| Competition Congratulations to Graham Bentley whose caption has been voted the wittiest and has won the Friday Competition. Watch out for another contest at the end of the week.  "Guy over there says he wants to see your birth certificate." The Markets Ernst & Young believes that the amount banks lend to businesses will fall to 429 billion pounds in 2012, the lowest amount since 2006. The banks have defended themselves by claiming that companies are not seeking funds, while many small businesses have argued that the banks are refusing to lend. In Greece, a journalist has been arrested for publishing a list of over 2,000 prominent Greeks who have been using Swiss bank accounts for tax-evasion purposes. Journalist Mr. Vaxevanis, who has been charged with a breach of privacy, said "instead of arresting the tax evaders ... they're trying to arrest the truth and freedom of the press". UK-Analyst advises other wealthy tax dodgers to beware of Greeks bearing lists! Meanwhile, on the east coast of the US people are bracing themselves for the arrival of hurricane Sandy, which has caused the New York stock market to close for weather-related reasons for the first time in 27 years. In London the FTSE 100 fell by 11.61 points to 5,795.10; the FTSE 250 finished 5.28 points down at 11,920.65; the FTSE All-Share lost 5.25 points to 3,029.49; and the FTSE AIM Index declined by 0.74 points to 698.23. 
Broker Notes Shore Capital upgraded its "hold" recommendation on Staffline (STAF) to "buy" with a target price of 229p after the recruitment company secured the acquisition of Select Appointments. The broker believes this is a positive step towards establishing the brand nationwide and cited plans to triple the amount of branches operating under the Select brand as being positive news for potential investors. Shore Capital added further justification to its claim by suggesting that back office services for further expansion will be met by existing operations, adding minimal additional cost to the business. The shares remained flat at 229p. 
Seymour Pierce maintained its "buy" recommendation on medical device manufacturer Surgical Innovations (SUN), with a 14p target price. The group has shipped the first batch of its PretzelFlex minimally invasive surgery retractor instruments and the broker noted that a second batch is to be shipped in December 2012. Seymour Pierce highlighted the eight year distribution agreement with CareFusion, giving the company exclusive rights to sell the new instrument, as a reason to be optimistic for investors. The shares rose 0.125p to 7.125p. Blue-Chips Education business Pearson (PSON) reported a 5% increase in sales but a 5% fall in operating profits for the nine months ended 30th September 2012. Sales were driven by good growth at the FT group and a solid performance in North American education. Pearson attributed weakening profits to the sale of FTSE in 2011, acquisition integration costs and a weakness in demand for professional training in the UK. Despite these mixed results Pearson remain confident that it will hit its full year targets. Separately, the firm announced a joint venture with fellow publisher Bertelsmann which will see the merger of Penguin and Random House, with Pearson holding a 47% stake in the new venture. The shares were up by 4p at 1,225p. 
Investment group Old Mutual's (OML) banking subsidiary Nedbank Group announced a 9% increase in net interest income to 14.5 billion pounds for the third quarter ended 30th September, with non-interest income up by 14% at 12.4 billion pounds. The increase in revenues was largely attributed to a growth in fees and commissions, while insurance and trading incomes also grew significantly, by 27.1% and 28.3% respectively. As a result of the performance the firm believes that it is on target to meet its earnings target for the year. Old Mutual shares slumped 2.7p to 170.5p.. Serco (SRP) has secured a 170 million pound contract to provide customer support services to AEGON, the Dutch life and pensions company. The deal will last for 10 years and means that Serco will now provide a broad range of services for AEGON's UK protection business including all aspects of policy servicing and claims for pensions and life assurance policies that are no longer sold but require ongoing management. The shares crept up 4.5p to 570p. Mid-Caps Sports media firm Perform Group (PER) announced a 44% increase in revenues to 39.5 million pounds for the three months ended 30th September 2012. The company's ePlayer broadcaster generated 1.1 billion streams for the quarter and 111 million unique users which was an increase from 985 million streams and 86 million unique users last year. However, one blot on the record was that technology & production sales, which accounted for 10% of the group's revenues, fell by 5% and were slightly below expectations. Perform Group shares decreased by 18p to 410p. 
F&C Asset Management (FCAM) revealed a 1.4% drop in assets under management to 96.8 billion pounds over the three months ended 30th September 2012. The company's retail and institutional assets under management increased 0.5 billion pounds to 36.8 billion pounds as a result of a positive investment performance of 2.2%. However, the business incurred 0.3 billion pounds of net outflows, of which 70% was comprised of Thames River Global bond products. The shares dropped by 0.65p to 95.6p. Aegis Group (AGS) reported the acquisition of Hablar, a performance marketing and search agency based in Tokyo, as part of its plan to increase its presence in the digital market. The target was first established in 2003, already has a long standing partnership with Aegis Media in Japan and will be incorporated into the media company's existing iProspect Japan business. The shares slipped 0.3p to 235.4p. Small Caps, AIM and PLUS Zenna Atkins, the chief executive of PLUS listed Wey Education (WEYP) has resigned amid the false reporting of a contract win. Back in July, the education company released a statement claiming it would be "designing and project managing" a new school in Mauritius which would open in September 2013. However, it has been revealed that no such contract was ever proposed or signed. Atkins is now earning a reputation for leaving positions early, having quit her job as Chief Executive of private education provider GEMS at the end of 2010. Despite the news shares in Wey Education rose by 0.5p to 17.5p. Also on PLUS, Nordic Energy (NORP) shares began their first day of dealings. The firm was incorporated on 14th May 2012 and focuses on investments in the oil and gas exploration and production market in the North Sea, particularly focusing on opportunities in the Danish, Norwegian and Dutch offshore sectors. Nordic shares closed at 1.25p. Oil support services business Getech (GTC) has signed two major contracts with a combined value of 2.75 million dollars (1.71 million pounds). The first is with an undisclosed "major player" in the industry and will include a range of Getech products, while the second contract is with another large oil company and comprises of a commitment to sponsors the firm's core Globe products. Getech noted that the new contracts are equivalent to more than 30% of the entire revenue made in the prior financial year. The shares jumped 6p to 47.5p. Blinkx (BLNX) expects to report pre-tax profits of approximately 2.4 million dollars (1.5 million pounds) for the six months ended 30th September, on revenues of 80 million dollars (49.8 million pounds), beating previous market forecasts. The video search engine attributed its strong growth to the London Olympics and the US presidential elections coupled with a growth in video advertising. The shares sprung up by 13.75p to 65p. 
Optimal Payments (OPAY) has won a contract with Ceasars Interactive Entertainment to supply gateway services related to payment processing and fraud management. This is part of the firm's strategy to "capitalise on the regulated U.S Market". The online payment business already operates in over 190 countries through its NETBANX and NETELLER processing platforms. The shares surged 13p to 121p. Pan African agricultural company Agriterra (AGTA) reported losses of 6.9 million dollars (4.3 million pounds) for the year ended 31st May 2012, up from 2.1 million dollars (1.3 million pounds) in the previous year. The additional losses represent the significant investment the company has undertaken in all of its operations including beef, grain and cocoa. Assets at the year end were up by 55% at 38.5 million dollars (24 million pounds), which should be a promising sign for investors as the company looks to now build sustainable profits. The shares decreased 0.05p to 3.25p. Self storage provider Lok'n Store (LOK) reported a jump in revenues of 18% to 12.77 million pounds for the year ended 31st July 2012. The swing from a 43,500 pound loss to a 474,000 profit represented a particularly significant success for the document storage sector of the business. However, overall pre-tax profits contracted by 1.3% to 0.93 million pounds as the company's financing costs nearly doubled. The firm plans to expand further and has secured planning permission for a new Maidenhead Store incorporating a Lidl supermarket, while planning permissions for Southampton, Portsmouth and its two Reading sites have been renewed. The shares jumped by 6p to 120.50p. | 
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