Shares digital

by Carlo Svaluto Moreolo Several City analysts told clients to buy shares in Persimmon just days before the UK’s largest house builder by market value spooked the market with a profit warning. Number-crunchers were forced to take the red pen to existing estimates after Persimmon... READ MORE >>

Lobbenberg suggests waiting for the grimmest point to buy into airlines by Rachel Robson With oil at record highs, premium traffic slowing and consumer confidence weakening, Andrew Lobbenberg at ABN Amro has downgraded both easyJet and Ryanair from buy to... READ MORE >>

by Simon Keane The goal posts are moving for Cattles watchers, so a helpful update from Credit Suisse’s Robert Self ahead of the £200 million rights issue is well timed. Self has re-worked his numbers based on the increase in share base that will accompany the 9-for-20 rights... READ MORE >>

Oil discovery turns Corbett on to Dana Petroleum by Tom Sieber A major discovery in the northern part of the North Sea has sparked Phil Corbett of ABN Amro to hike his target price for oil group Dana Petroleum from £14.05 to £17.55. Corbett reiterated his... READ MORE >>

Platinum’s sparkling form of late has done little to help this put upon miner’s performance by Dan Coatsworth While most platinum miners are enjoying higher selling prices, the future for Lonmin doesn’t look good as it continues to unveil production problems.... READ MORE >>

by Dan... READ MORE >>

Price upgrade boon for copper producers by Dan Coatsworth Lehman Brothers has upgraded its metal price forecast for 2008 from $3 to $3.90 a pound. Analyst Christopher LaFemina reckons demand for copper will stay strong this year while growth in new copper supplies will be slower than ... READ MORE >>

by Rachel Robson Chemicals group Johnson Matthey has been downgraded by both Evolution Securities’ Peter Cartwright and UBS’ Laurent Favre to ‘reduce’ and ‘sell’ respectively. Cartwright has lowered his recommendation from hold on... READ MORE >>

by Susanna Twidale Times are set to get even tougher for the UK newspaper groups, according to the latest swathe of target price reductions stamped across the sector by Goldman Sachs’ media analyst Mike... READ MORE >>

by John Marshall A year-end trading update from mobile phone retailer and services supplier Carphone Warehouse has been met with a raft of forecast cuts. Assad Malic, an industry expert at Credit Suisse, and Maurice Patrick of Bear Stearns, slashed their target prices for the shares by 9%... READ MORE >>

by Tom Sieber City analysts have reacted predictably to Royal Bank of Scotland’s £12 billion cash call, issuing a raft of earnings forecast downgrades and slashing price targets. Sandy Chen, of Panmure Gordon, was particularly severe, reiterating his sell position and... READ MORE >>