| Competition Congratulations to Mr/Mrs Pegum whose caption (below) was voted the funniest and has won the weekly competition. Watch out for another contest later in the week. 
"Is that a Prime Ministership I can see on the horizon ??!!" Â The Markets Retail sales in the US rose by 1.1% in September, year-on-year, according to figures from the Commerce Department, soundly beating forecasts of 0.8%. The performance was attributed to strong growth in the electronics sector, which rose by 4.5%, driven by the launch of the iPhone 5 which shattered pre-order records. Meanwhile, Ben Bernanke came out to defend the Federal Reserve's decision to initiate a new round of quantitative easing against outcries that it will only serve to ramp up inflation, including from fellow members of the Fed, Bernanke retorted that the move will help to stimulate global growth, despite Brazil recently claiming that the move would have a negative impact on emerging markets. Over in China, the inflation rate fell to 1.9% in September, from 2% in August, giving the country's government the opportunity to continue its recent round of stimulus programmes, such as lowering reserve requirements for banks. At the London close the Dow Jones was up by 49.74 points at 13,378.59 and the Nasdaq was up by 10.24 points at 2,730.38. In London the FTSE 100 rose by 12.29 points to 5,805.61; the FTSE 250 finished 17.41 points ahead at 11,855.67; the FTSE All-Share gained 7.58 points to 3,033.20; and the FTSE AIM Index declined by 0.37 points to 702.26. 
Broker Notes Oriel Securities upgraded its stance on Air Partner (AIP) from "hold" to "buy", citing an undemanding prospective earnings multiple of 12 times for 2013 and an attractive dividend yield of 7%. The air charter company successfully reduced its cost base by £0.9 million and the broker believes that the firm's new focus on the private jet broking market will help drive growth. Oriel noted that the group achieved sales growth of 67% last year in the UK private jet sector, with the number of clients rising by 32%. The shares soared by 35p to 292p.  Shore Capital reiterated its "buy" recommendation for NCC Group (NCC) ahead of the IT security firm's trading update due Thursday 18th October. The broker expects the firm to have had a busy summer period, with demand driven by increasing security threats for both the private and public sectors. Shore forecasts organic growth of 7% for the firm's escrow business, while noting that the assurance division will have been boosted by two acquisitions for a total consideration of 7.6 million pounds. NCC shares inched up by 5p to 1,000p. Panmure Gordon maintained its "buy" rating for Asian Plantations (PALM) with a slightly reduced target price of 380p, from 400p. The broker believes that the palm oil company's proposed fifth acquisition may be its last due to a shrinking amount of available land in Malaysia. The new site covers 7,000 hectares, bringing its total to 27,700 hectares and Panmure noted that it is located just 5 kilometres away from the group's Incosetia estate. The shares were unchanged at 235p. Blue-Chips The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) announced that Santander has pulled out of its agreement to buy 316 of the state owned bank's branches in the UK. The disposal was mandated as part of its bailout package in 2009 and the firm noted that it had already separated data for 1.8 million customers in preparation for the transfer. However, rumours have already started that Richard Branson is looking to scoop up the branches into his Virgin Money business. RBS shares slipped by 1.2p to 269.7p. 
Fresnillo (FRES) achieved record production for the nine months ended 30th September of 375,637 ounces, up 15.1% on 2011's comparable period. However, silver production declined by 3.6% to 30.4 million ounces as a result of poorer grades at the Fresnillo mine. The miner noted that it achieved resource upgrades at all of its seven operating mines and said that it is on track to deliver on full year production targets of 460,000 ounces of gold and 41 million ounces of silver. The shares crept down by 7p to 1,933p. Petroleum explorer Tullow Oil (TLW) has agreed to acquire a 40% non-operating stake in Block 9 of the Tooq licence in north-west Greenland. The site covers 11,802 square kilometres and will be operated by Maersk Oil, which will hold a 47.5% interest in the project. The firm will acquire 3D seismic data for the region, following which a drilling exploration programme may commence. Tullow shares swelled by 15p to 1,419p. Mid-Caps Shares in SDL (SDL) tumbled by 45p to 595p after it warned that ongoing litigation over its acquisition of Trados in 2005 could cost it between 1 and 3 million dollars (0.62 and 1.87 million pounds) in 2013. Meanwhile, the information management company said that it was trading in-line with expectations, with continued growth from its language services business compensating for a subdued performance from its technology division. The group also noted that its Alterian is integrating well and is performing ahead of expectations. 
Talvivaara Mining (TALV) said that heavy rainfall at its Sotkamo mine in its third quarter has reduced the likelihood of it meeting its full year nickel production target of 17,000 tonnes. The group produced 4,030 tonnes of nickel during the period, bringing year-to-date production to 10,598 tonnes, and it has also produced 21,760 tonnes of zinc. The firm is looking to counteract the water problems with the commissioning of two reverse osmosis plants in the fourth quarter and a third one next spring. The shares dropped by 6.7p to 139.5p. Plastics and foams manufacturer Filtrona (FLTR) reported year-on-year sales growth of 23% for the three months ended 1st July, a slight acceleration on the prior quarters, bringing year-to-date sales growth to 22%. The group noted that it was mildly impacted by adverse foreign exchange movements, but that this was compensated for through continued organic growth, as well as strong contributions from its recent acquisitions. The firm added that it is making good progress towards its Vision 2015 goal of double-digit adjusted earnings per share growth. The shares advanced by 11p to 521p. Small Caps, AIM and PLUS ATH Resources (ATH) warned that it is unlikely it will be able to raise sufficient funds to continue operating as a going concern without performing a significant restructuring of the group. The coal miner added that it is now looking for someone to take over the business but noted that due to its high level of debt it is unlikely that its shares will have any value following the restructuring. ATH shares collapsed by 1.5p to 1.375p. Marine electronics developer Software Radio Technology (SRT) expects to report pre-tax profits of 0.1 million pounds for the six months ended 30th September, on revenues of 3.5 million pounds, beating initial targets. Separately, the firm announced that it received a new order for its GLONASS-enabled products, worth 350,000 dollars (218,000 pounds). The group noted that it has secured 1.6 million dollars (1.0 million pounds) worth of orders from Russia for this range since November 2011. The shares gained 0.625p to 25.75p. Omega Diagnostics Group (ODX) reported revenues of 5.53 million pounds for the six months ended 30th September as 15% growth from its food intolerance division was counteracted by declines from its other businesses. The group added that the development of its IDS-iSYS system has been delayed due to a lack of availability of patient serum samples. Meanwhile, the firm noted that it has formed a partnership with SRL for the distribution of its Food Detective product across India. The deal will initially last for one year, but can be extended if minimum performance targets are met. Shares in Omega Diagnostics tumbled by 2.125p to 14.375p. 
African Copper (ACU) achieved record levels of production in its second quarter of 2.9 billion tonnes, 59% more than in the prior year's comparable period. The group added that its mill achieved its processing capacity of 150 million tonnes per hour in August 2012. The firm said that this was achieved through increased efficiency following the installation of a Larox filter, which helped reduce moisture content. The shares stayed flat at 1.875p. Consultancy firm Jelf Group (JLF) said that trading in the second half of the year ended 30th September was in-line with expectations, despite difficult trading conditions. The firm added that it remains cash generative and finished the year with a net cash position. Its focus will now be on organic growth and increasing its margins through improve operation efficiency. Jelf shares leapt by 5p to 64.5p. Nanoco Group (NANO) saw pre-tax losses for the year ended 31st July widen to 4.4 million pounds, from 3.2 million pounds, despite revenues rising by 11.6% to million pounds. The quantum dot manufacturer secured a number of contracts during the period and noted that the scale-up of its Kilo Lab facility to 400 kilograms per year was on schedule. The firm finished the year with cash and cash equivalents of 15.47 million pounds, down last year's level of 17.1 million pounds. The shares fell by 1.75p to 64p. | 
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