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Second quarter update: In the wake of the Costa Concordia tragedy, the group's most recent update saw it continuing to battle headwinds. For the remainder of the year, cumulative advance bookings excluding Costa were three occupancy points behind the prior year at slightly lower prices while cumulative advance bookings for Costa were at lower occupancies and lower prices compared with the prior year. Furthermore, fuel prices increased 12% to $756 per metric ton for the period against $673 per metric ton in 2Q 2011, costing the company an additional $71 million. However, and more positively, management raised its full-year earnings guidance, citing anticipated cost reductions and lower fuel prices. Based on current booking trends, the board expects full-year earnings of $1.80 to $1.90 a share, up from its formerly reduced estimate of $1.40 to $1.70 a share.

Carnival is a global cruise company and one of the largest holiday companies in the world. It was formed as a result of the merger in 2002, between Carnival Corporation and P&O Princess Cruises PLC. Carnival PLC is the UK listed holding company of the Carnival Group (a British-American owned corporation) based in Miami, Florida in the United States. Its brands include Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and Seabourn in North America; P&O Cruises and Cunard Line in the United Kingdom; AIDA in Germany; Costa Cruises in Southern Europe; Iberocruceros in Spain; and P&O Cruises in Australia. Carnival Corporation & PLC operates a fleet of 101 ships, with another seven ships scheduled for delivery between March 2013 and March 2016. With approximately 200,000 guests and 70,000 shipboard employees, there are more than 270,000 people sailing aboard the Carnival fleet at any given time.

First-half results from Domino's could beat expectations and remind investors of the company's long-term growth potential, which makes that PE ratio of 23 times for 2012 seem much more reasonable. At the very least, they should offer investors a nice trading opportunity. Of course, the long-term story has merit, too, although the PE ratio on Domino's shares always looks a bit off-putting.

Another attraction is the ability of Domino's to produce cash. While many businesses could only achieve the growth rates that the pizza group reports by mortgaging themselves to the hilt, Domino's has a sound balance sheet. And its record of dividend growth is enviable - the payout has compounded at 32 per cent over the past five years and the company is currently buying back shares.

There are other advantages the group has in 2012 compared with 2011. The rise in VAT has worked its way through the system, for example, and food-cost inflation will also be lower. True, like-for-like sales growth is particularly important for Domino's because of the disproportionately large effect of marginal sales on profits. However, Domino's growth is about more than just its like-for-likes. Indeed, broker Numis believes that Domino's is capable of compounding its earnings by 17.5 per cent a year in the long run, while 'only' raising its like-for-like sales at the annual rate of 3 per cent. Management has invested heavily in UK infrastructure, and new stores opening via its franchise model are likely to continue apace - this year 72 openings are expected. That's encouraging because last year revenues from newly opened outlets were 20 per cent ahead of expectations. In addition, the group is investing in its German joint venture. While profits from Germany are not expected until 2015, the potential for this operation should start to feature in investors' thinking. However, Numis thinks that there is no value for Germany in the share price, yet calculates that the figure should be 69p a share.

The expectation of meaty results from Domino's Pizza has usually boosted its share price in advance of the announcement (see table). And we believe that this year's first-half results, due on 23 July, may be another such opportunity for investors to trouser a quick profit. Domino's Pizza share-price change in month before the day after half-year results 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 27% 10% 22% -14% 13% True, 2011's results were, by the standards of Domino's, a bit disappointing, with the pace of like-for-like growth slipping. But there are reasons to expect that 2012's first-half figures for the pizza delivery specialist will show a much better picture, even though Domino's is trading against a depressed economic back cloth. For starters, in 2012 Domino's comparative figures are much less demanding than usual. In 2011, the group was up against 2010's phenomenal 12 per cent like-for-like growth, which wasn't easy to beat. Thus it managed only 3 per cent like-for-like growth in that year and just 0.7 per cent in the second quarter. What's more, as well as facing easier comparisons, it's believed that this year's lousy spring and summer weather combined with this summer's sporting bonanza should help boost sales as couch potatoes hunker down.

These developments should generate big profits in time. But the main reason for me buying CLS's shares remains its well-managed, high-yielding office portfolio, which should continue to churn out cash to fund growing returns to shareholders but as always do your own research gl.........

The company also seems to be trading remarkably well. Its vacancy rate is 3.9 per cent, the lowest in a decade. About 65 per cent of its rental income is subject to indexation, guaranteeing growth even in a flat lettings market, and 40 per cent of it is paid by the public sector. The company is wary of developments - perhaps after its harrowing experience with the Shard (after years of planning, it sold out when the project was refused debt in late 2007). But it is ramping up activity in Vauxhall, south London, where it is based, in anticipation of the area's gradual regeneration around the new US embassy. Last month it received planning consent for a mixed-use scheme with nearly 400 student rooms.

That dictum still holds. CLS sold out of its central London assets in 2008 and now focuses on high-yielding offices in the suburbs. These account for 43 per cent of the portfolio; offices in France (27 per cent), Germany (22 per cent) and Sweden (6 per cent) make up the balance. This policy takes full advantage of the unusually wide gap between rental yields and the cost of debt, one of the most compelling quirks of the current property market. At the time of the last valuation in December, CLS's basic rental yield was 7 per cent, while Mr Mortstedt announced in May that the company's cost of debt had fallen to 3.8 per cent after various refinancing deals. Despite carrying a lot of debt, the company has excellent access to capital. This has made CLS a successful cash generator. Strip out non-cash items, such as property revaluations, and earnings per share increased from 28p in 2009 to 65p last year. Distributions to shareholders have risen accordingly. Mr Mortstedt does not pay dividends, but buys back shares every six months via a tender. This is sensible while CLS's shares trade so far below their asset value. CLS paid out £12.3m last year, equivalent to a dividend yield of 4.6 per cent. That was well under half recurring earnings of £29.7m, so there's scope for buy-backs to grow

That's one reason why it has outperformed its peers, but not the only one. Mr Mortstedt also sold about a third of the portfolio - about £400m of assets, including a 33 per cent share of the soon-to-be-built Shard skyscraper at London Bridge - in the first half of 2008. He didn't quite predict the property crash but, unlike other property executives, he reacted speedily when it hit. Also, he never bought prime property at bubbly valuations.

Given its long-term track record, it's amazing that CLS isn't better known. Its shares have the best total return of any listed property company over the past four years - 65 per cent in total - and there's no reason why that can't continue. Yet they also trade at 36 per cent below forecast net asset value (see table). One reason for that discount is that it's difficult to deal in them: over 60 per cent are owned by executive chairman Sten Mortstedt and his wife. That keeps institutions away, but it's less of a barrier for private investors. And the quid pro quo of being a minority shareholder in the family investment vehicle of a Swedish property baron is that he has a strong interest in preserving the value of the shares. Maybe that's why CLS was one of the few property companies that did not issue equity at a steep discount in 2009.

With no debt, $7m in the till at the end of May and revenues starting to stream through, CAML's shares look due for a re-rating as the company transitions into a full-fledged producer. The shares trade at less than three times forecasts for 2013 from broker Mirabaud Securities, way below the average rating for copper-producing miners. The broker has a price target of 201p, but 355p if the second plant gets the go-ahead. The share price looks too far out of line.

Admittedly, spot copper prices have fallen from $3.90 a pound to $3.38 a pound over the past two months, and the shares of CAML have likewise drifted. With industrial metals prices closely tied to bad news in the eurozone and fears of a hard landing in China, further weakness in copper prices over the near term could be in store. China's policymakers have already started to inject stimulus into their slowing economy, however, and City analysts expect China's growth rate to rebound - that should provide underlying support for prices over the longer term. Operating in mineral-rich but democracy-poor Kazakhstan also poses challenges. Then again, nearly half a dozen FTSE 100 companies have operations there, and CAML has seemingly built solid relationships with government and local business partners.

CAML spent two years perfecting the process on-site before raising $60m (£38m) through an initial public offering in 2010 to build a full-scale production plant. It commissioned the plant this spring - on time and, unusually for a miner, under budget - and recently sold the first batch of copper on a spot contract. Moreover, management confirms the ramp-up is on track to deliver at least 5,000 tonnes of copper this year, rising to 10,000 tonnes a year in 2013. That will generate roughly $43m and $83m in revenues, respectively. Although there remains the risk that scaling up production won't go as planned, the successful pilot plant testing and the relatively simple nature of the extraction process gives confidence that it will. What's more, CAML is completing a study for a second plant at the site, which could double production to 20,000 tonnes a year at a cost of around $50m. The second plant would process the much larger supply of sulphide material on site. It would be more difficult and expensive to produce, but CAML hopes to confirm commercial viability by the year end.

Central Asia Metals (CAML) has a copper mining project in Kazakhstan that's just what a miner needs for these troubled times - a 'plain vanilla' operation that will quickly generate revenues and won't be greedy for hard-to-find capital. CAML's plan is to extract copper from waste rock - rock previously deemed uneconomic to process because of low grades - stockpiled over the past 70 years by a large, neighbouring copper mine in Kounrad in the eastern part of the Asian republic. By treating the rock with chemicals in a conventional leaching process, the company can produce copper at low operating costs - around 80¢-85¢ a pound after royalties, very much in the lower quartile of the industry.

Final results from bus and rail group Stagecoach (SGC) are also due this week. In the run up, the stock has bounced off year lows towards 230p on the back of assurances provided in the April update that trading was solid and operating profits were expected to remain steady over the following year. Since then Stagecoach has teamed up with infrastructure firm Network Rail to create a joint management team, and cherry picked the choice cuts from the now bankrupt Coach America in the U.S.

Good luck guys......

Service Power shares rose to 6.88p after three electronics service providers in North America signed up to its field management software platform.

Its distribution & logistics business, Fowler Welch, improved operating margins after a year of investment and restructuring in 2010/11 and returned a pre-tax profit of £3.9m. The board has recommended a final dividend of 0.89p per share compared to a 0.83p payment the year before.

Meeson added: "The significant growth in turnover reflects expansion in both Jet2.com, the group's leisure airline and Jet2holidays, our package holiday business, which more than doubled its passenger numbers in the year." "We are encouraged both by these business opportunities and by the start we have made to the current year but in the current economic environment we are cautious in respect of profit growth," he cautioned. Profits in Leisure Airline fell, despite capacity and load factor growth, mainly due to increased jet fuel prices, which we were not able to pass on to our customers, the group explained. Dart said it takes a careful and considered view of expansion in its Leisure Airline business, especially in the current economic climate but are optimistic for continued growth in the holiday market