TD Waterhouse customers ride the black horse once again

Angus Rigby, Chief Executive Officer, TD Waterhouse comments: "Once again, Lloyds TSB occupies the top position among the banks this week with our customer trading statistics showing a stunning single day leap of 78% in buying activity following news that the Black Horse has stopped chasing Deutsche Postbank.

"Talks of a takeover bid for the German retail lender by a consortium including Lloyds TSB have collapsed as price expectations were too far apart. People familiar with bidding suggest the deal is not dead in the water, but that Deutsche Post would have to considerably lower its price expectations in order to bring it back to the negotiating table.

"Meanwhile, this week's trading figures show that TD Waterhouse customers are more inclined to hold on to stock, with figures indicating a 42% drop in overall sell activity compared to last week. Overall buys outweigh sells in our top ten tables by 3:1 this week, with trading activity strongly focused on the retail sector as customers shop for a bargain amongst some of the best known UK high street brands.

"Buy activity in Woolworths increased by 33% over the week following news that it had rejected an attempt by Baugur - the Icelandic investment group and Woolworths' second-largest shareholder - to break up the group and acquire its stores. However, an up-grade from analyst Altium on Monday followed by HSBC's down-grade yesterday reflect mixed views in the market when it comes to this retailer. But with Woolworths representing 5% of our top ten buys and 7% of our top ten sells, trading has remained consistent.

"Meanwhile, Marks & Spencer's enters our top ten buys this week thanks to the poor performance of its share price as rising inflation and costs have prompted cash-strapped consumers to opt for cheaper grocery outlets. Quality has always been the name of the game for M&S and it is possible that our customers see longer term value in the stock.

"On the sell side, Barratt Developments has been actively traded by our customers this week, possibly noting negative data issued on Monday on the increasingly pessimistic performance of the housing market. This has been echoed by Persimmons today, who have posted a sharp fall in pre-tax profits for the first half of this year of £36.9m, compared to £281.1m in the same period last year.

"As woeful as the figures look, the loss is not as bad as analysts had been predicting, and as a result Persimmons share price has performed well this morning, lifting the housebuilding sector as a whole, as a result, people who bought housebuilders last week could be sitting on some short term gains.

"Finally, BHP Billiton leaves last week's position in our top ten buys and enters fourth place in this week's top ten sells. This change of heart among TD Waterhouse customers follows BHP Billiton record year profit announcement which has enabled the top miner to renew pressure on rival Rio Tinto to accept its $127bn bid."