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Newspaper Briefing informs you of what is happening in the news before the market opens. We believe our Newspaper Briefing is an invaluable tool to set up your trading day, therefore giving you an edge. Our Newspaper Briefing is just the start of our trading day at Guardian. We work with our clients to provide them with information and guidance to enhance their trading decisions. Guardian will provide you with an individual service together with the most suitable and expert advice at a fair and reasonable cost. Deal of the day: Escher shares will make their debut on AIM on Monday at 170p the price at which Panmure Gordon placed nine million with investors to raise $25 million before expenses. Not a bad performance for a software developer floating in vicious markets in the traditionally slow month of August. Escher based in Ireland, Panmures fifth float this year. Irish tell banker its time to return his parting gift: It is Irelands most contentious wristwatch. The 11,500 timepiece presented to the departing Boss of a failed Irish building society has become a symbol of banking extravagance and sparked a furore. The Irish Government demanded that Michael Fingleton, who quit as Chief Executive of Irish Nationwide in April 2009, hand back both a 1 million cash bonus and the watch. Industrial giants to hold merger talks: Two of Japans industrial heavyweights are reported to be poised to start merger talks in a move that would create one of the worlds largest infrastructure companies. Hitachi and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have reached a basic agreement to discuss the matter and an announcement is expected, according to Japans business daily The Nikkei. Strong aircraft orders boost GKN profits: A surge in aircraft orders and higher vehicle sales lifted GKNs first half profits despite problems caused by the Japanese earthquake. The manufacturing group, which makes aircraft parts and vehicle drivetrains, said that underlying profits rose 27% to 223 million in the first six months with sales up 11% to 2.9 billion. Shell admits fouling river delta with thousands of barrels of oil: Shell has admitted liability for two devastating oil spills in the Niger Delta that lawyers say led to thousands of barrels of oil contaminating waterways and destroying local livelihoods. The two spills, one in 2008 and the other in 2009, are estimated to have affected a 20 sq km area polluting creeks, rivers and waterways that 69,000 Nigerians from the Bodo community relied on for food and water. China accused of biggest worldwide cyber attack: The most widespread series of cyber attacks on computer networks of governments, companies and organisations around the world yet discovered are thought to have been carried out by China. Security Company McAfee, which uncovered the 72 intrusions, said it believed there was one state actor behind the attacks but declined to name it, although one security expert who has been briefed on the hacking said that the evidence pointed to China. Welcome surprise for economy from services data: There was a ray of light for the battered U.K. economy as figures showed that expansion in the all-important services sector accelerated in July. The Market/CIPS survey of Purchasing Managers in the services industry rose to a high of 55.4 in July. Most forecasters had expected to see a moderate slowdown from Junes figure of 53.9. U.S. cable giants bounce back: New hit shows and new advertisers are pumping profits at the biggest cable TV companies in the U.S., the latest earnings figures show. Time Warner, whose pay-TV channel HBO aired the internationally acclaimed Game of Thrones, is also making progress shaping the business models that will benefit us as the digital transition continues, said Jeff Bewkes, Chief Executive. Evolution reveals takeover approach: Evolution Group added to the consolidation spree gripping recession-weary mid-cap stockbrokers after the group revealed itself as the subject of a takeover approach. The news sent Evolutions shares to five-month highs on Wednesday, in spite of the U.K. broker refusing to reveal the identity of the interested party. Time Warner/Comcast: strategy matters: The market sometimes paints with a broad brush. Consider U.S. media leviathans Time Warner and Comcast, which both reported results on Wednesday. Revenue grew by a 10th organically at both, ahead of expectations, and both beat on earnings. But similarity in the results should not obscure the great strategic difference. Time Warner changed from being a content-and-distribution conglomerate and became a television, film and publishing pure-play when it spun off Time Warner Cable in March 2009. Comcast, which was formerly a cable distribution-heavy company, moved in the opposite direction with the acquisition of just over half of NBCUniversal at the beginning of 2011. Over a third of revenue now comes from television and film. Investors seem indifferent whether they prefer dull and boring or shooting for the stars. The stability and steep capital costs of the distribution business stand in sharp contrast to the volatility and high margins of content. Carlyle Group: Chinese puzzle: Investors have been feeling pretty good about Carlyle recently. In the past five quarters the private equity group has made $15 billion in new investments and returned about the same amount of money to its investors. Its competitors have generally been more cautious. This week Carlyle announced the latter would take a minority stake in Haier Electronics, a unit of a Chinese white goods company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with the right to securities representing 9% of the company and one board seat. But why should investors pay fees of almost 2%, plus a chunk of any gains, to take minority stakes in public companies? After all, if they like Haier, they can buy the shares themselves. A secret of private equity deals in Asia is that many are not private equity deals at all. The firms investment strategies are supposed to be about acquiring control stakes, not passive minority slivers of listed companies. That forces firms to choose between doing very little in the region, or doing things they have little business doing. StanChart: making hay in Asia: Its a hard strategy to beat and it is working well for Standard Chartered. While other U.K. banks bemoan their exposure to Europe and North America, StanChart is making hay in Asia. Thus its Chief Executive, Peter Sands, could cheerfully admit to rising costs, as revenues rose by 3% points more, and announce plans for more than 1,000 extra staff this year. Even though StanCharts share price fell, on a day when fear stalked the European banking sector, its outperformance continued apace. Since the March 2009 stock market nadir, it has beaten the FTSE Eurofirst 300 European banks index by a cool 50% points even though StanChart, relatively unaffected by the crisis, might have been expected to enjoy less of a rebound. Judging by its relative valuation, it is hard to tell that StanChart is even a bank. Trading at about 1.5 times its book value, the market believes that it has far better growth prospects than its closest peer HSBC (1.1 times), big U.S. banks (0.9 times), or certainly big European banks (now at 0.6 times book). Thomas Cooks risky venture into great unknown: Thomas Cook certainly got plenty of service out of Manny Fontenla-Novoa, its now former Chief Executive. Although he left the group on Wednesday under something of a cloud, he first joined at the age of 18, working in the printing department. The writing has been on the wall for him following a series of profit warnings. The most recent, last month, prompted a 28% fall in the share price. But his decision to go now rather than following the July warning is curious. A trading update issued alongside news of the departure said that little had changed since then. The official line is that, after a period of reflection, it became clear the business would benefit from new leadership. Why it took three weeks to reach that conclusion is unclear, but a continuing drift in the share price from 88p immediately after the warning to 59p on Wednesday might have had something to do with it. The share price initially bounced on the news of Mr Fontenla-Novoas departure, and trading on 7 times forecast earnings for 2011, falling to 4 for 2012, investors are certainly pricing in plenty of risk. Evolutionary approach: The painfully slow process of consolidation in the mid-cap broking sector has taken another step forward with news that Evolution has had an approach from an unnamed bidder. If past experience is anything to go by, the chances of a deal are, if not remote, then certainly quite distant. The market reaction Evolution shares closed up 8.5% suggests that investors are interested but remain wary. Evolution was also involved in a bid last year, when it made an unsuccessful indicative offer for Panmure Gordon. Broker consolidation has been on the cards for years. The sector is plagued by overcapacity with too many companies chasing too little business. It is still set up for the conditions of the mid-2000s, when companies were arriving on Aim at a rapid pace and fundraisings were an almost daily occurrence. FTSE 100 led European shares down on U.S. recession fear: The FTSE 100 led shares lower across Europe as investors fears that the U.S. could slide into recession strengthened during another day of turmoil across markets. The blue-chip index closed down 2.3% at 5,584.51 on a volatile day that saw bourses on the Continent flash red and the Dow Jones Industrial Average flirt with its worst losing run since 1978. Time Warner feels better after Hangover: Sales of video games including Mortal Kombat 9 and films such as The Hangover II helped Time Warner report a double-digit rise in revenue during the second quarter of the year. The media group beat Wall Street expectations as revenue rose 10% to $7 billion (4.2 billion) during the three months ending 30 June. Production dip creates nugget of opportunity in Egypt: At a time when the gold price has been hitting new all-time highs on a regular basis, it seems almost perverse that gold equities have been underperforming. Shares in Centamin Egypt fell by the most they have ever fallen in a day after the company cut its production forecasts. The mine is located about 750 miles from Cairo in the Eastern Desert, south-west of the Red Sea coastal town of Marsa Alam. There have been interruptions to supply chains, and restrictions on blasting imposed by local inspectors mean the group now expects to mine 200,000 to 210,000 ounces of gold this year. The previous forecast, issued in May, guided to an annual production of 250,000 ounces to 290,000 ounces. Lower production also means that cash costs for producing each ounce will rise to about $550 (340) an ounce, though this is still more than $1,000 an ounce less than the current gold price which hit another all-time high above $1,640. The shares were first recommended on 05 January 2009 at 42p, so they are still up 158% since the initial tip, compared with a market up 26%. However, they have been tipped as high as 1593/4p. Questor has also recommended top slicing the investment on several occasions. After the fall shares are trading on a December 2011 earnings multiple of 9.3 falling to 7.2 next year. The shares remain a risky, speculative buy because of the world-class quality of the Sukari mine. Investors must also be aware this is a single-asset company operating in a country with political risk. Centamin Egypt at 109.6p -28.2p. Questor Says Buy. Weir sees rise in orders: In the six months to 01 July, revenues rose 33% to 1.03 billion, with pretax profits up 24% to 178 million. Management is confident in the outlook that it has raised the interim dividend by 20% to 7.2p. This will be paid on 04 November. The most important figures, however, relate to order input. Orders for original equipment rose 67%, with aftermarket input up 25%. The minerals unit made 54% of operating profit in the first half, with oil and gas 44% and power and industrial 2%. Weir plans to invest a further $75 million (46 million) in its upstream oil and gas capacity. The long-term outlook for the business remains positive, driven by emerging markets and growing demand for energy and metals. Weir Oil & Gas designs and manufactures high-pressure well service pumps and flow control equipment focused on unconventional oil and gas markets. The increase in exploitation of shale gas reserves has provided a substantial opportunity for the division. Order input in the first half rose 82%, with revenues up 49%. The shares are trading on a December 2011 earnings multiple of 17, falling to 15.1 nest year. The prospective yield is 1.5%. The shares are up 88% since they were recommended on 17 June last year at 11.02, compared with a FTSE 100 up 10%. Weir Group at 20.72 -14p. Questor Says Buy. Gold to hit $2,000 before year end: Gold at $2,000? I didnt used to think so but now I am not so sure. In fact, Im almost convinced it will happen before the year is out. Last weeks events on Capitol Hill in the U.S. were very damaging. After we abandoned the gold standard, the dollar is now the globes reserve currency - and U.S. politicians decided to play a game of chicken with the debt ceiling. Their behaviour verged on the shameful. The fact that an 11th hour deal was done and the ceiling was raised is a relief, but the process shattered trust and confidence in U.S. politicians. The U.S. economy is also flat lining, with slower growth now expected - confidence in the country evaporated overnight and a frantic hour of trading on Wall Street sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average on its worst run since the financial crisis, falling for the eighth successive day. This gloom has also raised the prospect of more money printing by the Federal Reserve. QE3 is not a certainty, but it is now more likely than it was even last week. The debt debate was a distraction from the structural problems faced in the region; China is potentially overheating, in common with most emerging markets that are battling crippling inflation. Gold is a hedge against the debasement of currencies and rampant inflation and all of these problems are now getting worse. Gold at $2,000 by the end of the year is not a certainty but everything is now in place to make it happen. U.K. service industry growth offers some relief amid economic gloom: Growth in Britains service industries unexpectedly picked up to a four-month high in July, providing some relief after a glut of disappointing economic news. The CIPS/Markit Purchasing Managers' Index for services rose to 55.4 last month, the highest since March and up from 53.9 in June. Gold price rockets but investors in mainstream funds miss out: The soaring gold price has delivered massive returns to canny investors who backed the trend but those who opted for mainstream gold funds have not felt the full benefits. The gold price has repeatedly set new highs in recent weeks. In sterling terms, it crashed through the 1,000 an ounce barrier last month and in dollar terms it is hit yet another new high of $1,673. Fresh U.S. economy fears and spectre of global currency war trigger world markets mayhem: Fresh fears over the health of the U.S. economy and the spectre of a damaging global currency war triggered mayhem on financial markets. Oil and commodity prices tumbled while gold leaped to a new high on fears that the American recovery has come to a clattering halt. Standard sets record: Standard Chartered hailed its focus on the basics of good banking in the worlds fast growing emerging markets as it reported a record first half profits for the ninth successive year. The bank saw pre-tax profits rise 17% to $3.6 billion (2.2 billion) for the six months to June as strong growth in Korea, China and Hong Kong offset a sharp fall in profits from India. Embattled Chief walks plank at Thomas Cook: Travel giant Thomas Cooks Chief Executive quit the company with immediate effect after three profit warnings in a year sank the value of the company. Manny Fontenla-Novoa resigned after City experts and investors criticised his performance following the latest warning in July, which sent shares tumbling and led analysts to question whether the group will be able to meet conditions on its bank borrowing later this year. 250 million wiped off Cairn value on Arctic setback further setback for Cairn: Disappointed investors wiped more than 250 million off the market worth of Cairn Energy after the Edinburgh-based oil and gas explorer came up dry at one of its wells in Greenland. The company said it had plugged and abandoned its well on the Lady Franklin Block after failing to find a commercially viable quantity of oil at one of the four exploratory wells it is drilling off the Greenland coast. Analysts raise share price targets for Weir Group: A Slew of analysts upgraded their price targets for shares in fast-growing Glasgow-based engineering company Weir Group although its shares did not benefit as they got caught up in a wider market sell-off. Weir posted a 24% rise in first half profits to 178 million and signalled full year earnings will be higher than the City had anticipated. Northern Rock eyes 2012 return to the black as losses slashed by 61 million: Nationalised lender Northern Rock revealed it had cut its losses and would be trading profitably in the second half of 2012 - although it also flagged up further possible job cuts. Chairman Ron Sandler said he was "pleased with the level of interest" from potential suitors interested in taking over the bank, with the period for indicative bids having closed last week. Martin Flanagan: Loss on Northern Rock sale might not be a bad result for U.K. taxpayers: In 2008, the U.K. government saved the banking system melting down by giving guarantees on deposits and recapitalising the infirm players in return for full or part-nationalisation. Three years on, it can be said that progress is being made in restoring Northern Rock (fully nationalised), Royal Bank of Scotland (83% taxpayer-owned) and Lloyds (41% tax- payer-owned) to health. Hervey Gibson: Global health warning as U.S. catches Osbornormics: It's a sad - and scary - irony: just as Britain's heart-rate monitor shows that Nurse Osborne's medicine weakens the patient rather than strengthens him, Republicans force a massive dose of the same stuff down U.S. President Barack Obama's throat. Last week's provisional gross domestic product (GDP) figures demonstrated that Osbornomics is depressing the U.K. economy to 2 or 3% slower growth than the world as a whole. At this rate, it will only take one generation for our relative prosperity to halve. Markets in turmoil amid fears of Italy defaulting: European markets were bracing themselves for further turmoil as economists warned that "Italy is bound to default" on its sovereign debt. London's benchmark FTSE 100 index last night suffered its biggest fall this year - down 2.3%, hitting levels not seen since November - after investors were spooked by Europe's debt crisis and worries the U.S. will slip back into recession. The German Dax index also fell by 2.3%, while the French CAC-40 was almost 2% lower. Bentley field plan submitted by Xcite: Xcite Energy, the Aberdeen-based oil and gas explorer, announced that it had submitted its development plan for the Bentley field in the North Sea to the U.K. government. The firm said the documents it submitted to the Department of Energy and Climate Change outlined the first stage of its production programme, adding it would deal with any issues raised "in the coming months". NFU plan to cut fines over animal deaths: Farmers facing financial penalties for not keeping their livestock recording up to date may enlist the help of the National Fallen Stock Co, if an idea put forward by NFU Scotland is taken on board. Last year, official farm inspections by Scottish Government staff identified a total of 359 cross-compliance breaches of the single farm payment subsidy scheme. Grain facility hailed as 'new chapter in collaboration': Richard Lochhead, the Scottish secretary for rural affairs, carried out the official opening of the first port-side purpose-built grain handling facilities in Scotland in the past two decades. The three-acre Montrose dock site -belonging to farming co-operative Angus Cereals - will provide members with storage facilities for more than 25,000 tonnes of feed barley, malting barley and oilseed rape and this will rise to 43,000 tonnes in the second phase next year. Next holds out hope of halt in price rises: Clothing retailer Next offered some relief to hard-up shoppers by signalling a "more benign year" for prices during 2012. The group, which has more than 500 stores in the U.K. and Ireland, said a sharp reduction in cotton prices and an easing of manufacturing constraints in the Far East would take some of the pressure off its own prices.

Pippa Middleton's Dress Available on UK High Street | Celebrity ...

The Debenhams version of the green Temperley dress which Pippa Middleton wore to the royal wedding reception Photo: REX Pippa Middleton’s Dress Available on UK High Street – Pippa Middleton fever hits the high street as Debenhams are to sell a copy of the Alexander McQueen bridesmaid’s dress that she wore to the royal wedding.

According to an article by Olivia Bergin in the daily Telegraph newspaper, UK, Debenhams have produced a £170 copy of Pippa Middleton’s bridesmaid dress.

Pippa Middleton’s Dress Available on UK High Street – In a previous article entitled Designers Rush to Copy Pippa’s Dress we reported that “the dressmakers are working overtime on copycat gowns for brides-to-be… who all want to look like Pippa Middleton. Bridesmaids’ dresses are typically unattractive creations in saccharine peach or mint green. But Pippa Middleton’s slinky white gown for her sister’s wedding last week was such a knockout, fashion houses are working overtime to get copies in store.”

It was the dress that catapulted Pippa Middleton, the younger sister of the Duchess of Cambridge, into public consciousness. The figure-hugging, ivory gown by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen was custom-made and served to accentuate Pippa’s trim physique (while inadvertently putting the spotlight on her toned rear) acquiring thousands of male admirers and a ‘Rear Of The Year’ nomination along the way. After being “inundated” by customers wanting a similar dress to that of Pippa’s, high street retailer Debenhams has produced a £170 version which will go on sale later this year.

Featuring a cowl neck and button-detail at the back, the dress accurately emulates Middleton’s bespoke creation. “The ivory dress worn by Pippa is the most requested by far,” said Alain Mehada, chief personal shopper at the Debenhams Oxford Street store.

RT @: The Edinburgh_IFA Daily News is out! ▸ Top stories today via @ @Telegraph...

The Edinburgh_IFA Daily News is out! ▸ Top stories today via @ @telegraph @ @

Daily Telegraph libel claimant condemns paper for ’smokescreen’ and ‘failure to do the right thing’ - from Press...

The Daily Telegraph... a News Limited paper. Quality journalism...NOT!

RT @: 'Sydney's Daily Telegraph has "blatantly misled" its readers' Oh that makes a change; not.

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