It has already decided to hold off on substantial acquisitions, and is hunkering down for the slowdown. The group's rental income was just 0.3 per cent higher at the end of June than it had been six months earlier, and the number of unfilled properties crept up to 6.2 per cent from 4.9 per cent. Brixton has cut back on its plans to develop sites, which would take many properties out of service, and will wait until the first sightings of an upturn before giving many of its properties the lick of paint that will help to boost rental value. Given it only takes six months to rebuild a warehouse, there seems plenty of time for the company to get prepared for an economic recovery.Meanwhile, it is trying to boost tenant loyalty, and save a bit of cash, by introducing what it calls B-Serv. Instead of outsourcing the maintenance, security and landscaping of properties, or leaving these services to be organised by tenants, Brixton has found it cheaper to do it in-house. There is some talk that B-Serv could even bid for facilities management contracts from other landlords.The risks to Brixton's net asset value, which rose 6p to 321p over the first half of the year, would suggest that investors should wait to buy the shares.

But they yield a 5 per cent dividend and look likely to withstand any slowdown better than most in the sector. They are a solid hold.Calmer waters at Mersey DocksThe storm clouds that hovered over Mersey Docks & Harbour are thinning, if not clearing. The UK's second largest port operator saw its shares jump 4p to 559p yesterday on a performance that was rather better than anyone has been predicting since the company's profits warning last December. Profit fell 7 per cent to £27m, partly due to a hefty increase in its insurance premiums this year, but sales rose 7 per cent to £133m.Mersey's exposure to the depressed North Atlantic cargo shipping industry has hit profits.

This has also not been the best year to have struggling UK exporters as some of your largest clients.In these tough times Mersey has increased its share of the car export and container markets. It has also invested in some exciting new projects, including a new loading terminal in Liverpool and another terminal for a new express shipping line to the Mediterranean.Mersey's chief executive, Peter Jones, chose "cautiously optimistic" as his view of the next six months. The caution comes from the fact that he expects shipping in the Atlantic to carry on being depressed and UK manufacturers not to be in a position to dramatically increase exports for some time yet. And the optimism stems from the new Mediterranean business, which could put Liverpool on international trade routes stretching to the Far East.Mr Jones predicts that at least one export business – scrap – will increase by a third due to investment by two major clients to make loading and unloading much speedier.Analysts bumped up their forecasts for Mersey's full year profits. The FSA is thought to be unenthusiastic about introducing either uptick or a tax here.. Astrazeneca's programme of new drug launches suffered another big setback yesterday after its novel cancer drug turned out to be ineffective when used by patients on chemotherapy.

We are delighted that the Bank and FSA are now beginning to have that debate."Criticism of short selling has mounted in recent months due to the belief in certain quarters that it has exacerbated falling markets. A spokesperson for Crest said an agreement was expected "soon".The Bank would not comment on the outcome of the meeting, held with Crest, the Financial Services Authority and senior representatives of institutions which lend stock to short sellers, such as banks and insurance companies. The Bank of England has thrown its weight behind a plan to make short selling more transparent in a bid to counter criticisms that the practice drives share prices down. Last week the Bank called investment houses to a meeting to discuss ways in which short selling, and the impact it has on the market, could be brought out into the open.The Bank is believed to favour a system which Crest, the platform which settles share trades, is working on to publish regular figures on stock loans in the UK market.Short sellers usually use stock loans to execute their trades, so publishing figures on loans would give a clearer picture about whether an increase in loans correlates with increased market volatility.Crest is currently in negotiations with an unnamed party over providing the data. The most recent crude inventory levels showed stocks at 17-month lows.But the Centre for Global Energy Studies, a think-tank founded by the former Saudi oil minister Sheikh Zaki Yamani, said Opec had little room to raise output.The consulting group expects global oil demand to rise by 1.4 million barrels a day in the fourth quarter from the previous three months, less than the 1.9 million forecast by the International Energy Agency."Unless oil demand growth is much stronger than expected for the fourth quarter, Opec will have no room to boost output if it wishes to keep prices around $25 a barrel," CGES said.. The debt-laden company, which is widely expected to carry out a debt-for-equity swap, is putting the proposal to shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting on 4 September.The move, analysts have predicted, is likely to see SMG, which owns the ITV franchises Scottish and Grampian, on the receiving end of a bid or get broken up. According to SMG's annual report and accounts, the bulk of the company's eight non-executive directors were paid £25,000 in cash and shares last year.The move comes one week after Telewest said it was seeking shareholder approval to allow it to sell its 16.9 per cent stake in SMG over the next 12 months.