RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

EVENING REPORT

8 OCTOBER 2010

US jobless data proved to be much worse than expected, with non-farm payrolls declining 95,000 in September when they had been expected to remain virtually unchanged, but the ‘glass half full’ optimists have taken the view that this makes a resumption of economic stimulus by the Federal Reserve more likely.

Barclays is down after PCP3, a vehicle linked to Man City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, sold 220m shares in the UK bank.

The biggest fallers however, are silver miner Fresnillo and accountancy software giant Sage, both of which have been clobbered by broker notes. Fresnillo has been cut to “underperform” from “neutral” by Merrill Lynch while Sage’s rating has been cut from “neutral” to “sell” by UBS. However, UBS has looked more kindly on oil explorer Heritage Oil, initiating coverage with a “buy” recommendation.

The biggest risers today are the mining stocks, on hopes of a resumption of fiscal stimulus measures by central banks worldwide. Lonmin, Xstrata, Anglo American and Rio Tinto are the pick of the bunch.

Finally, the sun is also shining on holiday company Thomas Cook. It and the Co-operative Group are merging their high street travel agents and foreign exchange businesses. Today’s move creates Britain’s largest high street travel network with over 1,200 shops – 803 Thomas Cook and 401 Co-op – and result in savings of over £35m a year.

THE FTSE 100 CLOSED DOWN 4 @ 5657

THE DOW JONES AT 4.30 IS UP 55 @ 11,004

THE NASDAQ COMP AT 4.30 IS UP 6 @ 2390

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1. 59

GBP – EUR 1. 14 ??

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