RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO MORNING REPORT 3 AUGUST 2010 London's top stocks have run into some profit taking after yesterday's big gains both here and on Wall Street. Banks are mixed after confusing figures from state owned Northern Rock. Now split into its 'good half' and 'bad half', the 'bad half' bounced back into profit while the supposedly 'good' retail bank lost money. The quoted banks have drifted lower with the exception of Royal Bank of Scotland, which is said to be near to a sale of 300 branches to Santander, Specialist banking group Investec is to increase its issued ordinary share capital by around 4.3% through a placing of up to 22 million shares. The money raised will allow the company to take advantage of opportunities in credit and other markets while improving Investec's tier 1 capital without reducing the total capital adequacy ratio. Anglo-Swiss mining leviathan Xstrata saw profits soar in the first half as the company remained on track to hit its production volumes and cost cutting targets. GKN, the engineer that serves the automotive, aerospace and off highway markets, moved up another gear in the first half of 2010. Sales in the six months ended 30 June 2010 improved to £2.54 billion from £20.6 billion in the first half of 2009. Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey crept back into profit in the first half of 2010, but is concerned over the possible impact of government spending cuts going forward. Underlying profits rose to £79 million from £208 million, while sales rose to £1.23 billion from £1.13 billion. THE FTSE AT 10.30 IS UP 22 @ 5374 THE DOW JONES CLOSED UP 208 @ 10,674 THE NASDAQ COMP CLOSED UP 40 @ 2295 Exchange Rates GBP – USD 1. 5929 GBP – EUR 1. 2037