| Competition Congratulations to Ian Cooper whose caption (below) was voted as the wittiest and has won the UK-Analyst Friday Competition. Watch out for another contest later in the week. 
"Oh, no, we've got Germany in the next round - I hope Austeretes is fit
to play in goal, or else we'll be out of the Euros" The Markets Europe's major indices were unable to maintain early morning gains despite victories for pro-austerity parties in Greek elections at the weekend, with bank shares across the continent closing deep in the red. While the New Democracy party's win suggests the nation will aim to keep the Greece in the euro there exists wide speculation that the party's leader Antonis Samaras will try and renegotiate the terms of the bailout. The Spanish 10-year bond yield, which has been under the spotlight recently following growing fears over Spain's financial health, crept 28 basis points higher to 7.15%, while Italy's rose 24 basis points to 6.08%. At the London close the Dow Jones was down by 31.03 points at 12,736.14 and the Nasdaq was up by 9.08 points at 2,580.31.
In London the FTSE 100 rose by 12.28 points to 5,491.09; the FTSE 250 finished 8.21 points behind at 10,721.44; the FTSE All-Share gained 5.40 points to 2,847.84; and the FTSE AIM Index declined by 0.06 points to 674.52. 
Broker Notes WH Ireland initiated coverage of Cluff Gold (CLF) with a "buy" recommendation and 101p target price. The broker is impressed with the gold miner's diversified production assets across Western Africa, adding that the firm also has a number of near-term developments. WH Ireland pointed to the group's Baomahun project in Sierra Leone which is expected to add 135 thousand ounces to annual production, as well as the Yaoure site in Cote d'Ivoire which it believes could contain a significant gold deposit. The shares advanced by 1.25p to 68p. Panmure Gordon reiterated its "buy" rating for Ashtead Group (AHT), with a target price of 304p, ahead of Thursday's full year results. The broker expects the construction equipment rental company to report a strong finish to the financial year ended 30th April 2012, benefiting for increase investment in its fleet. Panmure noted the firm's focus on developing its specialist divisions, which the broker accounts for between 15% and 20% of group revenues and offer higher margins. Ashtead shares inched up by 0.9p to 233.2p. 
Canaccord Genuity retained its "buy" stance on SABMiller (SAB) with a 2,830p target price. The brewer's MillerCoors' subsidiary has a 35% share of the beer market in the southern United States and the broker believes there are positive signs towards the stemming of the volume decline of its key Miller Lite brand. On Canaccord's earnings forecasts, the shares trade on a prospective multiple of 14 times for 2013, which it noted is broadly in-line with its European peer group average of 13.7 times. The broker feels that this is unfair given SAB's significantly superior exposure to emerging markets. The shares grew by 24.5p to 2,478.5p. Daniel Stewart maintained its "buy" recommendation for Thalassa Holdings (THAL) with an increased target price of 86p, from 61p. The oil and gas services company reported 15 million dollars (9.6 million pounds) of contracted revenues for the year ending December 2012, which the broker noted is a 500% rise on 2011 levels. Daniel Stewart added that on its projections the shares trade on an EV/EBITDA multiple of just 2.5 times for 2012, compared to a peer group average of 8.4 times. Shares in Thalassa jumped by 2p to 57p. Blue-Chips Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) has won a contract from the Ministry of Defence to supply the UK nuclear submarine fleet with new reactor cores, worth over 1 billion pounds. The engineering firm will continue to operate out of its existing nuclear reactor manufacturing facility in Derby and added that it will renovate the site in order to enhance its technology. The shares rose by 17.5p to 839.5p. 
The finance director of investment management firm Man Group (EMG), Kevin Hayes, stepped down from his position, having joined the company in 2007. He will be replaced by the group's current head of strategy and corporate finance, and son of media giant WPP's (WPP) chief executive Martin Sorrell, Jonathan Sorrell. The move comes as Man Group looks to rebuild investor confidence following a disappointing performance from its AHL funds. The shares climbed by 1.6p to 74.4p. Tesco (TSCO) has agreed to sell the 50% stake in its Japanese business for a nominal fee to one of the country's largest retail firms, Aeon, as it looks to make an exit from the market. In addition, the supermarket chain noted that it will invest 40 million pounds in the joint venture to finance restructuring costs, after which all operating costs will be transferred to Aeon. The group has struggled in Japan, due to intense competition, with the business failing to make a profit since its founding eight years ago. Tesco shares crept up by 2.65p to 303.75p. Mid-Caps Shares in Gem Diamonds (GEMD) tumbled by 7.8p to 201.2p after it reported a cave-in at the entrance to its Ghaghoo mine in Botswana, claiming the lives of two workers. The firm said it will look to improve safety standards at the site, and the commencement of diamond production is now expected to be delayed until the first half of 2014, from the expected start date in 2013. Gem Diamonds added that the project is on budget, having spent around 31 million dollars (19.8 million pounds) of the budgeted 85 million dollars (54.2 million pounds). 
87.5% of Cable & Wireless Worldwide's (CW.) shareholder approved the proposed acquisition by Vodafone (VOD) for a price of 38p per share, well beyond the required threshold of 75%. The news follows on from an announcement made earlier in the day by the telecommunications company's largest shareholder, Orbis Holdings which has a 19.1% stake,that it planed to vote in favour of the deal. The purchase will provide Vodafone with greater fixed line and mobile network bandwidth, as it looks to cope with the growing demand for mobile broadband. Shares in Cable & Wireless leapt by 2.74p to 37.77p, while those of Vodafone edged up by 1.2p to 174.9p. Buyout specialist Melrose (MRO) said that it was in discussions with gas and water meter manufacturer Elster Group regarding a possible cash offer. The target is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, with a market cap of around 1.9 billion dollars (1.2 billion pounds), and reported revenues of 1.87 billion dollars (1.19 billion pounds) for the 2011 financial year. Melrose noted that the purchase would be funded through a combination of new debt and a rights issue to existing shareholders. The shares dropped by 11.9p to 370.6p. Small Caps, AIM and PLUS Shares in Invista Real Estate Investment Management Holdings (INRE) surged 2.25p to 14.625p on news of a 14.75p per share cash offer for the company by Palmer Capital Investors. The offer, which represents a premium of 16% on the pre-offer share price values the company at circa 39 million pounds. Earlier this month the board recommended a 12.5p per share cash offer from Internos Real Investments, however Palmer's offer, an 18% improvement on this price supersedes this. Forbidden Technology's* (FBT) cloud video platform FORscene is to penetrate the sports broadcasting market following the announcement a major US TV network would be using the product for its sports workflow. The board believes the scalability and ability to edit content as it arrives in real time is well suited to sport and thus FORscene should prosper in this market, as suggested by the deal. The board of Tertiary Minerals (TYM) was reportedly 'delighted' with the news that the mineral company had secured a 10 million pound equity financing facility with Darwin Strategic Limited. The agreement will provide Tertiary with an attractive and flexible source of funding for the Sweden-focused fluorspar miner at its own discretion. "This facility...shows a clear sign of Darwin's confidence in our business model" commented chairman Patrick Cheetham. Tertiary Mineral shares added 0.375p to close at 6.25p. 
City of London Investment Group (CLIG) unveiled a 18% decrease in the value of its funds under management to 3.54 billion pounds in the year to May following a poor performance by emerging markets equities in the final quarter of the year. Pre-tax profits for the period are expected to be around 11.5 million pounds, down from 13.1 million pounds in 2011, although the directors have maintained the firm's dividend at 24p, which offers a generous dividend yield of 7.4%. The group's shares slid by 25p to 323p. Germany-focused Sirius Real Estate (SRE) posted an adjusted pre-tax profit of 2.9 million euros for the year to March - up from a 1 million euro loss in the comparable period - thanks to a 3.8% increase in rent received to 45.3 million euros and a number of initiatives to reduce central costs. Despite the improved performance, mainly attributable to 2 percentage point rise in occupancy to 78%, Sirius was hurt by a substantial fall in the value of its property portfolio from 505.5 million euros to 485.7 million euros. Sirius shares closed unchanged at 0.225p. Independent Resources (IRG) hailed the six months to March as a period which 'progressed very well' in which the firm was received the green light from Italy's Ministry of Environment to go ahead with the Rivara gas storage project. The company did however concede that an earthquake struck the area in which the project is situated creating significant uncertainty around the time line of the project. The firm meanwhile managed to attract significant prospective partner interest for its Ksar Hadada oil prospect onshore Tunisia but was unable to find a credible partners for the Ribolla gas basin project. The shares closed 3.75p lower at 20.25p. * Forbidden Technologies is a corporate client of Rivington Street Holdings, the ultimate owner of UK-Analyst. | 
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