UK stocks were largely flat early on Monday as the UK prepared to start offering Covid-19 vaccines to over-70s, while tensions remained high in the US, where markets are closed for Martin Luther King day, ahead of Joe Biden's inauguration on Wednesday.By 8.25 am, the FTSE 100 was up just 0.01% at 6,736.2 points, while the FTSE 250 edged up 0.18% to 20,653.2.ASTRAZENECA ADVANCESIn corporate...

Perennial underperformer Card Protection Plan (CPP) has surprised investors with a big upgrade to profit expectations in the year to 31 December.Shares gained as much as 64% to 8.87p today as cost control, higher sales volumes in India, as well as a weaker pound drove improved performance.The company helps customers to cancel and replace lost cards using an emergency assistance service.CPP has...

There is only thin data to provide direction for London trading on Friday with the FTSE 100 index opening around 10 points lower at 6,785 in early trade. There are no significant UK data releases scheduled for today, although a speech by the Bank of England's Ben Broadbent will be studied for any hints regarding of Philip Hammond's forthcoming Autumn Statement.The corporate news that there is,...

London shares tank in early trade on Friday as Greece is once again thrust into the limelight. Greek prime minister Alex Tsipras has stood down from his post in response to the most recent bail out deal with the rest of the EU, paving the way for new elections and putting investors worldwide into a spin. This, plus fears of a slowing global recovery, saw a big sell-off overnight in the US,...

The urge to merge is set to hit the corporate finance market this year with more money expected to be spent on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) than at any time since the financial crisis. Global deal-making figures are forecast to explode on the back of improving economic sentiment, cash-rich corporates and cheap debt.The market has started as it means to go on. The year is less than a month...

To get a flotation away the stockbrokers organising the transaction need to price it sensibly and leave something on the table for the investor to ensure the deal goes well. If an initial public offering (IPO) is a success, the shares swiftly rise above the issue price and everyone is happy: the company management, the new shareholders and the broker, who may drum up more business on the back...

Former US secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld took an awful lot of heat for a 2002 press conference at which he stated: 'There are known knowns; there are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns; that is to say, there are things that we now know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns - there are things we do not know we don't know.'Criticism descended as he attempted...

The FTSE 100 advanced 23 points to 6,300, propelled by a positive market response to Barclays' (BARC) strategic review results, sending the bank up 4.1% to 313.p. The wider banking sector hopped on board for the ride with Lloyds Banking (LLOY) up 3.5% to 54.6p and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) up 2.6% to 349.1p. Click here for the full story.Reports that US regulators are probing ICAP (IAP)...

A 26% advance in the FTSE SmallCap index year shows the rewards that can be netted if you fish around among the UK market's minnows and the New Year looks quite capable of providing further gains, especially if investors remain enthusiastic about central bank easing and maintain a 'risk on' stance. Of our Tips for 2013 (see Cover, Shares 27 Dec '12), Avon Rubber (AVON) is the sole FTSE...