News round up: ITV, Morgan Stanley, Facebook Inc, Merkel, Xstrata, Glencore, UK growth forecast.

ITV plc (LON:ITV) shares have moved from Hold to Sell according to Investec plc (LON:INVP). This, they say in a research note this morning, because uncertain macros look to be offsetting Euro Football/Olympics boost, with seemingly gravity-defying TV advertising now coming under pressure.

"We move to Sell from Hold for 3 key reasons," the research note says, "Our channel checks suggest that the immediate TV ad outlook has deteriorated and we cut EPS to below consensus to reflect this... General macro concern is likely to drag in our view and unhelpful for an operationally geared, ad driven business.

"While we applaud new management for attacking what was arguably a complacent and inward looking business from the bottom up, our mid-term negative view on free-to-air broadcast remains. Transformation plans are still subject to execution risk as mid-term competitive pressures from other digital distribution channels continue."

Morgan Stanley and Facebook

Morgan Stanley chief executive James Gorman has hit back at criticism of the bank’s leading role in Facebook’s $104bn (£67bn) flotation, dismissing speculation of "nefarious activity" as false and describing as "naive" investors who expected the shares to surge. At a weekly meeting with staff, Mr Gorman said that they should "be proud of the job your colleagues did and don’t judge us on what happened over a couple of days".

Morgan Stanley was the lead adviser on the record-breaking initial public offering but is now being sued alongside several other banks for allegedly failing to disclose to all potential investors that they cut their estimates for how much profit Facebook would make this year, The Telegraph says.

Angela Merkel

Angela Merkel insisted that there were "no taboos" in the battle to shore up the euro as Germany came under mounting pressure to defend the currency and the flight of investors from Spain accelerated. The German Chancellor said that the EU should be ready to consider all options to halt the crisis, amid demands for greater integration including in the region’s banking system.

Her words came as Mario Draghi, the President of the European Central Bank, warned that his institution could not fill the vacuum being left by political inaction at a European level, according to The Times.

Xstrata and Glencore

Xstrata chief Mick Davis is in line for a potential 75m pound payout as head of the company created from the miner’s proposed merger with commodity giant Glencore. The payout includes a 28.8m pounds in "retention awards", mostly in cash, simply for staying at the new company for three years, regardless of his performance.

Another 144m pounds will be handed out among 72 other Xstrata executives in the same way, to keep them on for two years. The rest of Mr Davis’s package comprises the roughly 9.8m pounds he could get per year in salary, bonus, benefits and the like. He is also in line for 6m a year via a long term incentive plan if he hits targets and the scheme remains the same, according to The Telegraph.

UK growth forecast

The Government needs to take urgent action to boost Britain’s flagging economy or face years of sluggish growth. The British Chambers of Commerce has slashed its growth forecast from 0.6% to 0.1% for the year and warned that public sector net borrowing would be £6bn higher than the Office for Budget Responsibility expects as the weak economy takes its toll on tax receipts.

Its outlook for jobs is just as gloomy, with the number of jobless Britons set to rise by 275,000 to 2.9m in the second half of next year despite recent falls in unemployment. This is mainly down to public sector spending cuts, many of which are yet to be implemented, says The Times.