Last year saw a metals sector sell-off after the event.After a hiatus, market attention shifts to the technology sector this week with Sage, the maker of accounting software, providing a trading update. At issue is whether the recent launch of Microsoft’s new entry-level accounting package has had any impact on Sage’s sales figures. Negative sentiment has seen Sage’s share price slump 9 per cent since hitting a 238p high in mid-September.But, analysts remain sceptical about Microsoft’s ability to snatch market share in the smaller, support-focused end of the market. But everyone is really looking forward to London Metals Exchange (LME) Week. Starting on 1 November, this annual shindig for producers, traders and consumers can move markets – especially in times of frothy pricing.

The main strength is expected to be good momentum in the US spirits sector, where the group is the market leader. Analysts are expecting 6 per cent-plus sales growth on the quarter for the US.In a sector awash with commodity upgrades, Rio Tinto will post its third-quarter production figures this week. Few surprises are expected, with the resources giant having recently hosted an exploration update. This has buffeted the reputation of the once revered company.In contrast, the premium beverage manufacturer Diageo is likely to provide a generally positive trading update at its AGM this week.

The group is suffering from a severe bout of Safeway-induced indigestion and increased competition from Tesco and J Sainsbury. Since the 2004 purchase, Morrisons has announced a series of profit warnings, faced strike action over job cuts, suffered distracting management and board-level disruption and lost customers. A new finance director, Richard Pennycook from motoring group RAC, is due to start this month.In June, Morrisons slashed full-year profit guidance from £275m to between £50m to £150m. The market is hoping that, with only around 30 former Safeway stores left to convert, management will report higher sales from the new outlets.Morrisons is also expected to reveal the findings of a KPMG investigation that was set in train after the supermarket chain lost control of its finances during the Safeway integration. Citigroup analysts think that sales for the latest 10 weeks will remain negative at minus 2 per cent to minus 2.5 per cent on a like-for-like basis. “Realistically, the result could be anything from minus £50m to plus £100m before tax.” Lehman Bros “tentatively” forecast a £33m pre-tax loss as “a result of seasonality”, while Citigroup is looking for a £25m profit (pre-tax).
Investors will focus on Morrison’s trading result. Few in the market have any real confidence in the profit forecasts for Sir Ken Morrison’s troubled firm “It’s not going to be very good,” one analyst said.

No wonder the market is falling.christopher.walker tiscali.co.uk. While a flurry of results and trading updates is set to strike a generally positive chord this week, the beleaguered supermarket chain Wm Morrison may report the first loss in its corporate history. Refco reportedly has about $4bn in customer accounts for banks and hedge funds spread across futures and derivatives contracts to offset exposures to all kinds of markets – US Treasuries, pork bellies, soya, etc.I come from a long line of City slickers and remember how when I first ventured on to the stock market floor as a raw Blue Button, I carried a pen emblazoned with the exchange’s motto: “My word is my bond”.That concept is the very foundation of investor confidence – indeed, of the free exchange of capital It should not be tampered with lightly. There is no counter-party risk in an exchange futures contract (the exchange itself acts as guarantor to both buyer and seller). This is not the case in privately negotiated contracts of the kind beloved by many hedge funds Default by one party could leave the other exposed. Do investors always understand what they are buying? Equally, the complex interconnections in this scandal should alert all of us to the dangers of default contamination, evoking memories of 1929 and the banking defaults of the 1930s.Were the banks that lent money to Refco, and indeed to Mr Bennett, the same ones involved in the float? Were they also trading partners with Refco in commodity deals through their trading arms? Or indeed investors in the stock through their asset management subsidiaries? Ditto for the hedge funds.More and more transactions around the world involve futures and derivatives. There is no shortage of scandals there at present – Bayou Capital, PAAM, Wood River – and all too often the ability to hide losses is central to them.