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Chinese gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annual rate of 7.5% in the second quarter of 2014, surprising analysts who had expected growth to remain unchanged from 7.4% in the first quarter. Other data from China also showed that fixed asset investment and industrial production both came in above analysts' estimates in June, while retail sales growth of 12.1% was unchanged, slightly lower than expected. "The release of Chinese growth, industrial production and fixed asset investment all gave us a pleasant surprise, showing that the slowdown within China was largely overstated and gives me greater confidence that within H2, the Asian powerhouse will be able to really kick on," said Market Analyst Joshua Mahony from Alpari UK.

Janet Yellen gave a balanced reading on the health of the US economy but warned that “considerable uncertainty” about the outlook could lead to interest rates rising earlier, or later, than currently expected. The US Federal Reserve chairwoman was presenting the Fed’s semi-annual monetary policy report to Congress, which took a dig at the valuation of social media and biotechnology stocks, saying “they appear to be stretched” relative to historical norms. (Financial Times) House prices are experiencing double-digit percentage rises across the UK, led by rampant growth in London, according to official figures. Prices are “increasing strongly across most parts of the UK”, up 10.5 per cent on the year to May, led by a record annual increase in London of 20.1 per cent. (Financial Times)

the count down to our first transaction with our JV Oil Services Company could be weeks away rather than months hopefully.

Thank you for clarifying that some sales would actually have been buys earlier today. I must admit; I thought it was a bit odd to say the least.

Hi Bladderman I hope you are well and the markets are being kind to you. I think you are spot on; a corporate update coupled with a share buy back programme will make life in LEN very exciting with a partial re-rate to double figures hopefully. ATB

I have a small holdings here. I am not sure about the immediate impact but I believe there may be a general soft demand for online gambling sites due to economic recovery and job creation in Europe and US have not yet resulted in increased disposal income for millions of people. Therefore; it is possible that discretionary spending such as online gambling is taking a temporary hit with a broad impact on XLM and its chosen markets.

* Offers $68.88 per share, premium of 2.5 pct * To sell Salem, Winston, KOOL and blu brands to Imperial Tobacco * BAT to buy shares in Reynolds to keep 42 pct stake * Lorillard, Reynolds shares down (Recasts to add CEO comments to add CEO comments, additional background on menthol cigarette regulatory issues) By Anjali Athavaley July 15 (Reuters) - Reynolds American Inc's proposed $25 billion acquisition of smaller rival Lorillard Inc shows how the tobacco company is placing its bets on the market for menthols even as a growing number of smokers opt for e-cigarettes. With the deal, Reynolds American picks up Newport menthol cigarettes, one of the few U.S. brands that is gaining share in a shrinking market. At the same time, Reynolds is giving up blu - the top-seller in the e-cigarette market seen by many as the tobacco industry's future - to Britain's Imperial Tobacco Group. As part of the deal, Imperial will buy Reynolds' Salem, Winston and KOOL and Lorillard's Maverick brands in a move meant to ease potential antitrust concerns. Experts say that still may not satisfy regulators. Sources familiar with the transaction said gaining the blu brand made the deal more attractive to Imperial. While cigarette sales volume has been falling about 4 percent a year, e-cigarette sales have been booming. Reynolds sells its own e-cigarettes under the Vuse brand but controls less than 5 percent of the market, according to market research firm Euromonitor International. Reynolds' purchase of Lorillard's Newport brand gives the company a stronger presence in the market for menthol cigarettes. Menthols now make up 31.4 percent of the total market compared with 26 percent in 2002, according to Morningstar. "The e-cigarette category is very small today," said Susan Cameron, chief executive of Reynolds. "It's growing and consumers are interested in it, but this transaction is really about adding Newport to our portfolio." Menthol is a mint-flavored additive that may reduce the irritation and harshness of smoking when used in cigarettes, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Experts say menthols have disproportionate popularity among young people, lower-income smokers and African-Americans. The FDA last year released a preliminary review that said that a majority of African-American smokers use menthol cigarettes. Menthols were also associated with lower socioeconomic status, according to the FDA review of available studies. But the deal shows that Reynolds isn't banking on significant regulation of menthols by the FDA, which regulates the substance in medical products but not in cigarettes. The agency is conducting its own studies on the topic and has said it would consider restricting the use of menthols. In an interview, Lorillard's chief executive officer, Murray Kessler, said both companies are confident there is no justification for regulating menthol cigarettes differently than nonmenth

ONDON, July 15 (Reuters) - Online gambling company Bwin.Party, under pressure from an activist shareholder to boost its performance, said an additional 10 million euros ($13.6 million) of cost cuts would help it to meet its targets for the year. Bwin said last month it was looking at ways of boosting shareholder value but denied a report it was considering a break-up or sale of its business. In a trading statement on Tuesday, bwin said sports betting had benefited from the soccer World Cup but described the performance of its poker and casino business as "soft". It said the cost cuts, coming on top of a previously announced 20 million euros, would help to offset investment in the liberalised market in New Jersey and the impact of a block on access to its products in Greece. "We are taking steps to improve operating performance, simplify decision-making, reduce complexity and costs and, as a result, remain confident about the full-year outlook," said Chief Executive Norbert Teufelberger. U.S. activist investor Jason Ader's Spring Owl vehicle has taken a 5 percent stake in the company this year and has a place on the board. Ader has criticised the way the company has been managed since it was formed by a 2010 merger. Bwin shares edged lower to 86p by 0800 GMT, having fallen around 30 percent this year. GVC Holdings, a smaller online sports betting company which is a market leader in Latin America, said it had attracted 35,000 new customers during the World Cup. "The 2014 World Cup in Brazil has been a resounding success in terms of recruiting new customers and generating increased revenues for the Group on the back of increased but effective marketing investment," it said in a trading statement. ($1 = 0.7331 Euros) (Writing by Keith Weir; editing by Tom Pfeiffer)

despite no buys on LSE platform. There may have been buys on ISDX though.

The traders have temporarily left us and the investors are patiently waiting for the first transaction and possible capital raising to finance it.

Mexico approved reforms in December to break up the country’s state-run oil company, Petróleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, which has held an energy monopoly for more than 75 years. The action opens up the market for private companies to bid on potential production fields starting in 2015. The timing is “pretty exquisite” in terms of investing in Mexico, said Citigroup Head Commodities Researcher Ed Morse at a conference sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. With the reforms, private Mexican firms and international companies can invest and produce oil, gas and electricity. The goal of the reform, announced with fanfare by President Enrique Peña Nieto last year, is to garner more outside interest in energy production and increase Mexico’s gross domestic product by 1% by 2018, according to the Mexican government. “The constitutional amendments that were passed … only last December are really a game changer,” former Pemex General Director Jesus Reyes Heroles said. Combined, the U.S., Mexico and Canada would become a surplus sour crude supplier, possibly pushing out sour crude supplies from the Middle East and Russia, Morse said. With North America’s 6.3 million barrels per day crude production plus crude production from Iraq and other European refining capacities, Morse said the Atlantic Basin can move from structural balance to crude oil oversupply. “North America has a necessary energy resource to fuel its economic growth for a long time,” Mexican Ambassador Eduardo Medina Mora said. “Through energy reform, Mexico will redefine its role in the energy sector, while the U.S. is adjusting to a new reality as a potential exporter for oil and gas.” Mexico is one of the top oil producers in the world, ranking ninth in 2012, and is the third-largest petroleum exporter to the U.S., according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. But production hasn’t been as strong over the years, making this a prime time for the reforms to take place.

Thank you for correcting my mistake mate.

Thank you wordog

This company was endowed with US$35 million in cash reserves to help progress its Zijinshan Gas Project in China and to seek out additional opportunities in the oil and gas sector following the recent demerger. The separation will allow the company to focus its energies on this promising project and make it easier for the market to value the asset. Mining outfit Leyshon Resources, headquartered in Perth, will now seek out opportunities to buy depressed asset values in the minerals sector, leveraging its Chinese experience. The Zijinshan gas project, acquired in August 2012, lies on the eastern fringe of the prolific Ordos Basin in central China. Leyshon's subsidiary Pacific Asia Petroleum Limited (PAPL) operates the 705 sq km PSC, which expires in 2038, and has 100 per cent of the equity; its partner CNPC has the right to back in to take a 40 per cent interest at the development stage. The initial test wells lie within 10 km of the recently commissioned Lin-Lin pipeline which supplies the growing demand in Shanxi Province and there is a shortfall of gas supply in the local area, where major industrial users are reportedly paying around US$12 per MCF. A year ago the company announced the start of an accelerated US$20 million exploration and appraisal programme after it took encouragement from the downhole data of its first two wells. But by September 2013 it confirmed that the drilling programme, designed to delineate the resource base with a view to submitting a Chinese Reserve Report (CRR) by mid 2014, was taking longer than expected as the company was taking time to fully evaluate each well before proceeding with the next one. This slow down came after the third well in the programme, ZJS7, which lies 3 km to the north east of the breakthrough well of 2013, ZJS5, that exceeded management expectations when it flowed 160,000 cubic feet per day from one zone, proved to be holding more water than anticipated. ZJS7 found multiple potential pay zones with cumulative intervals of around 48 metres, as well as 24 metres of coal seams, with the main target intervals showing good porosity. But gas saturation levels were lower and there was more water. The company is right to go slow while it analyses the data and works out forward steps. As we have seen with other unconventional gas drillers, it takes time, money and multiple well iterations to crack the code of these complex shale and coal formations. Fortunately the new company has the kind of management team that should be able to rise to the challenge. Leyshon Energy is headed by ex-BP downstream boss and former CEO of Talisman Energy John Manzoni as non-executive chairman alongside managing director Paul Atherley, a mining graduate with a background in banking and the natural resources sector, while its non-execs include ex-BG executive Kim Howell, who also had a 25 year career with ARCO. Importantly COO Frank Fu knows these rocks well, having worked for Conoco for 20 yea

Despite the selling pressure today; the SP has finished at respectable levels IMHO. ATB

The CSIS Energy and National Security and Americas Programs hosted Jesus Reyes Heroles, Executive President of EnergeA, Pedro Haas, Director of Advisory Services at Hetco, and Ed Morse, Head of Commodities Research at Citigroup, to discuss the recently introduced reforms to the Mexican Oil and Gas sector, the likely path forward, the implications for PEMEX and the resultant impacts on world oil markets. Ambassador Medina Mora, Mexican Ambassador to the United States, provided introductory remarks. John J. Hamre, President and CEO of CSIS, and Guy Caruso, Senior Adviser at CSIS, moderated. Despite its position as the world's 9th largest producer of oil and the third-largest in the Western Hemisphere, Mexico has been plagued by consistent declines in production. At the end of 2013, Mexico approved historic legislation which would end the ban on private sector participation in the Mexican energy sector. These reforms promise to address many of the obstacles that have led to the country’s declining oil production. Before the reforms can take effect, however, the Mexican Legislature must pass secondary laws that focus on the fiscal regime, especially important will be the exploration and production contracts.

Another steady day before corporate news bodes very well for the near term prospects for this company.

Interest here as Oil & Gas sector is now back in favour after a difficult 2/3 years and the added bonus is the Oil/Gas reforms in Mexico which means there is great appetite amongst the Government officials to grant new and innovative contracts to foreign investors who can bring capital, modern technological equipment and expertise to realise the immense pent-up demand in Mexico's Oil sector which has been starved of investment for decades.

On Ask just now!!!

This is going to be in excess of 7p in the next 48 hours judging by the two way trade this afternoon where as in the past 10 days you could not buy or sell without an extreme spread of 0.75p and only around 250,000 shares at the time. There is brisk two way trade now and it should settle down just over cash value of 6.5p at around 7-7.25p IMHO over the course of this week pending further news. ATB