It was the first real music apart from hip-hop that ever spoke to me and made an emotional connection.”Her natural inclinations to perform and express her musical leanings were given a boost at the Sylvia Young Theatre School in Marylebone, London, where she trod in the stardust-sprinkled footsteps of Spice Girl Emma Bunton, Tamzin Outhwaite, Dani Behr and All Saints. It should also be noted that the fourth quarter is the weakest for DIY specialists. Regardless, underlying UK sales are still expected to rise, and the focus is likely to continue to be on its French business, Castorama, which has suffered from far weaker consumer demand than the UK arm.Other stocks to watch out for include news and information group Reuters and mining giant BHP Billiton. What Reuters has to say will be of particular interest: its shares have soared since the start of this year on hopes that the worst for the troubled group is now behind it. Sales are likely to be down, but only because of Burger King’s sell-off at the end of 2002.Staying with consumer goods, B&Q owner Kingfisher, which recently warned of a slowdown in its final quarter, will give a trading update on Wednes- day.

Most are expecting solid underlying results from the owner of Smirnoff, Baileys and Guinness – evidently the health-conscious consumers blighting Cadburys are not that health-conscious after all. But Vodafone suffered a rare defeat in December 2002 when SFR’s parent Vivendi fought off an unsolicited bid for a controlling stake in the French mobiles company.After an amicable restructure of the business last year, Vodafone today controls 43.9 per cent of SFR. But sources close to Vodafone say that Mr Sarin is not content sitting on his hands, as he sees France as the missing piece in Vodafone’s European jigsaw. He is expected to strike later this year with a fresh bid once the dust has settled from the company’s American adventure.But Vivendi is likely to put up a fight SFR is regarded as the jewel in its slipped crown. It has quietly let it be known it believes its stake is valued at €20bn (£13.5bn) – although one telecoms analyst describes that as “wishful thinking”.However, Vodafone’s shareholders are more likely to be supportive of a bid for SFR than for AT&T Wireless. Karen Robertson, investments director at Standard Life, which owns just under 2 per cent of Vodafone, has strong reservations about the US bid.

But she says: “Based on the financial numbers, [a bid for SFR] would seem to make sense. It would be earnings enhancing, and you can see the logic.”The other reason why Mr Sarin has a busy year ahead is the introduction of third-generation phones and services. Having learnt from the industry’s initial over-enthusiasm, and the slow uptake by consumers, Vodafone has delayed its 3G launch, settling instead on building up its nearly-3G service, Vodafone Live!But it cannot delay the inevitable for ever, and last week announced the commercial launch of its 3G services in Europe. The company has set itself a rollout deadline of the final quarter of this year – a deadline it must meet.Damien Chew, telecoms analyst at ING Financial, says: “The number one priority for Vodafone is to launch 3G by September, and acquisitions might get in the way of that. It has set that goal for itself but it’s also important in that Vodafone needs to get that extra capacity if it wants to push data services.”On top of all this, the US question looms large. Vodafone is playing its cards close to its chest and is not officially revealing whether or not it has entered the auction for AT&T Wireless. WH Smith also performed nicely, clocking up a three per cent rise.Mr O’Flanagan spent much of the first week of the competition in last place, eventually crawling into second place.A buy-and-hold advocate, he shrugged off early losses and remains confident in his portfolio’s long-term strength.”It’s impossible to make a judgment call so early in the game,” said Mr O’Flanagan, who says his stock picks are all solid names that have slipped in line with much of the market this week.