LONDON (ShareCast) - The time has come for investors to decide whether to back Santander's £1.33bn Alliance & Leicester bid says the Telegraph.

Shareholders have two options. Either vote in favour and take the Spanish paper or sell in the market now - an unattractive option, given that the shares closed below the offer price yesterday at 319½p. Rejecting the deal could be financial suicide, as A&L might be too small and specialist to withstand another financial market shock. Santander is well-capitalised and a stronger proposition. Accept the offer and hold Santander stock is the Telegraph's verdict.

Owning shares in BHP Billiton has been a profitable business with the stock up 25.5% in the past 12 months. Even if profits this week were predicted by most watchers, the dividend paid to shareholders was a nice surprise, with payments up 48.9%. If there is a white elephant in the room, it is the group's long-running battle for control of Rio Tinto but from a valuation point of view investors should be encouraged. Buy says the Independent.

For investors willing to give home shopping group Findel another go after royally messing up earlier this year, now could just be the time to buy. The shares have lost nearly three quarters of their value in the past 12 months. Couple that with the fact that directors have been buying the stock like it's going out of fashion since, and you have a case for buying the shares. With the group's busiest time of the year around the corner, analysts say the shares are set to rise. Buy say the Independent.

Outsource group Tribal is a safe bet, but today's buyers are wasting their money if they are hoping for bumper returns. It is tricky to see what will give the stock the oomph to get it going. Tribal is expanding in the Middle East, but that is not revolutionary among its peer group. Hold says the Independent.

Silver producer Fresnillo’s allure is its combination of high-grade assets, relatively low costs and strong organic growth prospects. The problem is that, at 353p, or 12 times next year’s earnings, the shares remain susceptible to a short-term weakening of commodity prices and the strengthening of the US dollar. There will be better times to buy says the Times.

Along with many other mining stocks, Fresnillo shares have fallen over the past three months and it is now trading well below its listing price. Silver and gold prices have been weaker as oil has dropped and the dollar has recovered and Fresnillo's share price will be heavily influenced by these variables in the future. But while the stock may prove to be volatile, with a forward price/earnings multiple of less than 13, Fresnillo shares look cheap compared with Hochschild, the other London-listed silver miner, and with most gold producers says the FT.

It is hard to think of a small-cap stock better suited to uncertain times than Mears Group says the Times. It has net cash, sits on a record £1.7bn order book - more than four times this year’s forecast revenues - and, by virtue of its niche (the repair and maintenance of council housing), draws nearly all of its sales from the public sector. Tracker fund support from next month’s entry to the FTSE all-share index, give grounds to buy at 296p says the paper.

Oil services group Wellstream's four-year deal to provide Brazil's Petrobras with at least £600m worth of flexible pipes to connect undersea wells with floating production platforms highlights its good exposure to the region. Next week’s first-half figures unlikely to disappoint, buy on weakness says the Times.


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