SHARES STRONGLY UP/DOWN this week 26/12/05 (Master RSI)

CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY PRESS

SATURDAY PRESS COMMENT

FT
THE LEX COLUMN comments on retailers (a solid presence abroad is still seen as
crucial for long-term profitability; it also helps to be at one end or other of
the market spectrum - either a hard-discounter or a luxury-good retailer; after
all, it's a combination the consumer loves), Nation of non-shoppers (investors
should mind less about margins and more about a simpler measure - how much cash
a retailer is generating), Across the pond (beating up on suppliers can only go
so far and compensation costs have already been tightly controlled; the bigger
threat to margins could come from aggressive pricing, investors' least favourite
strategy for nabbing market share)

Independent
MARKET REPORT: ALEXON (fears of a dismal new year)

Mail
MARKET REPORT: GEORGE WIMPEY (vague talk of a possible bid from rival BARRATT
DEVELOPMENTS) -
INVESTMENT EXTRA: Brian O'Connor advises readers to keep their
utility shares until the Continentals come calling

Guardian
Market forces:
CHARACTER GROUP (by all accounts, Character's robotic dinosaur
Roboraptor has been flying off the shelves in the run-up to the big day),
NWF
(Atorka, the Icelandic investment company, has a raised holding of 15.2 pct)

Express
MARKET REPORT: WOLVERHAMPTON & DUDLEY BREWERIES (talk it is thirsty for more
earnings-boosting acquisitions)

Times
Directors' dealing:
HARDY UNDERWRITING (sale of stock for 4.85 mln stg by its
founder served to clear an overhang; Peter Hardy, a non-executive, sold 2.29 mln
shares, leaving him with 375,000; three directors bought 900,000 between them at
the same price) -
Rumour of the day: VICTORIA OIL & GAS (dealers hear it is in
talks to buy further licences elsewhere in the former Soviet Union) -
MAJESTIC
WINE uncorks formula for niche success; as Unwins faces ignominy, Sara Butler
looks at a wine rival that is scouring the world to please its sophisticated
clientele
- STOCK MARKETS - LARGE CAPS: VODAFONE GROUP
(persistent talk of boardroom changes),
WILLIAM MORRISON SUPERMARKETS (property
director and his wife sell stock for 191,000 stg);
SMALL CAPS: ALEXON (brokers'
concerns over early discounting) -
TEMPUS: Some sectoral picks for 2006:
non-food retailers, IT software, insurance, engineering and machinery, banks,
construction and tobacco

Telegraph
THE MARKET:
COOKSON (market whispers it may find itself on Merrill Lynch's buy
list for 2006),
AERO INVENTORY (talk it could feature in Corporate Synergy's tip
sheet),
TRAFFICMASTER (non-executive chairman buys 100,000 shares at 26 pence),
D1 OILS (dealers say bear trader Simon Caulkwell has taken a short position in
the stock)

BOXING DAY PRESS COMMENT

Telegraph
AIM MARKET:
Companies Richard Ratner, retail analyst at Seymour Pierce, rates
include ALBEMARLE & BOND, STANLEY GIBBONS, BLOOMS OF BRESSINGHAM, DOBBIES GARDEN
CENTRES;
however, he advises clients to steer clear of FLOORS 2 GO