LET'S HAVE SOME FUN

I see the Jew-boy's been a bit naughty TG - let's hope he's a lot more successful at making it stick than Scotty Dog with public service employees.

uk-analyst Stockmarket Reporter:
The City woke up bleary-eyed this morning fully expecting a miserable trading update from fashion retailer Next - how wrong everyone was. The share rocketed to the top of the blue-chip leader board, adding 158p to 1,681p after the company upped its full-year guidance following a better-than-expected Christmas trading period. Total group sales for the period from August 1st to December 24th were up 9.8% year-on-year. Like-for-like sales in the retail operation fell 3.2% during the period. The company said it now expected that full-year pre-tax profits would be above market expectations and in the range of 435-450 million pounds. The current consensus forecast stood at 420 million pounds. CSFB reiterated its "outperform" stance on the shares and said that profits guidance for the year exceeds the top end of the consensus range and that this seemed to imply a very sharp improvement in the gross margin. This excellent news boosted the retail sector, but one swallow does not a summer make and caution should still be the name of the game. JJB Sports is scheduled to issue its update on Friday, with Marks & Spencer and Game Group due to update on Tuesday of next week. Shares in JJB lost 0.75p to 168.75p, Marks & Spencer stock rose 2.75p to 499.75p and Game Group shares added 2.25p to 72.5p.