Late during the session, there was a scramble for First Choice, pushing the stock 11.5p better to 152.75p. Of particular interest to analysts will be an update from management on the progress of the group’s various defence programmes, specifically its Type 45 and Eurofigher prospects. Word has it Gallaher, 7.5p higher at 640p, is mulling a bid for one of the companies that comprise Bulgaria’s state-owned tobacco monopoly Bulgartabak. Gallaher officials are said to have met with the Balkan country’s economy minister, who would have briefed them on the sale procedure, which is being handled by Morgan Stanley. BAT, up 7.5p to 801.5p, and Imperial Tobacco, 6p better at 1,112p, are also known to have show interest in privatisation the of Bulgartabak, which has some 22 domestic subsidiaries.

He is believed to have stressed that they are under pressure from both the liberalisation of the region’s markets and the weakness of the Jamaican dollar. ABN is of the view that C&W shares are unlikely to continue to outperform in the short term given the challenges its management face in returning the company on the path to growth.Elsewhere in the FTSE 100, investors took profits from the recent strength of BAE Systems, sending the defence and aerospace group’s stock 9.25p lower to 177.75p On Thursday, BAE will post full year numbers. However, there was a warning from Mr Ciao regarding C&W’s Caribbean operations. ABN is believed to have had a frank discussion with the C&W boss Francesco Ciao earlier this week in which the Italian reiterated that the telecom group’s restructuring is on track. This put the brakes on a stock that has risen by 170 per cent over the past 12 months. “While we continue to believe in the long-term story and take comfort from the £1.3bn cash pile, we are of the view that C&W shares have got ahead of themselves,” the Dutch broker argued Such talk sent C&W 6.25p lower to 147.25p.

Quite who has been twisting whose arm is not clear, but the suggestion has gained currency that there could be contracts in it for LCR on the projected Crossrail link if LCR agrees to help out on Eurotunnel Don’t hold your breath. Nobody in their right mind would get involved in Eurotunnel’s problems, which in the end can only be resolved by debt holders taking a haircut, all but wiping out the remaining value of the equity in the process All the rest is just sound and fury signifying nothing.. The amazing share price rise at Cable & Wireless was halted yesterday by its house broker, ABN Amro, which returned from a meeting with the group’s management to tell its clients that the stock is beginning to look overvalued. If policyholders are to hold us liable for compensation when things go wrong, say the Government and its agents, then we are going to make damn sure there’s no risk left in the system at all, and if that means driving life funds out of high-risk equities into bonds and cash, then so be it. Eurotunnel admits it’s deep below the water with no hope of even servicing its £6.4bn of debt, let alone repaying it. Yet it continues to pray for an “industrial solution”, with the major users of the tunnel perhaps taking big equity holdings in return for lower charges.One interested party is London & Continental Railways, builders of the yet to be completed high-speed rail link between London and the tunnel.

It’s regulatory madness, but you can see how it has come about. Compensation culture is reinforcing its natural bedfellow, the nanny state, and everyone ends up the poorer.Still, in every cloud there’s a silver lining. The forced selling of the life assurers and pension funds has created some bargain basement prices for those of a risk-taking disposition. With the overhang of the Standard Life re-weighting now removed, the stock market is moving sharply upwards again. Mr Crombie and his policyholders can only look on and cry.False tunnel hopeAs a company, Eurotunnel is a dead parrot, yet hope always springs eternal among equity investors and for some reason the company’s share units continue to put an £850m value on the enterprise. In so doing, it is condemning Standard Life and other with-profits policyholders to much poorer rates of return than they might otherwise enjoy, thereby further reducing the attractions of what used to be Britain’s most popular form of saving.What this is about, of course, is back covering.