| Competition Congratulations to Charanjit Singh Makan whose caption (below) was voted as the funniest and has won the weekly competition. Watch out for another contest at the end of the week. 
"I got rid of my elder brother. Who do you think you are?"Â The Markets In a surprising move the World Bank cut its full year growth forecast for China from 8.2% to 7.7%, warning of weakening export demand from the Eurozone and US. The country has already introduced a number of measures to boost growth, including lowering reserve requirements for banks, but may have raised concerns that these measures are creating a property bubble. Meanwhile, the new European Stability Mechanisum, which will replace the European Financial Stability Facility, has been launched following a meeting of Eurozone member finance ministers. The fund will have reserves of 500 billion euros (403 billion pounds), of which over a quarter have been contributed by Germany. At the London close the Dow Jones was down by 41.93 points at 13,568.22 and the Nasdaq was down by 28.76 points at 2,783.18. In London the FTSE 100 fell by 29.28 points to 5,841.74; the FTSE 250 finished 86.72 points behind at 11,974.63; the FTSE All-Share lost 15.68 points to 3,052.05; and the FTSE AIM Index declined by 3.87 points to 702.77. 
Broker Notes N+1 Singer reiterated its "buy" recommendation for St Ives (SIV) with a 129p target price. The printing and advertising company's full year results were ahead of the broker's forecasts, with revenues of 327.4 million pounds and adjusted pre-tax profits of 23.1 million pounds and a better than expected dividend of 5.75p per share. Singer noted that this was attributable to strong growth from the firm's marketing services division, which accounted for 16.4% of EBIT, compared to just 2.1% in 2011, while the printing division's performance was broadly flat. On the broker's forecasts, the shares trade on a prospective earnings multiple of 6 times for 2013 and offer a dividend yield of 6.5%. The shares gained 1.75p to 97.75p.  Northland Capital maintained its "buy" rating for Global Energy Development (GED) with a target price of 75.5p. The broker noted that the petroleum explorer achieved revenue growth of 18% for the six months ended 30th June, as higher oil prices compensated for 120 days of downtime at its Tilodiran-2 well. Northland added that shale tests will be conducted in the first quarter of 2013 across a number of the group's key assets and believes that there is room for a farm-out deal to speed up development. Shares in Global Energy slipped by 0.5p to 75p. Seymour Pierce retained its "buy" stance on WH Smith (SMWH) with a 680p target price, ahead of the high street retailer releasing full year results on 11th October. The broker forecasts pre-tax profit growth of 8.1% to 100.5 million pounds, driven by its travel division, and a return to like-for-like sales growth from the retail division in the fourth quarter, following a fall of 4% in the third. Seymour Pierce, expects the firm to have benefited from sales of the 50 Shades of Grey series as well as JK Rowling's move into the adult market with The Casual Vacancy. The shares crept down by 1p to 658p. Blue-Chips British Land (BLND) has entered into a joint venture with Norges Bank Investment Management to acquire London & Stamford Property's (LSP) 50% stake in the freehold of Meadowhall Shopping Centre, in a deal valuing Meadowhall at 1.53 billion pounds. London & Stamford noted that the deal gave a net initial yield of 5.09% and that the price was a 11.2 million pound premium to the valuation as at 31st March. The site has 1.5 million square feet of retail and leisure space, as well as 74 acres of adjoining land, and sees footfall of over 24 million shoppers every year. Shares in British Land sank by 5.5p to 516p, while those of London & Stamford inched down by 1p to 115p. 
In order to expand its original content studios business, ITV (ITV) has acquired Finnish producer Tarinatalo for an undisclosed sum. The television broadcaster already has a presence in Sweden and the purchase will increase its footprint across three Nordic countries. The target was founded in 1997 and amongst its achievements includes the coproduction of the 2007 Eurovision song contest in Helsinki. In the current year, Tarinatalo will produce 50 hours of programming across 11 shows. The shares lost 0.75p to 91.8p. Mid-Caps Shares in Cookson Group (CKSN) tumbled by 76p to 539p after it warned that its engineered ceramics division experienced a downturn it its end-market and that it no longer expects to meet market previous market expectations for the year. Meanwhile, the materials science group noted that its performance materials and precious metals processing businesses were performing in-line with expectations, but that this will not be enough to compensate for the aforementioned problems in ceramics. The group added that it expects to have significantly reduced its net debt position by year end, from 451 million pounds as at 30th June 2012. 
Recruitment agency Michael Page International (MPI) reported gross profits of 126.5 million pounds for its third quarter ended 30th September, down 11.3% on 2011's comparable performance. The group saw declines across all its markets, except for Asia Pacific, where gross profits rose by 3.2% to 30.2 million pounds, with the falls due largely to reduced permanent placements, as employers remain cautious in the uncertain economic climate. As a result, the firm expects full year results to be slightly below consensus forecasts. The company added that it had net cash of around 50 million pounds as at 30th September, up from 32.4 million pounds as at 30th June 2012. The shares declined by 2.1p to 363p. Cranswick (CWK) announced that sales for the six months ended 30th September were 6% higher than in the same period last year as it benefited from increased demand for pork products, due to the meat's cheapness relative to other proteins. The food supplier added that it enjoyed a good initial contribution from Kingston Foods, which it acquired on 29th June 2012. The group noted that it incurred slightly higher raw material costs as pig prices rose, but that this was partially absorbed by savings through increasing operating efficiency. Cranswick shares fell by 46.5p to 745p. Small Caps, AIM and PLUS California and Kansas based oil and gas explorer Sefton Resources (SER) said that it produced 3,244 barrels of oil in September, equating to 108 barrels of oil per day, up from 98 bopd in August. However, the group warned that water content issues continued to limit its production capabilities. Over the next three months, the company plans to install new equipment to compensate for the problem and will also begin further drilling to increase production capacity. The firm added that it is considering options for raising additional financing, including the prospect of another equity issue. The shares leaked by 0.25p to 1.325p. African Potash (AFPO) shares were readmitted to trading on AIM, having been suspended since 3rd February due to its planned reverse takeover of Patagonia Capital. Unfortunately for the company, the deal fell through as Patagonia's 70% owned subsidiary, Societe des Potasses et des Mines, was not granted a research permit in Congo Brazzaville. The group noted that it will remain in contact with Patagonia Capital, but that it must now look for an alternative acquisition target. Shares in African Potash crashed by 3.25p to 4.375p. Pentagon Protection (PPR) reported that it has secured a number of contracts, from both new and existing customers, worth a combined 630,000 pounds. The security company will deliver specialist search and detection equipment, through its SDS Group subsidiary, including lightweight portable X-Ray devices. The firm noted that the deals included its first major win in the Middle East, as well as a substantial order from North America, adding that there is scope for contract extensions in future. Pentagon shares surged by 0.5p to 5.5p. 
Cloud based software developer Forbidden Technologies* (FBT) has installed a third FORscene Server for post production house Envy at its Windmill Street site in London. The client has over 100 offline editing suites, of which 50 now have access to Forbidden's FORscene platform. The shares leapt by 2p to 23p. Bluebird Energy (BBE) cut its operating loss for the year ended 30th June 2012 to 3.7 million dollars (2.3 million pounds), compared to a loss of 12.1 million dollars (7.5 million pounds) in 2011. During the year, the hydrocarbon explorer disposed of its only producing asset, its 50% holding the Centurion project in Kansas, for gross proceeds of 3.1 million dollars (1.9 million pounds). Additionally, the group is looking to sell its stake in the Solitair project due to weak gas prices and complete an exit from the Revloc project which will see seven wells plugged and abandoned. When this is completed, the firm said that it will consider whether to pursue new investments or return cash to shareholders. Bluebird shares advanced by 0.02p to 0.54p. And finally...shares in confectionery manufacturer Zetar (ZTR) soared by 54.5p to 291p after the firm confirmed after market close on Friday that it has accepted a takeover offer from Zertus UK at a price of 297p per share. * Forbidden Technologies is a corporate client of Rivington Street Holdings, the ultimate owner of UK-Analyst. | 
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