| Competition Congratulations to Rob Hughes whose caption (below) has been voted the funniest and is the winner of the UK-Analyst Friday Competition. Watch out for another contest at the end of the week. 
"Announcing QE3, Bernanke sends his regards to the ECB."
The Markets A new trade row has broken out between the US and China, with President Barack Obama claiming that China is illegally subsidising automobile exports. However, many view this as a political move to win popularity in Ohio, a key voting state which has over 50,000 citizens working in the car industry. China reacted to the accusation by claiming that the US is placing extra duties on imported tyres from the Asian powerhouse. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India has reduced the amount of cash that banks need to hold in their reserves by 25 basis points to 4.5% as it looks to encourage lending in the country. It is estimated that the move will allow a further 170 billion rupees (1.9 billion pounds) to be pumped into the economy. However, the move raised concerns that this will only exacerbate inflation, which rose to 7.55% in August, well above forecasts of 6.95%. At the London close the Dow Jones was down by 30.60 points at 13,562.77 and the Nasdaq was down by 4.40 points at 2,850.83. In London the FTSE 100 fell by 22.03 points to 5,893.52; the FTSE 250 finished 35.24 points behind at 12,080.88; the FTSE All-Share lost 10.81 points to 3,077.76; and the FTSE AIM Index climbed by 1.44 points to 713.32. 
Broker Notes Seymour Pierce reiterated its "buy" recommendation for Aggreko (AGK) with an increased target price of 2,700p, from 2,500p. The broker said that the generator and chiller rental company is unique as it has its own manufacturing facility, allowing it to take advantage of new opportunities much faster than its peers. Seymour Pierce added that the group's size allows it to operate at a much lower cost per megawatt to its peers. While the shares trade on a prospective earnings multiple of 22 times for the 2012 financial year, the broker believes that this is undemanding given that the firm is expected to achieve double digit growth for some time to come. Aggreko shares inched up by 16p to 2,399p.  Canaccord Genuity upgraded its stance on ITE Group (ITE) from "hold" to "buy" and raised its target price from 205p to 243p. The exhibition and conference organiser is nearing the end of its financial year and the broker expects the firm to achieve EBITA growth of 3%, driven by acquisitions. Canaccord added that the group should finish the year with a net cash position of 15 million pounds, rising to 40 million pounds by the end of 2013 and hopes that it will use these funds to expand into China, South East Asia and the Middle East. The shares declined by 3.4p to 214.3p. Singer Capital maintained its "buy" rating for ASOS (ASC) with a 2,150p target price. The broker believes that the online fashion retailer is set to begin a new growth phase, supported by improved margins and efficiencies. Singer also noted that the firm has significant room for expansion overseas. However, with the stock approaching its target price, the broker said it may be time to lock in some profit or switch to Borsa listed peer YOOX, which trades at a 35% discount to ASOS. The shares slipped by 52p to 2,022p. Blue-Chips Oil and gas giant Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) warned that the containment dome aboard its Arctic Challenger barge was damaged during a drilling programme off the coast of Alaska. The firm said that it will take some time to repair the damage and added that it will suspend all further drilling into potentially oil bearing rock for the rest of the calendar year. Instead the group will only drill the top portion of wells and plug them in preparation for the recommencement of full scale exploration in 2013. The shares crept down by 7.5p to 2,319.5p. 
As it looks to develop its health and hygiene range, Reckitt Benckiser (RB.) has pinched medical device manufacturer Smith & Nephew's (SN.) chief financial officer, Adrian Hennah, to replace their own departing CFO, Liz Doherty. Having spent two years at the consumer goods company, it was decided that Doherty's method of working did not align well with the group's underlying business strategy. Shares in Reckitt grew by 8p to 3,580p, while those of Smith & Nephew lost 4p to 686p. Anglo American (AAL) announced that it plans to resume operations at its Rustenburg platinum mine in South Africa on Tuesday 18th September, which have been suspended since 12th September. The miner was forced to cease operations at the site after a number of its staff had been threatened with violence on their way to work. The group believes that sufficient security measures have now been put in place to ensure the safety of its workers, who have enjoyed a period of paid suspension in the mean time. Shares in Anglo American dropped by 47.5p to 2,036.5p. Mid-Caps Meanwhile, in the first piece of good news to come from the miner in recent memory, Aquarius Platinum (AQP) reported that it has resumed operations at its Kroondal Platinum Mine, near Anglo American's aforementioned Rustenburg project. It too had suspended work, since 14th September, due to rising tensions in the region and protests by workers. The shares jumped by 4.2p to 53p. 
Ophir Energy (OPHR) said that all three of the wells sunk in Equatorial Guinea exceed expectations, with the Frotuna West-1 well adding 1 trillion cubic feet of gas to recoverable resources. The well encountered a 72 metre gas bearing column and is the six discovery the hydrocarbon explorer has made in Block R. The programme has increased total resource estimates in the region from 697 billion cubic feet to 3 trillion cubic feet. Shares in Ophir Energy leaked by 33p to 608p Small Caps, AIM and PLUS Shares in Motive Television (MTV) surged by 0.01p to 0.05p after the firm announced that it had secured a 100,000 pound contract to produce a documentary programme for RTE in Ireland. The documentary will be called "Forever Young", investigating hospice care for terminally ill babies and children, and will be produced by its wholly owned subsidiary Motive Television Limited. The group noted that it is currently producing a number of other new programmes in the country such as a history of Irish cricket called "Batmen". Yangtze China Investment (YCI) suffered a 44% decline in net asset value to 12.6 million dollars (7.8 million pounds) as at 31st March 2012, from at the same time last year as it incurred a 4.1 million dollar (2.5 million pound) write-off on its investment in handheld point-of-sales device manufacturer Onbest. The investment company noted that Onbest is facing litigation regarding payment of a large personal loan and that a large number of its staff have resigned. Meanwhile, Yangtze also saw a 4.9 million dollar (3 million pound) fall in the fair value of its other investments and reported a loss of of 9.9 million dollars (6.1 million pounds) during the year ended 31st March. The shares crashed by 13 cents to 63 cents. Business software developer Redstone (RED) has agreed to buy fellow AIM listed peer Maxima Holdings (MXM) for a consideration of 28 new Redstone shares for every existing Maxima share. This equates to 22.12p per share based on Redstone's closing price on Friday 14th September, a premium of 9.2% on Maxima's closing price. Redstone added that it will raise 3 million pounds through an equity placing at a price of 1p per share, a premium of 27.4% to the closing price on 14th September. The funds will be used to cover the costs of integration between the two businesses. The merger is expected to generate cost savings of around 2.3 million pounds per annum. Shares in Redstone leapt by 0.17p to 0.95p, while those of Maxima rose by 2.75p to 23p. 
1PM (OPM) reported that its strong trading momentum from the end of the prior financial year had continued into its first quarter, ended 31st August, with operating profits rising by 56.9% year-on-year to 171,000 pounds. The asset finance provider added that its lease portfolio rose by 9% since 31st May to 12 million pounds and that it had increased the size of its overdraft facility from 350,000 pounds to 500,000 pounds. The shares swelled by 0.01p to 0.1p. Gold and copper miner SolGold (SOLG) said that its exploration programme at the Cascabel project in Ecuador has discovered three areas of ore mineralisation. The two largest areas are located 1.5 kilometres apart and the firm believes that they could belong to a single large gold-copper system. With the data it has gathered, the group will now look to build a three dimensional model of the area and expects to complete this next month. Shares in SolGold soared by 2.625p to 7p. Advanced Power Components (APC) announced that it has won a 1.5 million pound contract with a major UK supermarket to supply LED lighting across 40 stores. The products will replace existing fluorescent lamps and are expected to generate considerable cost savings due to lower energy requirement. Meanwhile, the electronic components supplier noted that it is trading in-line with targets for the full year, ending December 2012, and expects to finish the period with a lower net debt position than it had at the end of 2011. The shares climbed by 1p to 9.375p. | 
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