A low average spend by newsagent WH Smith’s customers – less than £5 a head – should provide a degree of protection in a consumer recession. Meanwhile, a three-year management incentive scheme – only a year of which has elapsed – is a powerful lure for Kate Swann, chief executive, to keep profit growth on track. Hold, says the Times.

A price/earnings multiple of about 8 times 2009 earnings looks mean, given WH Smith's convincing defensive position - its average transaction value is about £5 - and opportunities for growth, according to the Financial Times.

Wood Group may sit in the high-growth oil services sector, but in stock market terms it is no better than a bog-standard engineer. That must be the conclusion from the sharp sell-off in the shares of the Aberdeen group. Wood’s shares, up 10% yesterday, are likely to remain volatile in line with oil prices. But its strong position in the sector, and sound funding make them worth a “hold”, says the Times.

There is still little chance of the appetite for oil dropping any time soon, and gas demand is also on the up as the environmental agenda continues to gain political support. Nothing is certain in this uncertain world, but Wood Group is a definite buy, says the Independent.

When markets crash, fund managers are among the first to feel the blow. But the hasty nature of yesterday's announcement by Henderson, leaving the detail until next month's interim management statement, has worried investors. A near-£40m drop in revenues would take a serious chunk out of Henderson's bottom line. But with its fortunes tied so intimately to share prices, those willing to bet on a market recovery may still see attractions, says the Financial Times.

Cider volumes at C&C Group fell by 12% in the first half of the year, contributing to a 13.2% decline in revenues and 70% drop in attributable profits, as much of the fizz came out of Magners, its premium cider that was such a hit several years ago. There may well be value in the company but until a review is completed there seems no obvious catalyst to a re-rating and the stock is best left like its best-selling drink – on ice. Avoid, says the Telegraph.

Pasty and sausage roll chain Greggs produced a disappointing interim management statement yesterday, the first under the watch of the new chief executive Ken McMeikan, who joined in July. It lowered its profit guidance by £3m, about 6% lower than analysts' estimates. However, there could be some good news in the gloom. Sales showed some resilience to the deteriorating economy towards the end of the September. Hold, says the Independent.

Greggs’ 2008 price/earnings ratio of about 11 times adequately reflects the doubts, according to the FT.

Construction companies may not look like a good bet at the moment, but Carillion has a strong order book, comforting international diversity and net borrowing that will come in below the £300m target by the end of the year, according to yesterday's third-quarter management statement. Carillion is a tentative buy, in the Independent’s view.

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