Black not sheepish about breaking silence of the lambs

We've all kicked ourselves when unloading the weekly shop only to discover we've neglected to pop a couple of important items into the basket. But has Ocado just done the same?

The unprofitable soon-to-be-floated online retailer hired UBS, JP Morgan Cazenove, HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, Numis, Jefferies and Goldman Sachs to assist on the listing - a tactic almost certainly designed to stop any heckling about the firm's over-priced offer, as the flotation gig includes the implicit support the banks' biddable analysts.

Still, scribblers at institutions missing out on the Ocado gravy train don't seem as keen to partake in this silence of the lambs - and Shore Capital's Clive Black and Arden's Nick Bubb have even had the gall to say so. Time to pay off this insolent pair too?

City analysts have their beer goggles on

I read that our clairvoyant City analyst community is excellently briefed these days. Not in the leisure sector, it seems. Shares in pub operator JD Wetherspoon have slumped by almost 10% after weak third quarter trading - news that will give clients of UBS (who were told last week to buy JDW and dream of a price target of 590p) and Citigroup (price target 740p) a thumping hangover. The shares closed today at 491.8p, which just goes to prove SlackBelly's first rule of engaging with large pub chains: always go for the shorts.

Lacey finally tastes a bit of the action

I see that the first ever UK National Sevens Series has secured first-round funding for his venture from angel investor Ravensbeck.

You'll recall that this venture is the brainchild of former UBS banker Tim Lacey, who prefers to refer to himself as "a former professional rugby player" with Gloucester.

Despite Lacey's constant spinning, that is not quite how they remember him in the West Country. As I've pointed out before, the local press reckon Lacey “warmed the bench on a few occasions during some Cheltenham & Gloucester Cup ties” and “tasted only a few minutes of action”.

Sadly, he cannot find room for this view in his press releases.

Rugger buggers with banker's memory

I see that Tim Lacey, a former UBS banker, is trying to raise financial backing to help launch a rugby sevens league.
Lacey - whose City career included raising funds for companies such as Notwork Rail and Vodafone - is happy to be painted as a former Gloucester "rugby star" in order to sell his new project. That's not quite how the local press recalls it.
The thisisgloucestershire website - home of the Gloucestershire Echo and The Citizen - reckons Lacey "warmed the bench on a few occasions during some Cheltenham & Gloucester Cup ties" and "tasted only a few minutes of action".
The cheeky monkey!