Trading Update
03-Oct-13, 1:19pm: The Italian stock market and gold are performing well after Italian PM Letta won a crucial confidence vote and the US debt ceiling deadline continues to move closer.



Update by Alastair McCaig, Market Analyst,
03-Oct-13, 5:45pm:

Hold Domino’s Pizza!



According to the Daily Telegraph Questor column the pizza company soared by 5% in morning trading as it revealed the UK’s appetite for pizza remains undimmed, whatever the weather.

The home delivery firms said in Q3 trading update that sales had continued to rise despite the warm summer.

Sales for the 13 weeks ended 29 September increased by double digits, leaving sales for the year to date up 11.1% at £438m.

The strong trading should provide the sales momentum necessary to hit full year, pretax profit forecasts of £48.5m, giving 23.2p in earnings per share. However, it looks like much of this good news is now in the price.

The shares trade on a 2013 forecast multiple of 27.3 times, falling to 24.1 times next year.

That kind of rating requires rapid growth in sales and profits; in this respect there are some concerns.

Domino’s is undoubtedly a growing company but that rate looks quite a stretch, as does the rating on the share price. The cash generated by the business is also falling.

Overall, Domino’s is a solid company which has grown rapidly in the UK, and the shares are up almost 25% year-to-date but it is difficult to see where it, or the shares, can go from here.

With Domino’s Pizza up 21.5p at 610.5p Questor says Hold. For more see Dominos Pizza now a hold.

Update by Jenna Cutly, Editor,
04-Oct-13, 6:30am: Ted Baker Heads to Russia and Turkey

The UK retailer is heading to Russia and Turkey in the next stage of its transformation from a men’s shirt shop in Glasgow to an international premium fashion brand (and profits are up 50%). There’s more on this story in the Daily Telegraph.

Update by Jenna Cutly, Editor,
04-Oct-13, 9:41am: The US government shutdown continues, with the Dow trading lower towards support and investors starting to lose patience with politicians.

This morning’s Products in Focus video also looks at the ‘new safe haven’ EUR/USD, GBP/USD, gold and client sentiment.



Update by Craig Inglis, Head of Product Development,
04-Oct-13, 11:00am: We have a new trading video on our blog and Bill Hubard has strong feelings about the US government shutdown.

US Government Shutdown Causes Dollar Sell Off and Gold Volatility

Update by Gordon Childs, Editor,
04-Oct-13, 2:13pm: With the US shutdown continuing and following some Bank of Japan comments, the USD/JPY has fallen below key moving averages.



Update by Brenda Kelly, Senior Market Strategist,