RAC gained 9p to 567.5p on talk that its is close to securing a large vehicle leasing contract.Northern Petroleum ticked 0.63p higher to 4.75p as the oil explorer completed a number of well received presentations to institutional investors in Ireland.. Among those getting into the stock yesterday, the talk was that the figures will not disappoint. Word has it cash burn at Fibernet has been minimised and that the company has secured some impressive new business wins. The market is expecting full-year earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of £7m from the group on sales of £36m.Meanwhile, Numis Securities completed a chunky placing on behalf of directors and former employees at Invox, unchanged at 305p. The broker also tipped McCarthy & Stone’s next set of results to be “very strong” and hinted that its earnings forecasts may be too conservative even after a recent upgrade.Punters moved into Fibernet, up 1p to 92p, ahead of full-year results from the digital networks operator later this month. The broker returned from a meeting with the management team at the retirement homes group and slapped a “buy” rating on the stock and set a 560p price target. Numis noted that the UK’s ageing population is great news for the company and argued that the group is a takeover target.

At present Reuters’ stake in the software company stands at 49 per cent. It bought Tibco in 1994 and floated the group on the Nasdaq market in 1999.Something of a buzz surrounded Britannic, up 7p to 263.5p. According to yesterday’s market gossip, those punters who made a good profit from the bid approach at Amersham, up 89.5p to 641p, were positioning themselves for similar news from Britannic in the not too distant future. The insurer has long been tipped as a bid target and many in the City believe the group is unlikely to make it to the end of the year as an independent entity.Corin rose 5p to 203.5p as Graeme Hart, the chairman of the medical devices group, disclosed the purchase of 90,000 shares at 187p each, taking his total holding to 502,000, or 1.2 per cent of the company.McCarthy & Stone jumped 12.5p to 491.5p thanks to some pretty bullish comments from Numis Securities. CSFB argued that Sage’s recent Timberline and Softline acquisitions are great news for the group and as a consequence lifted its 2004 profit forecast by 10 per cent to £184m.The wider FTSE 100 index finished the day in negative territory, down 3.4 points to 4,268.6, although at one point during the session the blue-chip index traded as high as 4,315.

However, the FTSE 250 fared better, rising an impressive 40.7 points to 5,679.4. Reuters ticked 4p higher to 231p after the global information provider said it planned to cut its stake in Tibco Software and give the US group more control over its business. As for the first half of 2003, it forecasts an operating profit of about £124m from Invensys on sales of more than £2bn. The group’s shares finished 1.25p higher yesterday at 31.5p.Elsewhere, Credit Suisse First Boston pushed Sage 7.75p higher to 182.75p after the Swiss broker raised its price target on the stock to 200p from 160p and raised its earnings estimates. More importantly the broker predicts some good news on the disposals front soon after the update from the group. It is the most innovative society on earth but it is also the place where policies are tested to destruction It has been an extreme version of public excess It has now taken an extreme measure to try to end that If voters really want tough, they will get it.. The heavyweight broker boosted its recommendation on the engineer to “buy” from “hold” and tipped the shares to move higher after the update.
Although Invensys trading statements have in the past been associated with disappointment for investors, Cazenove believes the upcoming one will break with that tradition.

Cazenove had a simple message for its clients yesterday: get stuck into Invensys before next week’s first-half trading statement. If a pro-business politician becomes popular then the game changes – and not just in the US.And third, we will learn whether ordinary voters want sound fiscal policy. In an extreme case it would damage the dollar, something that would not be a great idea right now. But default is not likely unless a series of other things go wrong.The second is how the Californian business community reacts to its new Governor. Many politicians have made their careers by being anti-business. Tough is now.And that may be the key to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s success.