By James Langton

(October 5 – 09:00 EST) – It’s all about Alan today – Greenspan that is. All eyes are on the enigmatic U.S. Federal Reserve Board chairman and his announcement on interest rates, due at about 14:15 EST today. Expect stocks to stay in a rather modest range ahead of the news.

With Greenspan on deck, there are no major economic releases on either side of the border today. Most traders and economists expect the Fed will leave rates unchanged, simply because all of Greenspan’s recent speeches have been devoid of talk of rates or inflation.

In Europe, stocks are trading slightly to the upside. London’s FTSE 100 is up about 15 points so far. In Paris the CAC 40 has added 33 points. The German DAX is up about the same as the CAC 40. One of the big movers in Germany has been Lufthansa AG. It’s up 2.8% on continued speculation that it is set to join a bid for Air Canada that would enable it to pick up as much as 35% of the firm.

Also both Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom are getting a payday from history’s biggest-ever merger. Each own 10% of Sprint Corp. Sprint has agreed to a US$129 billion deal with MCI WorldCom Inc. WorldCom won the bidding war with BellSouth by upping its offer to the staggering total, in stock and assumed debt.

Overnight in Asia, stocks were subdued. But nevertheless stocks were up as the U.S. dollar rose against the yen on expectations the Fed will stay the course. The Nikkei was up just 20.4 points, while the Hang Seng index added 123 points.

In other business news, Lonmin PLC, the world’s third- biggest platinum producer, is apparently in talks to acquire Ashanti Goldfields Co. The US$600 million deal would give it total control of the firm of which it already owns a third. The deal belies the optimism that continues among the gold bugs.

In London the precious metal continues to skyrocket – up an incredible US$17 from yesterday’s close. Traders are asking US$338.50 for announce that just a month ago was threatening to break US$250. Stocks like Barrick are attracting lots of pre-market buying as a result.

Compton Petroleum Corp. says it has entered into a letter of intent to acquire an unnamed private Canadian oil and gas corporation for $73 million. The deal is scheduled to close by December 1.