With long lunches on the menu for traders last week, the town’s rumor mill is in action.

In the midst of a wave of takeovers, a historic company in the sights of bankers is From the street, founded in 1813.

The banknote printer, who takes notes for the Bank of England, appears vulnerable to a hostile bid since its stock disintegrated after losing the Blue Passport contract in 2018.

City sources say foreign trade buyers have shown interest.

His boss Clive Vacher – a former police sergeant and turnaround specialist – has focused on cutting costs, including shutting down operations at Gateshead and expanding polymer banknotes.

Sources say it has also developed digital and physical Covid certificates and is in talks with several governments to deploy them, although this is not the key to the company’s rebirth.

This week’s results are expected to show profits reaching £ 37million. Any sign of improvement could put buyers on high alert.

Shares in Careful fell this month because its split from US firm Jackson Life was delayed.

Managing director Mike Wells has done little to restore confidence in the stock, offloading nearly £ 2million of shares in a planned sale.

Mark Fitzpatrick and Chief Risk Officer James Turner have discharged £ 900,000 and £ 170,000 respectively of shares. Sums tidy for the Pru men.

Schroder Global Stimulus Fund Director Simon Adler calls the pandemic “the most fertile hunting ground in a decade†in the markets.

His fund specializes in buying stocks that managers believe are fundamentally sound over five years, but which suffer from a problem.

The fund was hit early in the pandemic, but form has been decent lately and it has increased the number of shares it holds to reflect the carnage of Covid.

Main issues for Adler include NatWest, Royal Mail and the owner of British Gas Centrica.

There are also a lot of international pieces. Adler opted for stocks in Genting Singapore, the tourist attraction on an artificial island that has low debt and should bounce back … in theory.

Courageous bets.

Results of this week of HSE should help investors focus on the future of the energy market as this year’s COP26 climate conference looms.

SSE ceded its retail client base to Ovo for £ 500million last year and its share price has been surprisingly strong since then.

The electricity company is spending £ 7.5 billion to triple its renewable energy production by 2030.

The company is behind what it hopes will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm at Dogger Bank off the Yorkshire coast. He also hopes to build wind farms on the mainland, in the United States and in Japan.

A flurry of news on any of these projects will be welcome.