UK Analyst Upgrades

Cantor Opening Call The FTSE is called to open around 25 points higher today  Global Intraday Moves UK Corporate Announcements HMV states that trends in HMV retail was broadly unchanged and that a review of its remaining HMV Live business is ongoing UK Market News The Glencore Xstrata saga is expected to move closer to its resolution as the board of Xstrata is expected to update the market on its position today, although the deadline set by the regulators for an update is Monday 24th September Mervyn King states that he is more relaxed about the government missing its debt target than some, as long as it was due to slow growth in the global economy As investor confidence in housebuilders continues to return following the drastic falls in the sector late in 2008 the FT suggests that demand seems strong enough to allow Crest Nicholson to possibly post a return to the market with an $800m IPO The UK National Pig Association states that a worldwide shortage of pork and bacon in 2013 is ‘unavoidable’ as farmers cull herds due to high feed costs In more general news The Times details on how a quarter of cancer cases in the UK are discovered in Casualty  FTSE Futures expire today at 10:00 The UK is due to sell £3bn of bills at 11:10 today UK Analyst Upgrades JD Wetherspoon Raised To Neutral From Reduce At Nomura Rolls Royce Added to Citi’s Most Preferred Stock, MTU a Least Sage Takeover Can’t Be Ruled Out, Jefferies Says UK Analyst Cuts National Grid Cut to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan Vodafone PT Raised to 200p vs 195p at Barclays UK Insider Buying Compass Group Plc, (CPG), 1 insider(s) bought 932 shares, £7.11 Segro Plc, (SGRO), 1 insider(s) bought 10,000 shares, £2.36 UK Insider Selling Wood Group (John) Plc, (WG/), 1 insider(s) sold 250,000 shares, £8.41 Galliford Try Plc, (GFRD),  insider(s) sold 80,000 shares, £6.87 FTSE 100 Movers Yesterday Major European Companies Reporting Mediobanca SpA, R, 0.451 European Market Summary Spain is expected next week to detail an economic reform package as EU authorities continue to meet behind the scenes to work on a rescue program, and Spanish PM Rajoy is due to meet with Monti in Rome later today, with the FT suggesting a bailout plan will be announced next Thursday Italy has lowered its GDP targets for 2012 and 2013 and increases its deficit expectations German press details plans by Deutsche Bank to potentially link back office systems from all of its retail banking brands, and transfer all IT systems into one unit  so as to be able to cut thousands of additional jobs Adidas announces it is lifting its Adidas brand target to €12.8bn in sales by 2015 lifting it by 5% Iceland has cancelled a planned bond auction for 12:00 S&P 500 Companies Reporting None Detailed S&P 500 Ex Dividends (gross):- Iron Mountain Inc, IRM, (.27) Major US Stock Movers After Hours Oracle announced a Q1 EPS of 53c, just under the forecasts and the stock slipped around 1% after hours on the news The major mover was Pacific Ethanol which came off 26% as it announces it plans to sell of some its units Luxury brand Michael Kors gained 2.5% as it announced it was lifting its full year 2013 EPS forecasts US Market News News Corp is in the news as James Murdoch is reportedly being lined up to take responsibility for its US television business just as Ofcom criticises his lack of judgement over the UK phone hacking investigations Some of the gloss on Apple’s iPhone launch has been rubbed off as some users criticise its in-house replacement for Google Maps, for having too many errors, but the more serious concern for Apple is being able to keep up with the high demand, and could have sold 10m in the opening weekend Moody’s has announced that it may cut its stance on US Bancorp by one notch due to increasing competition seen from rivals The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has accused JP Morgan of misleading regulators and threatens to suspend its authority to sell electricity Chrysler is the last remaining US car major to have agreed on a new deal with CAW, the Canadian Auto Workers Union after GM announces it has reached a tentative four year agreement S&P 500 Futures also expire today The US embassies in Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta are to be closed today as more demonstrations are expected on the Youtube clip that triggered the latest wave of protests. As governments globally struggle to find ways to deal with the insult protest industry that has gathered momentum in recent years. Salman Rushdie states he can see a direct line from his own experience through to the current situation and feels that it is a cycle that will only end when it eventually falls under its own weight, rather than through any diplomatic work Overnight Market News Samsung gained 1% yesterday, it receives 9% of its sales related to Apple and was buoyed by positive talk on iPhone sales 99% of Nexen shareholders have voted for the takeover by CNOOC, but the deal is yet to be cleared by Canadian, US or UK authorities US has urged that China and Japan find a peaceful solution to the south sea islands dispute, but also points out that the islands are included in the US-Japanese defence treaty which would obligate it to defend Japan if it is attacked Major Global IPOs Due Today Clinigen Healthcare Ltd, (0193150Z), m, N.A. IGB Real Estate Investment Trust, (IGBREIT), 670m, MYR 1.25 FX Summary Brazilian Finance Minister has stated that a global currency war could return citing the US ‘protectionist’ move on QE3 The Canadian loonie has come off from the recent highs as the QE3 risk on short term momentum already fades for now, and traders focus on the wider global economic issues that remain Commodity Summary Bank of America details that it expects gold to hit $2,000 by Q2 and will reach as highs as $2,400 by the end of 2014, if QE3 was to last until then, while Deutsche Bank states that it sees gold prices above $2,000 in H2 next year, while Morgan Stanley is less bullish seeing prices averaging around $1,816 next year Economic Data Due 09:30 UK August PSNCR, -£22.9bn previous Economic Events Italian PM Monti, Spanish PM Rajoy meet in Rome UK PSNCR