's late slide on Wall Street as rising government bond yields refuelled interest rates worries. The DOW is down 70 (now recovered to -28) again today but I am confident it will re-bound as traders discount the afore-mentioned worries about interest rates.

Banks and property firms are the biggest contributors to the fall in the FTSE 100.

The FTSE has fallen 1.2% over the last three days.

Four out of nine at the Bank of England voted for a rise in interest rates so probably next month they will be up again, which is good news if you've got money tucked away. Bad news if you're broke - you will be getting broker!

Lots of red everywhere in fact, even my two recent favourites - ITM and SLN are down (takeover rumours abound re. SLN) and the Financial Times printed this yesterday re. ITM.

"ITM Power rose 5.9% to 134p after Westhall Capital issued an upbeat note rating the stock a "buy", saying it expected "significant news flow" in June related to the launch of the company's bi-fuel car and home electrolyser refuelling system." Well there ain't much of June left so not long to wait.

OXONICA

Yesterday, as I mentioned, OXONICA (OXN) shot up 80% at one point - it finished the day up around 45% - today it moved up again this morning around 25% early on - now up 21%.

Then at 13:44 they issued this statement

Oxonica plc 21 June 2007 Oxonica plc

Oxonica plc announces the receipt of a series of purchase orders totallingUS $1.16 million for a number of development products to be delivered over the next 9 months as part of a project with one of the existing customers of Oxonica's security business. In addition to the above amount, further purchase orders worth US $525k are contingent on the achievement of intermediate technical milestones. These orders represent significant progress in moving Oxonica's security technology towards product development on a commercial scale. These orders follow on from orders placed by the same customer through the period from November 2005 to April 2007 with a total value to date of US $1.52million. etc.....

The company is also carrying out a review of strategy which is nearing conclusion.
the "Board anticipates being able to update investors shortly. The Directors believe this will require the Company to raise additional funds through an equity offering."

How odd that there is no mention of yesterday's 80% rise!? Just one day before an announcement! Someone must be psychic, 'cause I can' t think of any other explanation.

FTSE up - rumours continue around SLN - OXN jumps 80%

20 June 2007 - 11:41

London's stockmarkets are showing decent gains. Miners and life insurers being the leaders.

Commodity stocks are higher after comments by Goldman Sachs that global growth will see increased demand for metals. In the mining sector Vedanta , Kazakhmys, and Lonmin are all higher. The broker raised Xstrata to 'buy' from 'neutral' with a target of 3730p up from 3365p.

Vague rumours of bid interest in Lloyds TSB (yet again) are sending the banking sector higher - could send the price up to 600p apparently - Societe Generale is one name being mentioned.

Sainsbury issued a mixed trading statement - a 5.1% rise in UK like-for-like sales exc. fuel in the first quarter. This is better than Tesco but still below analyst expectations.

United Utilities is disposing of its entire stake in Thus - this rpresents approx. 22.63% of the issued share capital which will be placed with institutions.

My recent favourites ITM and SLN (Silence Therapeutics) are storming ahead! ITM is up for a third day in a row another 7% higher - people are expecting news next week, hopefully good! SLN has risen from 116p yesterday to 127p today (130p earlier) - the Chairman is giving a presentation today at a conference, presumably saying good things, and there are rumours of a takeover - prices mentioned ranging from 200p to 250p (so fingers crossed).

Oxonica (OXN) is up 80% so far today on no news! But it did fall rather sharply earlier in the month

3-month chart



One for the brave!

Stocks which rose towards the end of the day in London

19 June 2007 - 18:52

A quick update on the end of day risers.

Those from Thursday had a dull day, most down or flat, but some of them move dup a fair amount since Thursday.

Those from Friday were pretty dull both yesterday and today with one significant exception - INA - which shot up 17% around mid-day -

the 1-year chart hardly inspires confidence though

The 2-week chart is a bit more inspiring

On 31 May it announced it had reduced costs.

Those from Monday were mainly down or flat.

Today's Late Day Risers are :

CDS (+20%) - people think news may be on the way

ADT (+17%) -

CEK (+16%)

AMO (+13%)

GRL (+9%) - possible big buyer

ECO (+9%) - could be a breakout above resistance

AFC (+5%)

CPU (+4%)

Evil Knievel Still Short PDX - Rumours around SLN

19 June 2007 - 12:47

Evil Knievel still short Pursuit Dynamics (PDX)

The reasons he gives are :

• H1 PDX generated total sales of £1.2 million and spent £2.7 million
• At 31 March it had just over £10 million cash
• By this time next year, he reckons it will be down to its last £3-4 million.
• At 238p it is valued at £150 million. On a PE of - say 30 - it requires pre-tax profits of £7 million.
• This valuation is a total joke. There is no evidence whatsoever that Pursuit will generate a penny of free cashflow. I stay short.

They are his words not mine for his full article see here : III

1-year chart


I don't know how long he's been short but he does have deep pockets.

He is also considering going long on Carco (CAR).

He does sometimes get things right, not always however.

My two recent favourites ITM and SLN have both recently picked up steam. ITM was up 10% yesterday and 5% today so far, but it has taken quite a hammering over recent weeks. SLN has suddenly woken up again and there is a rumour of an outright takeover.

FTSE and DOW down - but some end of day risers still

19 June 2007 - 01:02

Not much change in the end of day movers from Thursday and Friday except that from Thursday's movers DOO ticked up a further 2% along with DDT DFD and SNR. Friday's movers were a bit disappointing only EGU and HML ticked up around 3% all the rest were either down on the day or flat. Markets in general were down of course so that probably had an influence.

Not so many late day movers today (Monday)

GETMOBILE (GETM) moved up 11% from 11:30 onwards

The 2-year chart looks interesting - maybe it has finally turned the corner ?



Some large directors' buys a few months back apparently, but apart from that no news. Strong volume today.

VANE MINERALS (VML) an exploration and development company focused on defining and initiating prospective mineral projects rose 10% from mid-day - a uranium play - poss. news on the way ?

6-month chart


ITE Group (ITE) has been negative of late - could be tracke funds adjusting as ITE joins the FTSE250 from the SmallCap and they named a new CEO today - moved around 7% from 1pm onwards
6-month chart


GRANBY OIL (GOIL) rose nearly 10% from 1pm onwards - been going nowhere for the lat 2 years but suddenly started moving up since May - came out with good trading statement on 11 June

6-month chart




AFREN (AFR) was negative at 9 a.m. and up 10% by close of play - just been a share placing and people are expecting big things for this one

1-month chart



YOURSPACE (YSP) - up all day but with a spurt at the end

Interesting 5-year chart !



3-month chart slightly more normal



People reckon recent pullback way overdone.


Gulfsands (GPX) had a broker buy recommendation on Friday

CORIN GROUP (CRG) developer, manufacturer and distributor of a wide range of reconstructive orthopaedic devices, predominantly hips and knees has been rising stadily for a year



Been a correction recently but also rumours of a takeover -

Weekend Financial News and Rumours

18 June 2007 - 11:56

The recent end of day movers continue to move - out of Thursday's bunch DOO is up another 6% on continued rumours of a global joint venture with BP.

AZM is up another 3%

SNR is up another 5% on a bullish trading statement (which would explain the recent rise as news no doubt leaked to a privileged few - isn't that illegal?)

Friday's Bunch

These have not fared so well, most of them are down slightly, the only two that have moved up to any great degree are HML (5%) and EGU (3.5%) and there does not appear to be any news for either of them.

PMK , CDN, DPH and WKP were up earlier and are now down (so is the FTSE). SYR is bouncing around quite a bit. So all in all very inconclusive - I will have a closer look at the end of the day.


Pubs in England can expect a 4% slump in beer sales when smoking ban comes into effeect on 1st July. It's of interest to me as I live next door to a pub! I'm expecting the local 'drinkers' for want of a better term to stand outside my windows smoking their fags - they already like to use it for their mobile phone conversations.

Two 'tycoons' are trying to raise 500 mln stg-plus war chest to target the British and European healthcare sector in the coming months - so it might be worth having a close look at healthcare stocks.

A summary of all the weekend financial news and rumours in one long page can be found here - WeekendNews - very useful.

STOCKS THAT ROSE AT END OF FRIDAY IN THE UK

16 June 2007 - 23:19

MORE LATE DAY RISERS IN THE UK MARKETS

Given the impressive rises on Friday achieved by Thursday's late day risers I have made up a list of Friday's late day risers - shares which rose 5% or more in the last couple of hours - to see how they fare on Monday - for Thurday's list click here : LateDayRisers

Plasmon (PLM) up 18% on the day after results - about 9% of which was in a late day surge.

"Plasmon FY pretax loss after restructuring costs widens, revenues fall 7 pct
- Plasmon PLC posted a wider full-year pretax loss after restructuring costs, but said it expects to be cash flow positive in the fourth quarter of the current year.
The data storage firm posted pretax loss after restructuring costs of 15.23
mln stg for the year to end-March, against last year's 9.52 mln stg.
Sales fell 7 pct to 35.9 mln stg from 39.8 mln stg on decline in legacy
products.
The decline in sales of legacy products will be offset with expected growth
in next-generation UDO2 technology leading to a significant reduction in
full-year trading losses, Plasmon added."

Sounds pretty negative except for the last bit.

The 5 year chart is pretty grim - but recently it has improved



People seem to think the bad news is out of the way.

Berkeley Scott Group (BGP) - recruits people for working in hospitality and leisure - rose 10% in the last hour - on no particular news

3 year chart




DECHRA Pharmaceuticals (DPH) rose steadily from 1:30 onwards to finish up 8% - once again on no news - except that Legal and General appears to have reduced its holding



The long-term chart is impressive - the 6 month chart is too and there could be a break-out

PLUS MARKETS (PMK) rose 7% from 1 p.m. on some large trades - it has nearly doubled since the bottom around 16p - possibly some weekend press news ?



Other late risers were

ENN - AEY - BSLA - CDN - WKP - BRR - SYR - TPT - TND - EGU - INA - AXS - MFZ - CFU
all of which rose 5% or more

Update on Yesterday's Risers

15 June 2007 - 16:45

Just a quick update on the shares that moved up sharply in the last hours of trading yesterday in London.
See : LateDayRisers

Today's closing prices

AZM ended up 9%
CRA ended up 8.5%
DOO ended up 8.25% (bid rumours etc...)
ELA ended up 6%
PXS ended up 4% (Cantor Fitzgerald has picked up an extra 6 million shares)
DFD ended up 2.7% (after being down earlier)
ZNI ended up 2.5% (a late mover again)
DDT ended up 2.3%
WAD ended up 2%
SNR ended up 1%
CVE was flat on the day

All in all quite impressive

Symantec say pump-and-dump e-mail scam spam on increase

15 June 2007 - 16:24

Beware of Pump-and-Dump E-mail Scams

In a recent report Symantec stated that cyber fraud is on the increase (no surprise there). One of the main areas of fraud, however, involved stockmarket-related pump and dump spam. This came as a bit of a surprise to me as I would have thought that most investors would have been wise to the event by now.

According to Symantec spam represented 59% of all monitored e-mail traffic a steady increase comapred with the first half of 2006 and 30% of all spam was “pump-and-dump” spam. Criminals buy stock when it is low, then pump up interest in the stock by sending out spam with predictions that the stock will soar. Spam recipients trust the content (why they would do that is beyond me!) and buy the stock, this creates demand and stock price rises, whereupon the spammers sell their stock for a profit and the 'mug' punters are left holding the baby as the stock plummets.

Pump-and-dump is of course as old as the stockmarket itself and is not confined to e-mails. I have seen examples of it in the newspapers and even on my trusty old cathode ray tube TV set. I can't name names of course as I would run the risk of being sued for libel!

But you have been warned, if you get an e-mail saying buy 'XYZ' it is going to rocket then you would be well-advised to ignore it, even if it addressed to someone else and it appears to have been sent to your e-mail box in error (which is one of the more subtle ways spammers have of drawing you in to their wicked plans).

On a totally unrelated subject have a look at this chart of Evolutec (EVC)


free stock charts from www.advfn.com

I remember this being recommended as a 'strong buy' back in October 2005 funny how it spiked up then went down for the next 2 years.

DOO Rumours continue - Update on Yesterday's Risers

15 June 2007 - 09:30

Update on Yesterday's Late Day Risers

Of yesterday's 11 late day risers 9 have continued on upwards today and 2 are flat see LateDayRisers

The star is CRA which is up another 9% .

DOO, ELA and AZM are all up another 5% - DOO have issued a statement

D1 Oils Plc14 June 2007 Statement re Share Price Movement
15 June 2007

D1 Oils plc (D1), the UK-based global producer of biodiesel, has noted the recent rise in the Company's share price and market speculation.On 1 February 2007 the Board stated that it was continuing negotiations begun in 2006 with certain parties. As previously announced, a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding regarding a strategic collaboration has been agreed. The Board believes that these discussions are now reaching an advanced stage, though there can be no certainty that any transaction will be forthcoming. We will update the market regarding any developments.

And from The Times :
Rumour of the day
"The biofuels producer D1 Oils rose 18p to 200p as talk revived about a possible tie-up with a multinational oil company. Traders believe that a deal, which has been the subject of speculation for nearly a year, could be revealed early next week. The group first revealed last July that it was in preliminary talks with a number of potential investors, rumoured to include BP."

Some people are now mentioning £5 a share!

PXS is up 4% but no particular news as far as I can see.

FTSE Late Day Risers and Rumours - DOO, CRA, PXS, DFD

14 June 2007 - 16:45

Late day risers can sometimes be interesting.

D1 Oils - biofuels - (DOO) moved up 10% today - 8% of that coming in the last 2 hours after the US opened.

It also broke out above resistance

6 month chart



Rumours over at Market Insider about a tie-up of some sort with BP. MarketInsider

Prices being rumoured of 250p and 300p - price now around 205p. So tomorrow could be interesting.


Provexis (PXS) also rose 8% in last 2 hours after US opened. "Provexis plc develops novel functional & medical foods which are commercialised via a combination of own brands and global licensing arrangements."

Chart doesn't look like anything special

3 month chart


No news as far as I can see.


CORAC - (CRA) "an engineering group specialising in compressor technology" - moved up 10% in the last hour.

6 month chart



Strong volume too. Seems a big seller may have finally cleared his position.

DEBT FREE DIRECT (DFD) moved up 7% in the last 3 hours.

Chart looks pretty dire - so could be just a bounce.

2 month chart




Other 5% risers in London towards the end of the day - DDT - AZM- WAD - ZNI - CVE - SNR - ELA - so I'll keep an eye on them all tomorrow to see if anything proves interesting.

Bob Parker on CNCB on Hargreaves Lansdowne and HBOS

12 June 2007 - 13:07

Back from my hols.

Bob Parker from Credit Suisse was on CNBC earlier, someone asked a question about Hargreaves Lansdowne (HL.). He said for legal reasons he is not allowed to give advice to buy, sell or hold but he did say that the UK retail investor market is dominated by independent financial advisors and that the market remains strong and could become stronger and that HL. has a very strong position. So all in all - strong !

He also said that equities continue to be cheap historically reltive to other assets - bond markets are short-term oversold - and he expects a slow rise in bond yields over next 1 -2 years -

When asked if HBOS was a buy as a result of today's weakness, down around 5% at one point he said that mortgage defaults will probably rise over the next 6 months as a result of higher interest rates and that HBOS is being more cautious which is a good thing, so the fall is starting to look overdone to me - but I might wait to see if it dips under 1000p




As for his top tips he says Middle East is looking good, Taiwan is looking cheap, so long Taiwan and short China and the tech sector has underperformed so is due a bit of outperformance.