Friday tips round-up: Barclays, DS Smith

Banks partaking of Barclays' 'dark pool' should have known the risks they were taking. To say that such trading venues are un-transparent simply does not cut it, they are supposed to be, hence the name. Even so, if the allegations brought forward by the New York state attorney-general are correct then the fact is that the lender did indeed behave badly. For one, the prosecution puts forward the argument that whereas Barclays' marketing material pegs the amount of "aggressive" trading in its dark pool at 6% in one meeting the bank put the figure at 25%. As well, the bank stands accused of routing 90% of client orders into its own dark pool instead of objectively assessing the best trading option for its clients. In exchange it may have made up to an additional $50m per year, versus last year's pre-tax profit of £5.2bn. Absent a reply from Barclays the markets have priced in a $2bn settlement - big lies for small rewards. Yet what is really worrying is that the wrongdoing may have been committed as recently as April. The message from regulators to lenders, despite the recent multiple scandals having come to light, does not seem to have gotten through, writes the Financial Times' Lex column.Shares of DS Smith have risen by quite a bit since the start of 2013, but now is not the time to go short. The maker of corrugated packaging saw annual pre-tax profits leap by 104% last year, to reach £167m, thanks to the acquisition of SCA Packaging, which increased its presence in Scandinavia and northern Europe. That transaction has met almost all of its financial targets, in terms of increasing organic sales, returns on sales and cost savings. Furthermore, the stock's pay-out is set to track growth in earnings per share. Those are expected to grow by between 15% to 20% per year as additional cost savings kick in. For some analysts the current premium in the share price relative to the sector is only justified by further M&A, but at 11.5 times' this year's earnings and on a forward yield of a little more than 4% the stock remains a long-term buy, even if further progress may be slower, says The Times's Tempus. AB Please note: Digital Look provides a round-up of news, tips and information that is impacting share prices and the market. Digital Look cannot take any responsibility for information provided by third parties. This is for your general information only as not intended to be relied upon by users in making an investment decision or any other decision. Please obtain a copy of the relevant publication and carry out your own research before considering acting on any of this information.