It's been a morning for doubts over whether mooted bids will actually get off the ground. Following talk that the proposed Carlsberg/Heineken offer for Scottish & Newcastle could fail, Xstrata is the next in line.
The mining group's shares have fallen 44p to £33.16 on reports that the Brazilian government would not look too kindly if the country's Vale group decided to press ahead with an offer for Xstrata.
Meanwhile S&N are now down 22p - nearly 3% - at 713p. The worry is that Carlsberg/Heineken might pull out before today's noon deadline, or might ask for more time to get their ducks in a row for an 800p a share offer. Still, S&N is off its worst levels, having been down 8% at one time.
More speculation involved Alliance & Leicester, up 2.5% to 759p on talk that Santander might be about to pounce. A&L is seen as vulnerable to a bid, and the two sides held talks before Christmas, although these are believed to have ended in disagreement about the purchase price.
News of the £3.7bn fraud at France's Société Générale has - so far - been taken remarkably well. Traders seem to believe the problem may be a company specific one, but in these turbulent financial times, who can say what other horrors are being concealed.
Even so, the FTSE 100 is now ahead 189.8 points at 5799.1, helped by talk the US authorities might be planning a bail out for the beleaguered monoline insurers.
Speaking of insurers, Prudential is up another 46p at 672p as talk of Chinese stakebuilding refused to die down.
